We have Abby enrolled to start an on-premise ABA program beginnig Tuesday. She will go Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-4 until there is an opening full-time. We are excited because we have great hopes in what ABA can do for her. She seems like a good candidate for the approach. I've read that sometimes children beginning this type of intervention grow more aggressive. That concerns me for the obvious reasons, plus she has been more self-injurious recently anyway. Can anyone share their experiences beginning ABA? We started SI therapy a few weeks ago and perhaps her increased self-directed anxiety has something to do with that. We've seen an explosion in her communication since beginning though.
Thanks. :)

I am excited for your family!!! ABA has changed my son's life. After 8 months of ABA my son went from a cognitive level of 18 months to 4.1 months. The second time he was tested he was 3.1 months so that to me is just amazing that he could test at a 4.1 level when he had barely turned three. We did not have any negative behavior all because my son really enjoyed his programs. ABA breaks everything down into simple steps and it teaches your brain to learn. It was exactly what he needed to learn to talk and process information. (We also did speech therapy three times a week). I think if you have any trouble in the beginning it will probably go away quickly because the more language she develops the less frustrated she will be which will improve her behavior. Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow that is remarkable progress! I hope that we see the same kind of results.
Thank you for sharing your experience.

Some children do become more aggressive and extremely stimmy when beginning any type of behavior therapy (not just ABA). Any change in your child's day is going to cause this.

If the behavior continues being a real problem for a long time, you might want to consider a different approach. My son was bored to death with ABA, but when we switched to the floor-time method (Greenspan), his response and progress was amazing to watch.

I think that the type of therapy your child receives should depend on what works for your child, not what anyone says is "right." Obviously, if your child freaks out and is extremely distressed every time they see their therapist, it's time to reassess which approach is the right one.

Just my two cents! I hope the therapy works out great, though -- just give your child some time to adjust. It does take some time for them to get used to these demands being placed on them. :)

Some children do become more aggressive and extremely stimmy when beginning any type of behavior therapy (not just ABA). Any change in your child's day is going to cause this.

If the behavior continues being a real problem for a long time, you might want to consider a different approach. My son was bored to death with ABA, but when we switched to the floor-time method (Greenspan), his response and progress was amazing to watch.

I think that the type of therapy your child receives should depend on what works for your child, not what anyone says is "right." Obviously, if your child freaks out and is extremely distressed every time they see their therapist, it's time to reassess which approach is the right one.

Just my two cents! I hope the therapy works out great, though -- just give your child some time to adjust. It does take some time for them to get used to these demands being placed on them. :)

My son is receiving speech therapy for high-functioning autism. I am new to all of this. Can you give me a brief idea of the difference between ABA and the floor-time method? Would the speech therapist be the one who does either method? If not, how do I go about finding someone who does those therapies? Any resources/help you can give me would be appreciated.

You can find a good explanation of the Greenspan method, or "floor time," here: http://www.psllcnj.com/DIR%20Floortime.htm

And a good explanation of ABA here: http://www.behavior.org/ (Click on Autism.)

Many claim that ABA is the only effective way of treating autism, but I (and many other parents) beg to differ. I think that ABA is extremely beneficial for low-functioning autistics -- absolutely. But as a parent of a high-functioning autistic, I can honestly say that ABA was not right for my son, and many professionals agreed. He responded best to the floor time approach. He is a very animated, fun-loving, comical child, and he would completely zone out when therapists did not use a "fun" approach with him. With floor time, the therapists were very boisterous, in his face at all times, and used hand-over-hand to get him to accomplish tasks. It was really something to watch! I couldn't believe how responsive my son was to them, and I think this type of therapy made all the difference in the world to my son.

The bottom line is, don't let anyone tell you what's right for your child without looking into it yourself. You will know what's going to work for your child when you see it -- you just feel it in your gut!

Good luck. :)

Thank you so much for the info. Both sites look interesting. Is it possible to combine these types of therapy? My son is high-functioning but I can see where ABA would benefit him for some things. His speech therapist does floor-time with him and he really responds to her. Our main problem right now is how to keep him from going into his own world. He likes to recite videos (even if he is not watching them) and we have a hard time getting him involved in other activities. Any suggestions?

Our main problem right now is how to keep him from going into his own world. He likes to recite videos (even if he is not watching them) and we have a hard time getting him involved in other activities. Any suggestions?
My daughter is high functioning too. At least she is very verbal, her receptive and attending abilities are very poor and those are two things that ABA specifically addresses. We are doing SI therapy as well and it is child-directed, but for precisely the reason you cited, we feel like Abby will benefit from ABA. Left to her own devices, she would happily "organize" her little things all day. She has echolalia, both immediate and delayed and is hyperlexic. I cannot always immediately determine whether she is expressing an original thought or if she is just parroting something she heard in a video or from her twin. She needs to learn to respond to and accept direction from others. How else will she function in the world? Aside from the reccomendation of the diagnosing Dr., I read about the different approaches in treating autism in a book called Behvioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism by Bryna Siegel, and I found it a great guide to matching a child's strengths and weaknesses to the right therapy(ies). Thought I'd pass it along. Maybe it would help you find the right treatment for your son. Good luck and I'd love to hear what you decide to do. :)

It's definitely possible to combine the two approaches. I forgot to mention that the intensive EI providers who worked with my son used the floor-time approach combined with some ABA. They tended to use the ABA on an as-needed basis. For instance, when they saw that he was having trouble staying with the task long enough to complete it, or if he was getting too frustrated with what they were asking of him, or too overstimulated, they would strap him into his booster seat and give him simple tasks to complete using ABA.

