ABA/VB experiences

[MangoMonster]

Hi there,

I'm new to mn. Was wondering if anyone has experiences of ABA/VB home programmes for preschool children? What are your thoughts on it?

My son has recently been given a working diagnosis of ASD. He is 2 years old.

I think it could help him learn new skills although I'd love to hear from others who have had some experience with it. I know it's not a cure or anything like that but I would like to give him the best chances to be able to go to a mainstream primary school, if that's at all possible. He's so young, it's only a working diagnosis.

Please message me if you feel more comfortable.

But that is just daft Mango. I don't suppose you've researched it to this level - yet - but at some point you'll come accross the CQS which is the SALT code of practice which actually advocates for EIBI (which is ABA) and especially advocates for data-drived evidence-based practice.

The trouble is, that the amount of time your child gets with a SALT makes it impossible for them to actually deliver that, but they should be a.aware of it and b.committed to adhering to the principles.

You can perhaps change your email to 'Would anyone be interested in working with a child with ASD on his functional communication, using data-driven evidence-based practice?'

Be careful who you use the term ABA with. There is a lot of predjudice. Some of it justified. But that is more about the quality of delivery than the methodology.

I found some good tutors by advertising on nanny websites, saying something like "would you like to come and help my lovely smiley autistic boy to learn through play. Full training provided, paid". I found two of my best ever tutors that way, and they picked up a new skill for their CV. Not mentioning ABA is a good plan, as there is just so much uninformed prejudice around.

Thanks, I'll definitely try some nanny websites. Think I'm starting to understand about the uninformed prejudice. Oh well, I guess now is the time to toughen up.

Was wondering, what do you think about only having one tutor? I've found someone who seems good, not actually met her yet, but she wants to do as many hours as possible. I'm worried that I will be too reliant on her and stuck when she needs time off. Also theres the generalisation thing, DS might do better with a bit of variety. Plus, so might I, just not sure about it. I've seen 3 tutors is the "recommended" number, 2 with no previous experience required and then one with experience to help train the others.

Oh god Magno. This is what I mean about unregulated. There is no 'recommended' number and if someone suggests their is, ask to see the evidence.

There are models that some deliverers prefer to work to for whatever reason, admin, costs, but not necessarily for the child. No two children are the same, and no two families are the same.

I think when you are starting out it is important to spend the cash on a good quality tutor for a few months, who you can learn from yourself and measure the potential in other tutors in the future. But that is my 'opinion'.

Once you have done that and worked out where you are, what your needs are as a family as well as your ds' (i.e. are the days too long/short - data should tell you that say, after 2pm there is no point in working with him etc.) then you can build up. Personally I would start with one at a time, but then I went with an independent consultant, not an organisation as we just couldn't afford them. I felt guilty, but in hindsight I did the best thing for ds, and us. A consultant's fees is no reflection of their effectiveness.

Also, you might be interested to know that PEACH are currently on a mission to address the national shortage of tutors to meet demand and push ABA onto the government agenda through getting more people doing it, available to do it and to know about it.

There is nothing wrong with this campaign. It is important that they do the work, but it might be why they are keen for families to have/train more tutors, especially new ones.

we went with an independent consultant too. I couldn't face the structure of an organisation.

we had one tutor at a time, right up until dd1 went to ABA school. it worked, most importantly for dd1, but also for me and our family setup. dd1 progressed excellently, using one untrained tutor (completely new to ABA, but with an interest in SN. found via a nanny website, and employed as a sort of mothers help, who with training then delivered our programme. the mothers help bit came about because dd2 would not be separated from dd1, and so she ended up with both of them for sessions... )

I did not want to manage a team of tutors. I was having a hard enough time managing our family. one worked for us - we had her for a year, then moved house and area (chasing education!), and eventually had another single tutor there too, for another year. then dd1 started at ABA school, and we ceased formal home programmes (obviously we parent in an ABA manner)

think about what you want for you, as well as for your ds - do you want the regular team meetings that come with teams of tutors? do you want the timetabling issues that may arise if days off are needed/wanted? yes, with one tutor we had issues if she was ill, but since we didn't have a formal programme to follow, then we took those days as days to go and have a family day out, or even a family day in.

I very nearly went with just one tutor but eventually started with two complete novices who were trained by the consultant. this worked well as one was less available than the other and therefore the other could cover for her. I also after a few months took on an absolute dynamo professional tutor who had loads of experience. She really helped to keep things organised and was a great help. In the end one of the complete novices became dd2's 1:1 when she started school and has been with her for three years now. Having a few tutors was also good for dd2 because she needed the variety in their play; they all had their strengths and she loved them all!