Should I stop going to SALT now that Im starting ABA??

[sleepyhorse]

Hi ds is going to be doing about 10 hours a week of ABA. Just wondering if its really necessary for me to continue taking him to SALT (I don't think ds son is particularly benefiting from going tbh). Could it go against us taking him out of the system though?

if they find out oyu are starting ABA it may well be withdrawn as 'not compatible' - this happened with dd1.

we started ABA, and she was taken off SALT lists, portage withdrawn, even her OT referral got held up - all because we were bothering to do something to help her ourselves. sheer madness.

I wouldn't necessarily withdraw - it might be useful to see how he gets on once ABA is started. is SALT a group session? you might be able ot use it for some targets too.

silverfrog - no its 1-1 sessions.
It is mad how they are so opposed to ABA isn't it.
You know how they send reports to the pediatrician re the therapy sessions - can their comments influence the diagnosis which is made by the ped?

oh, completely bonkers.

if I had still hd services for dd1 when we started ABA, I would have incorporated targets. so eg if we were working on using people's names, then it's another person, and setting (potentially) to practise. if learning vocab - colours/shapes/whatever - it's another setting, with slightly different resources with which to practise, etc. good for generalisation, in a small way.

yes, I suppose a SALT's report could influence what the paed says - if (hypothetically) the SALT reported no language issues, no social communication issues, for eg, then the paed would have to listen, and a dx of ASD would not be appropriate.

but wrt things like ABA, then comment shoudl not be made on the appropriateness of using it, if that makes sense.

In our case SALT was withdrawn the moment we told them we were doing ABA...and we were told it was incompatible with our programme. I was thrilled tbh as I really couldn't see how our SALT could be any use when a) she had absolutely no idea how to motivate an autistic child b) she had nothing whatsoever to offer apart from visual timetables and PECS (oh, and bubbles) and c) our VB programme had everything in hand as regards DS1's speech development.

In short she would have been utterly irrelevant. I don't know if other SALTs have something to offer children with ASD but this particular woman was a v nasty piece of work who told me I was delusional when I talked about hoping DS would speak. He now has hundreds of words and his vocabulary is increasing by the day.

we kept our SALT but lost all our autism specific services & portage (who had carried on seeing us because ds could not cope at preschool) when we started working with the ABA consultant - even though it was CAHMS who had recommended we look into it, madness!

tbh SALT has done nothing for ds, he gets a 1:1 session every 6 weeks, he's learnt far more form me using ABA techniques & his tutor but I don't want to decline it incase we need it in the future but can't get it back (she's also useful for doing assessments for DLA etc).

sleepyhorse

If you are using the The Early Start Denver Model then if your read the research paper
Randomized, Controlled Trial of an Intervention for Toddlers With Autism: The Early Start Denver Model you will see that a wide range of professionals were included in the provision of the program during the research research program including SALT.

How are you finding ABA? We've got an appointment with salt on Thursday, not sure if they will help DS or just refer, haven't told them about ABA yet.