Letting go of ABA programme

[cansu]

My dd2 has been following an ABA programme for two years. She has started school part time last Easter and has been gradually increasing her attendance at school. School is going well and there is quite a bit of pressure from LEA for her to be full time (they are paying for ABA programme!) Part of me thinks this is the time to end ABA, but am scared to let it go in case school goes pear shaped. Is there anyone who has been through this with any pearls of wisdom?

Thanks Star. I suppose I am worried that lots of effort is being made by LEA because they know I am on the case. I have started to gather plenty of documentation to evidence where she is now. Review is in a few weeks and I know that the full time thing will be the main focus of discussion. They are also holding out abit about her year group. Although she should be in year 1, I asked for her to remain in reception for a full year starting this September. After a whole load of letters etc they have agreed on this until the meeting, saying that they will gather evidence this half term to decide whether this is appropriate! I think you might be right on the kicking screaming part - I might continue talking about transition I think...

The LEA have been pushing me for DS to go full time to mainstream for 3 years - he is still half his time at school and half on home ABA because, I have argued, his speech and behaviours still need the one-to-one intensive input that only a home ABA program can give, away from the hustle and bustle of the classroom. My best tip is as follows - if you feel your child still needs the home program part of the time and /or would be liable to overload if goes full time too early, then stand your ground and produce lots of paperwork and evidence to back it up, just as if you were making a case in a court of law. But, to show willing to the LEA, tell them you are absolutely committed to gradually decreasing the home program and (if pushed) agree to a graduated program of increasing attendance at school (eg maybe one extra half day at school over the next term, then one more etc). The LEA I deal with were happy as long as they could see a clear progression towards full time in school, however slow. The sticking point came for me when I realised that I might ALWAYS want him to be half/half - flexischooling, in effect. Then I could no longer agree to any further sessions in school, and the argument became more of an impasse. But at this age, if you still want to keep up the home ABA, I would try the graduated plan approach. Hope that helps!

Can I ask a question about this? Is ABA used to help school refusers? Is there an ideal age? My ds is 12 and won't go to school at all at the momnet mainly due to sensory issues but other issues as well. Would ABA help him?

Sorry, one extra thing. If they start saying something like "it's our policy that all kids should be in full time school by age [6]", then look perplexed and say "the informal legal advice I have taken (give them a scare!) says that blanket policies like that are unlawful as you have to look at the needs of the individual child?" That usually puts the wind up their sales, as they are completely on dodgy legal ground to say stuff like that!

sickofsocalledexperts - could that statement be applied to a 12 year old as well?

cornsilk - yes, if the child has special needs and you can build an argument that their learning is being terribly affected by sensory issues/anxiety, then they cannot just blanket say that "all 12 year olds should be in school." There is no longer a presumption in law that school is , by definition, the only or best place for a child to be educated. It's all about individual needs. I am not sure whether ABA would work now, depending on what is needing to be taught, but home tutoring might. You might be best to argue that it's a temporary measure, with the aim of getting kid back into school. I am not quite clear on this, but I think that if you call it home ed, they don't have to pay a penny. Maybe someone else can help out on the home tutoring issue?

Thanks everyone. It is a ms school and the school have employed one of her tutors as a 1:1 LSA. She has been gradually increasing her hours at school since Easter, when according to the LEA she should legally have been in school. She now has just 12 hours ABA and spends the rest of the week in school. I have dug my heels in until now, the LEA originally said they would only allow her six weeks to get up to full time! I think I'm trying to decide whether I am up for another legal battle. I started ABA with the intention that it would be an early intensive behavioural intervention programme that might enable her to gain the skills she needs to attend a ms school. She has definitely made masses of progress, but still has lots of issues with language, particularly expressive. SALT now says she may have some kind of dyspraxia. She only says some single words and tends to just say part of the word (first or last syllable). I have had numerous battles with LEA (including two tribunals) and am feeling a bit battle weary tbh!

cansu ask your consultant
Ours has done a school transition plan for tribunal (we are still trying to get funding) which sets out the stages they will be working towards ie increase school and reduction of aba and the skills which would need to be in place to move to each phase
If your consultant could do something similar to show that the aim is eventual FT but you're not there yet.
Also remember that most kids don't just have autism they also have delay so developmental age may be less than chronological age.