I loved the combination of the two, because my son needed very little ABA.

As for your son reciting videos, WOW, that is completely my son! It bothered me for a very long time that he was doing that all the time. It gradually got better, though. He still does it (recites videos or just anything on t.v., like "Stay tuned, there's more to come on PBS! Go to www.pbs.com!"), but it's becoming less of a zoned-out thing and more of an interactive thing, meaning now he will look at us and recite something with a smile on his face, like "Aren't I cute?" :rolleyes:

What we do is redirect him immediately when we see that the reciting is interfering with something he should be attending to (a toy he's playing with, someone talking to him, etc.). We say, "Drew, we're not talking about ___ right now. We're ___ (talking, playing, eating, or whatever)."

How old is your son? I'm wondering, because it's become much easier to redirect my son as he's gotten a little older (he's almost 4 now), because he seems to understand what we're saying better. We've actually started saying "No t.v. talk" when he's doing the reciting, and he seems to understand and stops immediately (most of the time). We're also going to be starting to use social stories with him, and the reciting is definitely at the top of my list of things to work on with him using social stories. It will no longer be cute if he's still doing this in kindergarten!

I have heard about awesome progress with social stories. Good luck with that!!

Thank you Shue and Wisegirl22 for the info. The book mentioned by Bryna Siegel is one that I have seen and am interested in buying asap. As for the reciting of tv/video lines, we will definitely try redirecting him as you suggest. My son is 3 years and 5 months old and hopefully he will respond to "No t.v. talk" as your son has. I am not familiar with social stories or SI therapy. Can either of you tell me more about those? If I try to get him involved in something besides the videos or computer sites (PBSkids, Playhouse Disney, ...) by asking "How about if we do ____?" (puzzles, books, blocks, etc), he just says no to me. Occasionally, if I am playing with his brother, he will look over and get interested in what we are doing. Is there a better way to get him interested in other things?

I wouldn't pose anything as a question. If you want your son to do something, it's not up to him to decide. We just say, "It's time to ___." For instance, "We're not talking about ___ right now. It's time to play with blocks (play with your brother, sing a song with Mommy, etc.)."

My husband falls into the trap of asking Drew his "opinion," and I constantly have to correct him. "Drew, do you want to brush your teeth?" Drew says, "No!" Surprise, surprise! :lol "It's time to ___" works much better!

Also, your son is probably very visual (as most are), so if you could find a picture of a t.v. and glue it to a piece of cardboard (or something like it) and draw a circle around it and a line through it, you could show that to him when you say "No t.v. talk" so he gets the idea. Seeing pictures of what you're talking about really helps these kids. My son understands what we say pretty well, but he is so enthusiastic and cooperative when we reinforce with pictures. If your son sees therapists, you can ask them how about getting "PEC's." It's really early right now, and I completely forget what that stands for -- maybe I'll edit this post later!

When is his b-day? I think our kiddos are about the same age. Abby and Emma Jean turned three in December.:)
SI is sensory intergration. Abby goes to an OT twice a week for 45 minute sessions to work on sensory issues. She is weak in a lot of areas and has a lot of "defensiveness" and seeks deep pressure and vestibular stimulation often. I am a little unconvinced about the value of SI. There is no really good evidence of its effectiveness, but something has really caused an explosion in Abby's language in the past three weeks and it began before we started the ABA so....?? The whole process makes perfect sense to my husband so I guess he's the SI booster and I am the ABA booster in our family, LOL.

Karen~Thank you so much for pointing out what should have been an obvious thing to me, but wasn't, LOL! How much smarter it is not to allow for a yes or no answer! I have been following your husband's tack and I am going to change that today! Thank you, thank you!!

Now I remember. PEC stands for the Picture Exchange Communication system. You can print a lot of them here (http://www.dotolearn.com/).

My son loves using the pictures. I have a strip of plastic on my refrigerator with pieces of velcro lined up in a row. We keep all the pictures in a bag (all with velcro on the back), and you can create a schedule that way. When each thing is completed, you have the child take the picture off and put it in an "all done" envelope (or basket, or whatever else).

I checked, and they do have a picture of a television under "leisure." :)

Karen ~ I agree with Shue -- thank you for pointing out we shouldn't phrase questions with yes or no answers. I will try your way. Thank you for the PEC system website. My husband and I are concerned though because since our son is verbal and has a fantastic vocabulary that using pictures will not encourage him to speak more. I will use the pictures though to create a schedule for him so we can limit TV and computer usage.

Shue ~ Our son was 3 in October, so yes, our kids are about the same age. He has a behavioral therapist/sensory eval (as well as a psychological eval) through the intermediate unit in 2 weeks so we will see if they find any sensory issues.

Thank you both for the info and support. I am still trying to find a support group in my area and talking to everyone online here is helping so much.