So how does ABA work?

[Firsttimer7259]

I am considering ABA for our daughter (2) GDD. But am confused with how the hours of ABA are done over a week. The thing I dont understand is how ABA fits in with work/child care etc. Would we do this instead of nursery, alongside it? It seems a phenomenal number of hours a week Do parents do this on top of nursery? Do I need to get nursery to implement the techniques?
Have you done it? How was your week structured? How old was your child and how did you find it? Is there any funding for this?

you can do as many or as few hours a week as you can:

fit in
afford
choose to do
find tutors for

etc.

it's one of those 'how long is a piece of string' questions. I know the standard rcommnedation is for 40 hours intensive intervention, especially for young children, but this is not always practical.

I have been ABAing for the best part of 5 years now.

the maximum we have even done at home is 14 hours a week. this was alongside/after/in between dd1's preschool sessions - we started when dd1 was 3.

we hired a nanny/mothers help to do the sessions (it was what worked for us) and had her trained up by our consultant. we only ever had one tutor at a time, rahter than a team - partly due to number of hours, partly because that is what suited dd1 at the time.

you will have to self fund, especially at the beginning. if you can prove it's worth, and fight hard enough, you might get an LA to fund after a while. the Caudwell trust used to fund for some families (income based assessment) but I don't know if they still do.

hth.

Thanks, it helps to have some sort of idea what would be involved.

once you start ABA, a lot of it (the motivation/reinforcement aspects) become second nature. so even if you are not 'in session' you will find yourself using the principles in everyday situations.

we did a total of about 2 years home programme ABA (part time, as I said before), and dd1 is now in full time ABA school.

do ask if there is anythign you want to know - I am sure some others will be along shortly, as there are a few ABAers about.

The way I would start is to get an experienced tutor to give you a few hours a week and a good Consultant who will work within your constraints of resources, money and time.

I would then run it for 2-3 months trying as hard as I could to deliver a good proportion myself by reading all I can, sitting in on tutor sessions and running some myself.

From that vantage point you will know exactly what to do next and what sacrafices to make and why.

we did any early intervention programme for 2 years. We had between 1 & 4 tutors and 6-24 hours a week - what worked best was 2 tutors & 18 hours a week. Any more than that was counter productive - we only had that intensity for a few months & afterwards ds made good progress on about 12 hours. We combined it with 2 or 3 nursery sessions - his keyworker had some ABA training but we didn't expect her to deliver it just not do anything to undermine it.

I use ABA techniques all the time though we haven't had a formal programme for months. ds actually has a new tutor starting next week (just 2 hours a week) to do focussed OT work with him.

We self funded.

Funny starlight DH and I have been talking this through and had just come up with exactly this plan! Snap.

The problem I have with some of the contributions to this thread is that there no specific ABA program
ABA is not a single program but a wide range of programs developed to improve behavior in a variety of different environments using a variety of delivery processes. So it would be a great help to actually name the specific support program options and the specific delivery systems of preference. This would make these ABA discussions more intelligent, and more meaningful. so that we can research the various program options being used and discussed.
AS a starting guide to some of the program options you could begin by identify and naming the specific programs included in the ABA Philosophy (Helping Answer Needs by Developing Specialists (HANDS) in Autism Diamond) So that we can all follow the international research regarding these program, which some seem to be trying to avoid.

Firstimer, the skills you will learn that way you will have for life and at such a young age it is worth the investment of time learning them. You should also a analyse what is happening and re-evaluate regularly. Unfortunately not all consultants and tutor are of the same quality as ABA isn't very well regulated.

Don't sign up or pay money up front. You may need to agree a week or two notice with your tutor but really that should be the only commitment.

You will need to give it a chance once you start but listen strongly to your heart and gut about what is being proposed and whether it will fit in with your family and your child.

Dollfrog has a point. There is no formal quality control of programmes yet either, though moves are afoot to try and develop industry standards. This means selecting the right consultant is very much buyer beware and you should, research, ask questions and research some more before deciding on a final programme delivery method.