I agree with others...once it's gone cant get it back. Have your dd assessed privately by Ed Psych to see if she still needs it?

Well done getting your dd in that many hours ..it is a success...but maybe slower transition is needed towards end also and that's great LSA is the tutor:)

Wish ds was doing as good:( Would love ds in fulltime:( Ds is bright and flys through programmes and has lots of skills but senory/anxiety stops him in cramped class of 31.

I would make sure I swap it for weekly SALT direct sessions and teaching to LSA if dyspraxia is main issue...also can you get Consultant to do VBMAPP or ABELLS and is your dd able to learn without ABA now is important in natural environment (which I guess she can from her hrs in school). Remember though ABA was introduced to integrate not keep child at home....very jealous sat here

Thanx want2sleep. You're right about the when it's gone... We have fortnightly SALT at moment. Sorry to be dim, but what do VBMAPP and ABELLS mean? I'm not sure about learning without ABA, she does seem to be learning social skills and play skills at school. I am a bit worried that all the academic stuff she has learnt might not be properly built upon. I also am bit worried that success at school seems to be very tied up with teacher. This year's teacher is great, but don't know about others... I can appreciate what you mean about how hard school is for dc's with sensory /anxiety problems. ds1 has these issues. DD2 is fortunate that whilst she has plenty of problems is very laid back and doesn't really get anxious. She does however, tune out if it's too noisy and you really need to teach her in a quiet space 1:1 when she is learning something new. Are you currently part time school / part time ABA?

ABELLS assesses where dc is with peers to see the gaps. I.e last time ds was assessed was a 3 yrs behind. VBMAPP I have never seen but is more modern and I am sure their are mums here to tell you more...but basically it is all the skills for a dc at that age so i.e. ds should be tying his shoe lace or standing on one foot with his eyes shut for 10 seconds (no way) is age appropriate. Your dd can be assessed to see where she is ahead/average/behind....Ed Psychs do similar things as well.....what you really need to know is does your dd need to still be taught with everything broken down into small steps? If so on some things I would keep ABA. As teacher aint got time to do 1:1 teaching with your dd she will fall behind, but a good private Ed Psych will tell you as they are unbiased and will tell you if ABA is still needed or not (make sure it's one that has done yrs in ABA...I know a name of one if need him). Ds tunes out also..sensory overload and shuts down....this can stop a dc from working. That is why 1:1 is still needed but not any 1:1 who isnt skilled knows what they are doing etc...ABA is better:) To be honest what you just said about dd shutting off...raising alarm bells with me and has she been integrated to fast? Ds was like this when he could not speak much quiet as a lamb...well he could not speak...now he can I have blue murder trying to get him to school:( But although your dd is quiet is not the point she maybe totally zoned out and not coping with fulltime yet....then the ABA needs to be faded off in school (even if LSA stays 1:1 as should not need this 'intense' teaching anymore....get a professional opinion independent to consultant and EA (for evidence if you need it for tribunal). What if their is no quiet space next year in school...isnt any space for ds to have quiet time in ds school...gotta think of all these things! Sorry didnt mean to frighten you if I have :)

www.marksundberg.com/vb-mapp.htm

It's an assessment tool for VB programmes. Breaks down skill areas* into three basic developmental levels (0-18 months, 18-30 months, 30-48 months). Then breaks each skill at each level down to it's constituent tasks so that you can track progress accurately & also acts as programme planner. It has a barriers to learning assessment & a transition/NET assessment for moving to a more typical learning environment. :)

*language functions (mand/tact/echoic/intraverbal/linguistic structure), social/group skills, listener response/FFC, play, visual & eventually academics - there's more than that but my copy is downstairs & I don't want to wake the baby by getting up!