Would any mums be able to help me out with their experiences with ABA and what autism means to them?

[MrTumbledoesmyheadin]

Hi Everyone

Im applying to work with children with ASD I don't have any experience in this yet so have been doing lots of research as I have been lucky enough to be shortlisted for an interview. I have to give a presentation on my understanding of Autism and also the use of ABA.

Its only for 5 minutes so im trying to condense a lot of things ive learnt about a very complex subject into something simple but effective . I think it would really help me to hear some parents views of in short terms what autism means to them and their child/children.

Thanks so much

I'd say it's a good idea to have a read through the messages on here to get an idea of how life is for us, and for those that care for us.

What it means to me? If you use the Advanced Search thingy at the top of the page and put in as a thread title to search for..

A Day In the Life of Amber

or

Another Day in the Life of Amber

it should come up with threads where I've talked a bit about life in school, etc. It might help, it might not.

Hi,
Mr. Tumble is a saint in our house!! Not liking your name

My DS has a general developmental delay, he is not on the autistic spectrum, but I did use some of ABA/VB's principles in his teaching. So if you want I can give you my opinion.

It is a huge subject and very difficult to cover in just a few minutes. Presumabely they will give you all the relavant training?

Before knowing about ABA, I was trying to teach my child difficult skills that he was not remotely interested in trying. As a consecuence I was pulling my hair out and he was dreading playing with me. After ABA I realised that he would not learn anything unless he was motivated to do so. It changed the way I approached our playing time and he is miles ahead of what anyone would have hoped for.

I think that applied correctly it can be extremely beneficial in motivating a child to try a skill that he/she finds too difficult or uninteresting. A skilled ABA therapist will be able to identify what really motivates a child and use it to their advantage. In my opinion the person doing this job also needs to have strength of character and very patient because initially it can be exhausting getting the child to comply with what is being asked.

I really like this little paragraph:

"Using motivation and reinforcement in unison will create an ever-increasing desire to accomplish any skill to which these two principles are consistently applied. This is why ABA/VB help a child desire the learning process. If your child is consistently given motivation to attempt a new skills and finds that the successful completion of that skills is consistently met with a positive experience, the child will have an ever-increasing desire to accomplish that skill again."

To me, ABA (or Verbal Behaviour - VB - which is the subset of ABA which we use) is pretty much common sense. It's about discouraging bad or anti-social behaviours and encouraging good behaviours through rewards and motivation. For instance, we helped toilet train my autistic DS with choc rewards or his favourite toy, but we stopped him from throwing food around via aversive techniques (eg naughty step, time out). It's also about breaking every piece of learning down into tiny parts - so first he learns to hold a pen, then draw a dot, then draw a line, then copy a line and a circle, then write an "a". In VB, language or speaking is treated like any other learned behaviour - eg he can learn that making the sounds "toast" with his lips, gets him a good result (some toast), just like pointing a finger to something high up usually gets him that thing brought down by someone taller. My DS learned to say his first word through a process of imitation - learning first to imitate actions (eg clap hands, stamp foot) and then to imitate "mouth actions" eg "mum" "dad". Each time, he would get a reward for good imitation so it was fun for him , not a lesson. There is way more to it of course, but that's the simple way I describe it to people who are thinking it's something baffling or obscure.

Thanks everyone

Sorry about the name i changed it ages ago when t was on in the background and his voice was annoying me, i think the programme is good tho!

How do i change it again i forgot??

Anyway the good news is I got the job! Spent half the day meeting and working with the kids which I really enjoyed! I know its going to be hard work but I think im going to love it!

They really liked my presentation and said they thogh I had got a good understanding of ABA and had the enthusiasm for it.

Amber before you wrote I had read some of your posts and found them really helpful so cheers for that!

Thanks again you have helped me change my career to something im actually interested in ))