Has anyone uses beam aba services parent led therapy

[Faar34]

Hi, I think my 3.5 yr old girl is on the spectrum. The nursery have put an EHCP for her and she has an SLT assessment soon. In the meanwhile I came across mary barbera turn autism around course when I firat suspected she might be autistic. I have been implementing stuff from it and she is showing progress in some areas...but obviously I am not a professional so at times I feel stuck and don't know how to progress in certain areas.

Anyways I came across Beam ABA services and basically you as a parent become the tutor and the BCBA guides youe online. Its a bit more affordable than other options out there.

So I was wondering if anyone has used this service and found it useful? I found this

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/special_needs/4235542-Approx-cost-of-ABA-therapy

Here and 1 user has used it, but I just want to get more people's opinion who have used it.

P.s. I know ABA is controverisal, this discussion is not for discussing that please.

Thanks

I didn't use Beam (not for any particular reason, I just found another provider first). I used a company called Dimensions (my consultant is Midlands-based) and she is lovely. Up until very recently we've been doing a parent-led programme based on the Early Start Denver Model that is all based in play and routine daily activities to encourage joint attention and speech development. You can find a book on the ESDM at Amazon which I found hugely helpful and gives you lots of ideas for making daily activities more impactful, learning-wise. If you're stuck, this book might give you some ideas www.amazon.co.uk/Early-Start-Your-Child-Autism/dp/160918470X?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

If you do get a consultant though, they will do an assessment on where your child's skills are and where they could do with additional support, so take my reading recommendation with that in mind! The approach can't do any harm, but may not be tailored to what will have the greatest benefit for your DD.

Sorry that's not entirely an answer to your question, but hope it's of some use :)

Hi, thanks for replying and I am aware of ESDM as well. I am on a mary barbera closed facebook group where a user has used this therapy and really made a massive difference to his autistic son! Where the mchat score went from...i think 11 to 5 or 6. He also recommended EDSM center called blue sky autism but unfortunately they are not answering emails and picking up the phone so I will definitely check out your suggestion later today.

I also have the book btw. But I don't know why this EDSM seems so daunting to do myself...is it very difficult?

Hiya - I think you can go about it one of two ways - either incorporate the core ideas from that book in your daily life in a more organic way, or get a consultant and set up a formal programme and THEY do that thinking and planning for you, setting out a programme of activities and targets at a really granular level and you just follow their instructions. Progress may be faster and more comprehensive with a formal programme (unless you're an expert in early years development with a thorough understanding of the skills they acquire at this age!) and it's admittedly easier to have someone else come up with the activities for you. However that book really helped me learn to communicate more effectively with my son and we saw a noticeable leap in progress just from our half-baked attempts to implement the approaches ourselves. He's not having conversations yet, but we can see the path to getting there now (he's almost three)

The easiest part so far, that was solely me having a go after reading that book, has been finding routines that provide opportunity to build his vocabulary (if only a word at a time!). For example, one of the first things I did was breaking down his breakfast routine step by step - "let's get your cornflakes! yay! first we need (hold up bowl, he runs toward me, says bowl, I hand it to him), then we need (hold up spoon, he runs to get the spoon, says spoon, I hand it to him), etc etc etc". He learned all the steps to getting breakfast, associated words, and enjoyed this as a game with the running back and forth and the promise of cereal!

The HARDEST part was trying to expand his play interests (the idea that expanded play offers more varied learning opportunities) because my DS is a boy who knows his own mind! At first I was trying to find play ideas myself (Connect Four for turn taking, Gruffalo toys to accompany the story as an attempt at more imaginative play, etc) and some of that worked. Now with a consultant, she brings a lot more ideas to the table, so that's been really helpful as I was running out of ideas. The only challenge now is when my DS just isn't interested - there's not a lot you can do beyond keeping on trying with new toys and games (despite the negative perceptions of ABA we absolutely do not punish DS for something as ridiculous as not playing with a new toy, even within a formal ABA programme)

We're still at relatively early days in the programme, but I'm sticking with it as I can now see we're heading to a positive place! I know you can't 'cure' autism and that's not my goal here, but it really feels like this approach is helping us get over a communications hurdle we've been stuck at for ages.

So thanks again for your detailed reply. Its the coming up with ideas thats...difficult for me aswell. I went through the first few chapters of the book and yea its the coming up with ideas etc that's really worrying me so I think someone else planning etc would be very good.

I had a look at the horizons website...there is nothing on there about having a consultant helping you. Very general overview of services etc. Do I need to contact them and ask them about this?

Also this whole program you are doing, is it online with the consultant and how much is it costing you/month?

I went with a company called Dimensions dimensions-uk.org/. They might not have loads of detail on the website but I contacted them and spoke directly to a consultant before signing up to anything.

I rang loads of companies before deciding and each provider gave me a phone/zoom call for a detailed chat with a consultant, to explain what I was after, ask all the questions I wanted and get a feel for what a programme might look like. A few even coordinated a call with a fellow parent who'd also used their services - I'm sure they're cherry picked for the most positive outcomes, but it's still reassuring. I went with Dimensions in part because I liked the softer approach suggested in the first call, and had a gut instinct that I would like the consultant and so would my DS. I'm sure there are lots of different options out there so defo shop around and go with your instinct! A lot of this I think is finding a person who will understand and connect with your DD, and with you.

Our programme included an initial in-person assessment, and has regular (about monthly) in-person workshops of 2-3 hrs to check progress, brush up my skills with hands on demonstrations and update targets. Beyond that I can contact the consultant via email/Whatsapp/etc any time with questions, updates, etc for advice. The initial assessment and training was expensive, but costs have gone down substantially after that due to fewer consultancy hours (hourly rate about £75ph, plus travel costs). Any provider you contact should give you a full breakdown of costs and give you a very clear understanding of what you're getting into. If they don't then that's a good sign to go elsewhere!

@Faar34 @Scratchybaby
can I ask for an update on how things are for you two? I’m about to start ABA with my daughter soon and looking for as many positive stories!

Hi @Aswad so I didn't end up going with beam because i felt that she needs to listen to someone else and not just me. I went with another provider where its in person 6hrs/week. It is very costly though

She is doing well. At the center she is starting to sit for rhyme time and doing paralell play and listening to their instructions also. Her language is increasing bit by bit but still not at her age level. Though she does now repeat most everything after me and them and others which is a step up from before.

I still do the effort of table time and repetition at home. But generally its little improvement happening. She did start in May 2022 so it has not been too long to say much else. I hope this was helpful.

Yes! We've made great progress, though I think it might have been even more if we'd had better luck securing a long term tutor (they are so difficult to find, at least outside London!)

That said, my DS has gone from not pointing, few words (around 20), not a lot of imitation and limited play at 2.5yo, to now having an uncountable number of words (nouns and verbs), using functional phrases and short sentences, calling us mummy and daddy, and making progress on key skills like mark making, brushing his teeth and getting dressed at 3.5yo. He's still behind, and his speech includes a lot of echolalia rather than conversation, but I've since learned that that is a recognised stage in his path to developing speech and am hopeful we're on to the next stage with more flexible speech and conversation soon and he'll eventually catch up. I'm certain we'd be even further along if we could just get a consistent programme of therapy going (it's difficult juggling alongside work I have to say).

Despite disruptions, he's also really liked a lot of the activities because they've revolved around his interests and included lots of play, singing and reading to him, which he loves. Hopefully your experience is as positive as ours!