Help with ABA - How do i get started?

[mum2fred]

OK. There seems to be a consensus on here that ABA is a really effective way to go and dh and I really want to get a program started (ds1 2.5 ASD). Just wasted an hour trying to source good info on it (should have just stayed on MN!)

So far I have had a good look at PEACH and requested an info pack.

Does anyone else know of an organisation/ case manager / consultant that works from central or South London? Personal recommendations would be adored.

ALSO

We have miraculously managed to get DS into a very nice local nursey for 2 days a week (as his socialisation sits on zero) and would like to keep him in that. Would ABA be able to work around that - ie. is is possible/ effective to do it part-time over 3 days a week?

ALSO

how long will it take me (if i push hard) to get a program up and running?

Any other thoughts, links or first-hand experiences with ABA would be appreciated.

Phew! Thanking you in advance.....

[moondog]

Well said Electra.
I agree with you whole-heartedly, particulalry this bit:

'Of course, a toddler running around who clearly has ASD is just as cute as any other, but people don't think the behaviours are so cute at 7,14,21 etc...'

I work with adults too so see very clearly the results of the 'let them be' approach.
Not pleasant in many cases.

[cyberseraphim]

I agree that we should not be frightened of formal learning for any child whether ASD or not - what is wrong with rote learning anyway? I learned x tables by rote and can't think of any other way to do it. Of course the higher level stuff, relationships between numbers leading to maths etc is the real learning but the foundations have to go down before the building. But I don't think that you can conclude that if a certain adult had been on a certain program, that the outcome would have been different. There are so many unknown factors in this equation.

[mum2fredandpudding]

sounds great starlight. every bit helps. i find it so hard to put into practse, i admire your ability to find occasions.

re: books, ive got it on order from lulu.com so cant ouch for it myself, but a mother doing ABA/VB right now said that robert schramm's Turning the Tables on AUtism is her ABA bible.
]]www.knospe-aba.com/cms/en/home.html]] is his website which has a great section on ABA info.

our situation has changed a little in that the more nad more feedback we get from Oz, the more the sugestion from the professionals s how much better the access is to help here in hte uk

so we are now thinking that we are going to stay here for 6 month - 1 year and get a good whack of therapy under our belts so that we feel more confident about transferring it to australia

(how MUCH are our lives turned over by a dx?!? amazing.)

So we have organised a starting session with Duncan Fennemore from the end of hte month and im madly trying to source tutors.

(if any of you lovely lades doing ABA have great tutors who are looking for some more work in london....)

Have also started hte statementing process by speaking with my council and im already lost Perhaps it is just Friday brain (and the fact im madly packing boxes for a move in a few days which looks like being a painful one)

[moondog]

Starlight, sounds terrific!

[moondog]

And Cyber, exactly.

Exactly.

[cyberseraphim]

I agree Electra - an ASD child who receives no help at all compared with one who gets good 1-1 (whether ABA or something else) is likely to have a much poorer outcome. Equally an NT child left in the desert won't do that well compared to one that goes to school. It's just that I sometimes get the impression that some ABA providers over stress the positive outcomes to parents. When DS1 was dxd, I spoke to 2 parents who did intensive ABA (but in both cases child was still effectively non verbal) whereas I have since met other parents who have done nothing specific or very intensive but whose children are doing fairly well. But that's hardly a conclusive survey and personally I am finding VB very useful esp the VB - Mapp as it shows you how to assess your child's language development, which as we all know is information you cannot get from an NHS SALT for love or money...

[moondog]

yber, I am very interested in what you say here

I am finding VB very useful esp the VB - Mapp as it shows you how to assess your child's language development, which as we all know is information you cannot get from an NHS SALT for love or money...

Can you elaborate further?

[cyberseraphim]

Sorry maybe that was too sweeping - i know some SALTs are very good Just the one I have now although a great improvement on the last one is still a bit vague and 'oh well that's just autism for you' in her remarks about DS1's language development.

[moondog]

No need to apologise.
I agree.
I don't think the vast majority of SALTs have appropriate skills to deal with this population so looking for specific examples to back up my theory.

[mum2fredandpudding]

''So a lot depends on quality of tutors''

eek!

[moondog]

The gold standard is having someone in charge who has either an MSc or PhD in ABA or is a BCBA (Board Certified Behaviour Analyst).

The field has been poorly regulated until now but this is changing fast.

[moondog]

Electra, re this comment

'But cyberseraphim - I think ABA, more than anything else has research to show that it does actually work'

It's not just that you tihnk, it is in fact the truth.Nothing else (SALT, SIT, music therapy, Portage, blah blah blah) has such a strong evidence base for this population.

Fact.