The charity ambitous about autism run 2 day intro sessions which are about £30 for parents so make a great starting point just to get your head round all the lingo etc associated with the subject and enable you to get an idea of what to look for in providers. www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/page/what_we_do/training/training_programme.cfm

dolfrog - the reason why I have not put exactly what my dd's ABA programme entailed is because it would be of little use to anyone other than her tutors/consultant/her/us. the whole point of ABA is that it is completely individualised, specific to each child.

dd1 is now in an ABA school, but she is not on the same curriculum as any other child there - parts might overlap; she is not treated the same, reinforced the same, or anything else either - her IEP and curriculum are for her, and her alone. as her home programme was. this also encompasses which methods and delivery systems were (and are) used - so much of this depends on the child, the fmaily, and the situation.

I do agree that the non-regulaiton is an issue. do not pay anyhting upfront, do not get locked into lentghy contracts with supervisors/consultants. ask for recommendations, and research who you might like to use. styles and delivery can vary, as can emphasis on learning through play/table top work/ots of other stuff.

I'm not sure what the point or necessity of researching ABA programmed would be or whether a big enough sample coukd ever be possible really.

It isn't ABA programmes that the research supports, it is the ABA methodology and it often goes by the name of EIBI.

Thanks Star - you've worded it much better than I did.

Thanks for this, the discussion is helpful and I will read up on the links dolfrog in next few days. We had a consultant here for a informal meeting and some of what she said really made sense to me in a way that some of what the NHS and LA provided support we have at the moment does not. Eg: she advised us to show our D the signs hand over hand. We have been doing signs for over 6 months, nursery does them too and D has been to a sing and sign class of 10 weeks and not a single sign has she acquired. Its enlightening to have someone say try a different method of teaching , everyone else keeps chanting repetititon repetition at us, but maybe demonstration just isnt a very good way of trying to teach our daughter (she doesnt copy).
At the same time I feel we are vulnerable of 'exploitation' I feel increasingly desperate that we must 'do something'. The advice about the contracts is really helpful. We are hard up as it is and I dont really know what we will be able to do. I dont want to be throwing money we can ill afford at this.

Firstimer, if you sign up to ABA UK and then put the provider on there asking for private feedback, you'll get peopled personal experiences and hopefully avoid the worst of the charlatans.

I'm sorry to worry you with this but whilst ABA itself is amazing, sadly there are some 'consultants' that are really not.

agree with asking on ABA UK (yahoo group), and you can also try asking here - there are a lot of posters who do/have used a variety of consultants.

along with not signing up to lengthy contracts, don't be pushed into doing a 'minimum' number of hours by a provider. if they won't flex to fit in with what you want/need/can afford then they are not the provider for you.

there is variable quality in consultant's, and supervisors, and tutors. like any other industry. but the 'hidden' and unspoken aspect of ABA can make it hard to see through it all. research is your best tool - make sure you can find reviews of whoever you use. better still try to get to see an example of this person's work - ask if there is another family in the area who would not mind you observing a session for example. I was always happy to have people come along and observe ours (to get a flavour of what is done, and how. but obviously, as I said before, it is all individualised). but actually talking to people can be better than reading stuff off the internet too - you can get gut feelings baout how the programme works/is steered etc.

Very good advice, there is a local autism group, I will make contact and speak to parents etc about tutors and facebook etc. I will also make a list of these points if we get to the stage of contracting someone.
I am rather intimidated by ABA and avoided looking at it for a long time because our D is so sociable I kept going oh I dont need to think about this. But there are aspects of her that could be ASD and also if the techniques work for her I dont really care

silverfrog

discussing the programs you found useful for your DD ius exactly the information other parents on this and other forms need, not just a bland reference to meaningless ABA, which has no meaning what so ever.

So please indicate which of these programs you found useful.
Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT) (often called the Lovaas approach)(
Pivotal Response Training (PRT)
Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)
Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS)
Functional Communication Training (FCT)
Verbal Behavior
Incidental Teaching
Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communication related handicapped CHildren (TEACCH)
a brief outline of each can be found ABA Philosophy (HANDS in Autism Diamond)
and Precision Teaching.

