ABA for food

[Littlemisssunshine72]

Another ABA 'discussion'.
My DS is 7 with ASD and was diagnosed at 3. Since then I have done a lot of reading on different therapies,approaches,etc.
I also home educate my DS and have not used ABA directly (although I realise I have indirectly on all sorts of occasions) for academic purposes because I have managed to motivate him through his interests i.e. stuck pictures of 'disney planes' characters on word cards or made a toy story number line to name a couple. This way he has completed the task without requiring a reinforcer/reward.
However, food is the only area where I have not had any success.He has a very limited diet and eats the same foods everyday. In the past, I had hoped by being exposed to different foods he would build his tolerance levels up.Unfortunately, this has not happened. Therefore, we have started an ABA program for his food aversions. The consultant comes very highly recommended who has had a lot of success in the past with acquaintances whose children had similar food aversions.
We have only had a handful of sessions so far and I must admit it has been extremely stressful. I remember seeing the child on the TV program doing ABA for food issues and I always thought I wouldn't let my child get into that state but he is in that state every week and the only thing that keeps me going is thinking about the long term outcome and what the alternative could be.
My DS is a very anxious child and we have done so much work on reducing his anxieties and keeping him calm that I feel like I am going against everything we have worked towards by letting him get that worked up. He doesn't become aggressive, just very anxious, very desperate and pleads with me. I do understand that in order for results, there will have to be some element of stress as I realise to a certain degree this is learned behaviour that needs to be unlearnt.But I also believe that the underlying causes should be dealt with and my DS is extremely tactile defensive and has major sensory issues. He gagged when my partner just offered him some raisins.
He doesn't seem to cope well in the 'artificial' setting of having the food set out on the table and then being told to follow the set of instructions.Last week it took him 4 hours to put a crumb on his tongue.
But, I have recently started putting different food textures on trays and let him walk in it,put his hands in it, etc and this way he has licked and tried a couple of new foods. I don't doubt that this probably would not work for many foods but providing the opportunities in a 'fun' environment does seem to have a more positive effect.
Also, by the time my DS has put a crumb in his mouth, he has forgotten about any 'motivator'(last week a Tom and Jerry DVD) and the only motivator was for the consultant to leave.
I suppose I am 1) looking for reassurance to continue with the program as the results will make it worthwhile, 2) I have heard that ABA is not for everyone, so how do you know if it is not for your child without seeing it through?
I honestly feel when I see my DS in this much stress-if someone is being tortured, they will submit finally but then on the other hand, I liken it to moving to a foreign country where to begin with, you may not be able to tolerate the local food but after a couple of years, you wonder what all the fuss was about.
I know so many of you have had so much success with ABA but I guess I would just like to hear some food ABA related success stories.
Thank you if you have got to the end (lol), if nothing else, it has been therapeutic just writing it all down.

Complience under duress must not be mistaken for willingness however, even when it is necessary (sometimes in safety situations) as that is more crisis management and is not a long term solution.

ABA is about trying to find and use the reinforcement within the task. If that is not possible (usually at the introductory stage) then you'll have to use extrinsic reinforcement with the aim of demonstrating the reward as the child gets more involved and so dropping the extrinsic reinforcement.

For example, the child needed the game show to eat the grapes, but after he'd done it a couple of times he simply needed to be asked to eat the strawberry without the whole game show stuff. He did it be she's he was motivated by the concept that it might be another yummy food he'd missed all his life. He was the. Able to progress to cauliflour which after trying said it wasn't that good, but he still took a second bite anyway.

The data part of ABA shows you when you're likely to be able to drop the game show stuff. If you do it too soon you risk going backwards, if you do it too late you risk every single meal time requiring a game-show context.

ABA isn't a product though so e do sell their expertise in it and resources too.

Data allows us to hypothesise efficiently. It also detatched our opinion as we have to consider a range of interpretations and justify ours instead of using 'instinct'. It also helps explain why things must be done a certain way, to others.

The whole point of it is to create efficiencies, consistencies and to guard against confusion, both in the student and teacher but also across contexts.

There are a whole range of ways to teach times tables effectively, but the most efficient way for a particular child to learn can be found using ABA, and efficiency is important when you've got a lot of catching up to do.

I think you would like the latest post on this blog Polter profhastings.blogspot.co.uk/

I hear what you say. I find myself often in the middle of accusations flying from me in both directions. It's so frustrating demonstrating what we do to others who have heard awful stories of abusive consultants who exist imo BECAUSE of the resistance for the state to embrace and REGULATE ABA.

