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the possibility of ABA therapy to support DS’s eating.

8 replies

kafkesque · 04/12/2013 21:06

My recent communication with Communication Disorders Team:
"I am contacting you regarding the possibility of ABA therapy to support DS’s eating. I have seen it on a BBC documentary showing the Treehouse school in Muswell Hill with great results for eating. I am not a great fan of ABA but willing to give it a go for the eating side of things.

He is often going to school without breakfast and then not eating lunch at school. Even though the teacher has tried a picnic on the classroom carpet.

At night he will occasionally eat something but not enough to sustain himself.

We are all concerned again and he is still a skinny boy."

This was the reply:
"

I have spoken to Horselover (and copied her into this email). She is a member of our Team who supports behaviour across the county and we can certainly support you with strategies for eating. In the mean time I've asked Horselover if she can refer you to the Challenging Behaviour Psychology Service for help with managing DS2 at home. She will need his NHS number and the number of your GP and is meeting with them on 11th Dec.

The ABA programme was for a child with severe learning difficulties who was not eating solids. Often children who are more high functioning can become highly anxious (like DS2) when a programme like this is put in place and food then becomes an issue particularly if you use the type of programme you saw on the BBC documentary. Horselover has said she is happy to join a meeting in the new year to help design a programme."

What do you think? (I am at the stage of throwing my rattle out of my pram but holding it in for the sake of DS2)

OP posts:
moondog · 04/12/2013 21:22

They may be able to help but they are inaccurate in their assertion that behavioural strategies cannot be used with children like this. You will of course have a bit of a fight to access behavioural specialists in this field via the NHS. If you are willing to go private, I can point you in the direction of one of the best behavioural practitioners in this filed.

babiki · 04/12/2013 21:26

I'm desperate to try something as well, the OT stuff is not working (yet), in fact ds is getting worse..
Moondog if you could PM me, I would be grateful.

Sorry for the hijack kafkesque!

kafkesque · 04/12/2013 21:36

I never mind being hijacked, if I can help others I will. It is your right.

Thank-you so much moondog it may come to it. I will use your wise words in the meantime.

It looks as if I will have to go along with their highly intrusive therapy into our lives again until it does not work and then I shall ask again.

oh I am not having a good day.

OP posts:
googlyeyes · 04/12/2013 21:43

I also think it's very wrong to say behavioural techniques are only suitable for severe learning difficulties!

As a (hopefully not completely unhelpful) aside, it was Tree Tops School in Essex on the documentary not Treehouse in Muswell School. The former is a state school and the latter is independent.

googlyeyes · 04/12/2013 21:44

Muswell Hill obviously. D'oh!

AgnesDiPesto · 04/12/2013 21:46

Well DS does not have SLD just ASD and the ABA food programme worked for him and don't produce any anxiety. He was cross about it sure, but no more than when he has to go to school / do something else he doesn't want. It didn't make any difference to what he ate already. He just added foods, he didn't lose any.

Isn't it odd how they make kids with anxiety about school keep going to school but won't make kids with 'anxiety' about food eat?

I don't think the boy on the tv programme did have SLD anyway. The blond one who did eat at the end? He was just like DS at 2.

I would check what experience the person has of implementing food programmes ABA based or otherwise. Our ASD team admitted at Tribunal they had no experience!

'food becomes an issue', Ha! Well if it wasn't an issue you wouldn't need a programme.

moondog · 04/12/2013 22:00

PM me Babiki and tell me what you need to know
Smile

StarlightMcKenzie · 05/12/2013 11:10

'Often children who are more high functioning can become highly anxious (like DS2) when a programme like this is put in place and food then becomes an issue particularly if you use the type of programme you saw on the BBC documentary.'

Bollocks. Ask her for her evidence supporting that. Grrrr.

Still, you can ask for the DETAILED plan when you get the intervention. I suspect it will be behavioural in nature anyway. How could something like that not be? Unless the plan is to tube feed of course, but even then you'd need a behavioural plan to get the child to accept the tube, so why not just get him to accept the food?

It's all bonkers!

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