They are all have their roots in ABA, and so fr both you and StarlightDicKenzie have failed to define which program methodologies, methods of delivery, etc you have had experience of and which one you have not had experience of.
So unless you are prepared to discuss the specific programs you havfe used, then you vague recommendations of ABA are meaningless, and could be construded as marketing for a particular ABA provider or methodology, while preventing discussion with regard to other ABA programs you and your provider have not tried or used.

dolfrog, it is absolutely none of your business (and not at all relevant, tbh).

it is entirely possible to recommend ABA as a methodology overall, without going into specifics which worked well for my dd but which may be entirely irrelevant for another poster.

it is up to individual posters to research which providers and methods might work for hteir family and situation.

there is research out htere to read, as well as plenty of testimony. I do not think it would be particularly useful to anyone coming here with a general ABA enquiry to eg extoll the virtues of how we managed to get dd1 past her severe phobia of all animals (neither the delivery method nor the steps needed).

if however, someone enquires about a severe animal phobia, then maybe what I have experienced is relevant.

same for how we have used ABA to help dd1 overcome her aversion to drinking fluids - helpful to the general public? I think not.

as Starlight so succinctly put it, it isn't about the programmes, it is about the methodology. and there is plenty to read on that.

Dolfrog, if we haven't named any particular programme then how can it be construed as marketing for a particular programme

just wanted to add - there can be such a thing as information overload too.

a poster coming here with a general enquiry probably wants a general response.

a detailed enquiry would lead to a detailed response.

but to have an awful lot of information thrown at you following a casual enquiry could be very offputting. and might just be irrelevant.

people are often bewildered enough when they post here for the first time. pouring masses of information and links on them is not alwyas the best way (and I do not mean that at all patronisingly, either to you, or to the OP, or to anyone else reading)

I tend ot post how I would have wanted to be responded to. I do not always want someone else's opinion of everyhting - I want to have enough information to enable me to do the research myself. what Star has tried (for eg) and whether it worked or not for her ds is not at all relevant to what my dd has/does/might ever need. and I do not necessarily want (said with the best of intentions, Star ) to read every little detail or nuance of her programme.

Dolfrog. It isn't that your questions are bad ones overall, and there is certainly nothing secretive about ABA. It's just that the questions you ask are often irrelevant to the thread.

If you genuinely are interested in a discussion on ABA in both the broader and detailed sense then by all means start a thread requesting this. But do be careful about stating assumptions as facts in your opening question and try not to be accusative and you'll find people willing to share a good deal to help you understand.

StarlightDicKenzie by not discussing the research based programs you are marketing something which has no research basis but something someone is selling as ABA. You are marketing the so called ABA provider.
those who visit these forum need to be able to locate the international research which it is claimed supports the many ABA programs, so unless you state which programs you have used visitors are not able to make any comparisons to the ABA program which could best suite their DC. So you are assuming that all ASD Children are clones of your DC and would need a different method of provision for instance form that one you have used.
So start telling us which programs you have found useful, and which programs where not so useful. Which is what this thread is about "So How does ABA work" so far you have failed to even start discussing how any of the programs work. You have only provided ABA hype, not specific details.

both Starlight and I have answered the questions asked by the OP, namely:

how do you fit the hours in
can it be funded
who delivers any programme (ie nursery, tutor etc)
can it be delivered in nursery, or does it have to be out of nursery

and so on.

that is what was asked, and so, I believe, that was the information being sought. It would be odd to answer the OP of this htread with a big long list of the whole breakdown of different methods, and how they have worked for my dd. it is not relevant.

silverfrog
"just wanted to add - there can be such a thing as information overload too."

These issues are very complex, and with your years of experience I would have thought you could have developed numerous methods of explaining these issues, to explain the various programs.
I have APD which is a communication disability, and I often experience information overload, but that does not prevent me from find ways of explaining complex issues to others. So stop your over simplistic approach and begin to provide the detail others require, you could provide links to information as I as a coping strategy when i have word recall problems.

Dolfrog. Start a new thread and the OP can follow the discussion there if she wishes. Don't derail this one.