ABA done badly is very very dangerous, particularly for our kids. Just look at the tamest version in classrooms, eg moving up to the sun from a cloud or down to a rain cloud, collecting golden time etc. WTF does that mean to a child like mine? He will have NO CLUE why he is on one cloud or the other or why he has lost his golden time. All that will happen is his anxiety will increase and he will withdraw away from a world with unexplained punishments and removal of his de-stress times.

ABA will ensure his behaviours in relation to cloud positions and golden time is monitored very closely and then adapted to reduce his anxieties and confusions as well as ensure he is absolutely clear without doubt why he is in one place and not another, taking into consideration his evidenced memory capability, and his ability to achieve what is expected to fulfil the desired cloud position.

Now I'm sure you understand this, but how many teachers would, especially coming from a parent. Sometimes you need a strategy with a 'name' and an associated 'expert' in order to get anywhere, particularly if that 'strategy' has an evidence base that means you can prove you didn't just pluck it out of thin air to add to the teachers workload and make them do something they don't believe will have any effect.

zzzzz It is because ABA is a science and so is full of scientific jargon. We use it here to talk about kids, specifically those with autism/suspected autism, but that is only a small branch. It is used in sales and marketing, road design, politics, healthcare etc. in a specialist capacity. It is basically about how to change the environment to increase optimal outcomes.

What those outcomes might be are not always what I might consider ethical (encourage bulk purchase of the morning after pill, or teach unquestioning compliance with an instruction), but things like learning timestables etc. aren't really worth getting into a tiz over. Some might consider knowing your timestables unethical, but regardless it is unlikely to be harmful.

zzzzz I had SS called in on the basis (amongst other things) that we were refusing to send ds to preschool in favour of an abusive regime.

No matter how many times I asked and BEGGED the LA to come and see what we were doing. Even when I gave them documentation of progress they touched the very edges of the documents and averted their eyes. Hate and suspicion of ABA is very real. It is not made up.

SS on the other hand took one look at it and tried to convince me that it was nothing more than was considered best practice in schools, okayed our parenting but tried to persuade me to get him back into preschool where they believed this kind of stuff MUST be happening because it was just all such common sense.

I was avoiding this thread but I have to say I agree with polter 100 percent, it is a subject people seem to get very defensive about and in particulAr about mainstreAm sp sch, they aren't all good I saw a unit that was dire but dd2s uses a variety of approaches

I'm back. Exhausted but back.

Polter you know I'm 100% with you on the branding and marketing of ABA. However, having done some research/reading, I've come to understand that my perception of what ABA is was shaped by those things and that it is the branding of ABA programmes, consultants, etc., that I have issue with. Not ABA.

ABA is simply analysing behaviour and responding to it in a planned, deliberate, consistent and measured way, then recording the resulting behaviour.

Something IS being done. Regulations are being introduced and stringent qualifications that focus on ethics. The problem is that most of the time parents don't care. I don't mean that it an accusing way, but when you are faced with delays, wait and see, researching of a parenting cause etc. parents get desperate.

People can make so much money from desperate parents, and ABA has a sound evidence-base for outcomes. It doesn't take much for people poorly qualified with little experience/training to set themselves up as some sort of hope-vehicle for parents who just feel they have no alternative.

The problem isn't with ABA. It isn't with the majority of Consultants (though I do think that due to demand and supply the good ones charge far more than they should), it stems from the fear of accountability and change within Local Authorities and Government departments forcing an almost 'underground' movement. Once underground, a parent is isolated, and so is practice.

But this IS known and Board Certifiers are trying to regulate more closely. It is a problem however that they are still separate from and not a part of the Education System in the UK. This means cross-purposes will continue, inaccessible terminology will continue, and fear from the state will continue alongside contempt for the Education bods.

Btw, there's a programme on tonight at 9pm on ch5 about a child with behavioural problems. I have no idea what the propsed solutions are as I only know about it coz my mum just rang me to tell me.

Blimey, just reading back through that got me riled again. Even with the space of years, I can remember the feelings and general atmosphere like it was yesterday. Spooky.

That period (and it went on a bit) was hideous.

One thing that jumped out at me though, was that it was said more than once that there is no one ABA - it is what is needed. I know I have said often enough over the years that it isn't rocket science (because it isn't) and that a lot of it is obvious (once pointed out).

I think the problem with asking 'what is ABA' is that everyone who has run a programme/has experience will give a completely different answer. Because we are all doing completely different things - there is no central method, no single way of teaching. The ABA bit is in the observation and analysis (before, during and after, of the antecedent, the behaviours and the consequence). That is why there isn't an answer to give.

It was fascinating to read about how life was back then - there is so much about the early years I have blanked out.

OMG!!! I could write in those days.

See what happens when you no longer have to write for a living/to deal with officialdom and your sole writing experience is all MN has to offer.....