ABA issue

[ecki]

I was wondering if anyone does ABA and how it's going.

Kayla started an ABA program at the beginning of the school year. She only gets 4 hours a week at school with a certified ABA instructor (plus one hour at home). But her 1:1 aide runs the trials 2 or 3 times a day.

The problem is that Kayla only does the trials she likes. Everything else she just ignores, no matter what reinforcer is used. For example, they are trying to teach her to associate PECS pictures with objects. So they show her a banana and want her to touch the PECS picture. Of course she KNOWS which one it is but absolutely refuses to touch it! Drives me crazy!

But if you put a puzzle in front of her, no problem!

Anyone else have issues like this? What have you done about it?

 

[wdwdancerwannabe]

I am a speech/language pathologist - 10th year in a school district...

hope I can help.

The thing about ABA is that it has to be CONSTANT - almost 24/7. As you (parent) interact w/ her throughout her day/at home, you should be using the same strategies/language.

On the PECS issue (which I know more about than ABA) - first things first - we have to make sure that she can match a real banana to a real banana - then can she match a real banana to a picture of a banana - THEN go to the PECS. She may not have made the association yet.

Furthermore - again - PECS should be used in her natural everyday environment/routine - not just in tx....even in these beginning stages. SO - for example - during snack time - we need a PEC for juice and one for milk for her to make choices. At first she will just GRAB for the actual item. Then the para behind her - hand over hand assist - says, "I want ______" and motors her to pic up the matching PEC and exchange w/ the teacher.

Also have two PECS for the food item - i.e., one for cracker and one for fruit.

PECS is not as successful in a tx setting, but works better when the SLP is IN the classroom utilizing the PECS in their daily routine/activities/toys/etc.

Children who are developmentally delayed don't carryover/generalize the skills used in 1:1 tx room into the classroom/home - this is why we need to provide the tx in the natural environment as much as possible....

what do you think of all of what i said...do you agree?

 

[ecki]

I asked about a formal PECS program with Kayla since she is nonverbal. Everyone keeps saying that they think she will be talking, so they don't want to do a formal PECS program. We are doing a Total Communication approach (some words, some signs, some PECS), but they are applying it so haphazardly that I just don't think it's working.

We do use photo cards for food choices at school and at home. She's got THAT down! (she won't do it in a controlled ABA setting, I'm guessing because it doesn't have any meaning to her -- if she doesn't want a banana why should she point to it?) They have the PECS picture in the corner of the photo card. But in over a year they haven't expanded that to either just using the PECS cards for food or even expanded it to requesting things besides food. I'm very frustrated by the whole process. We just seem stuck right now.

 

[belle&beast]

I am a speech/language pathologist - 10th year in a school district...

hope I can help.

The thing about ABA is that it has to be CONSTANT - almost 24/7. As you (parent) interact w/ her throughout her day/at home, you should be using the same strategies/language.

On the PECS issue (which I know more about than ABA) - first things first - we have to make sure that she can match a real banana to a real banana - then can she match a real banana to a picture of a banana - THEN go to the PECS. She may not have made the association yet.

Furthermore - again - PECS should be used in her natural everyday environment/routine - not just in tx....even in these beginning stages. SO - for example - during snack time - we need a PEC for juice and one for milk for her to make choices. At first she will just GRAB for the actual item. Then the para behind her - hand over hand assist - says, "I want ______" and motors her to pic up the matching PEC and exchange w/ the teacher.

Also have two PECS for the food item - i.e., one for cracker and one for fruit.

PECS is not as successful in a tx setting, but works better when the SLP is IN the classroom utilizing the PECS in their daily routine/activities/toys/etc.

Children who are developmentally delayed don't carryover/generalize the skills used in 1:1 tx room into the classroom/home - this is why we need to provide the tx in the natural environment as much as possible....

what do you think of all of what i said...do you agree?

ITA! I am also a speech pathologist and work in the preschool setting. Iuse PECS a lot with kids and always ask the paraprofessionals to use it when I am not in the classroom.

I know that there are many people that have had success with ABA, but I agree with the carry-over issue. In both the preschool where I work now and the early intevention teams I did in the past, we used a more play-based approach. Stanley Greenspan is the author of many great books and we use his techniques. There is definitely a place for ABA, but I believe play-based therapy is very beneficial, too.

I asked about a formal PECS program with Kayla since she is nonverbal. Everyone keeps saying that they think she will be talking, so they don't want to do a formal PECS program. We are doing a Total Communication approach (some words, some signs, some PECS), but they are applying it so haphazardly that I just don't think it's working.

We do use photo cards for food choices at school and at home. She's got THAT down! (she won't do it in a controlled ABA setting, I'm guessing because it doesn't have any meaning to her -- if she doesn't want a banana why should she point to it?) They have the PECS picture in the corner of the photo card. But in over a year they haven't expanded that to either just using the PECS cards for food or even expanded it to requesting things besides food. I'm very frustrated by the whole process. We just seem stuck right now.

In my experience, students using PECS become verbal- that is one of the great things about it! One of the basics of PECS is that you have to have pictures of highly motivating objects. That is why we tend to start with favorite foods. So, maybe they could get pictures of favorite toys, too. Good luck and if you have any specific questions, feel free to send me a PM.

 

[creativeamanda]

I am my district's ABA/autism coordinator. If Kayla has a 1:1 shadow, then why is she not receiving more time with ABA? To me, with her level of disability, I would personally never recommend less than 2-3 hours daily (ie--10-15 hours per week). Also, I have a lot of success using a verbal behavior approach, with the child leading, finding highly motivating activities and shaping those highly motivating activities into communicative intent.

Although there is a lot of anecdotal information that PECs leads to verbalizations, there is no empirical data to substantiate that. But you can't deny the anecdotal records, because it gives the most "meaty" information about what the kids are doing. That being said, I have to say, I am of the "Carbonne/Verbal Behavior/BF Skinner" court in ABA. I have had great success not using PECs with my students with autism. One child I am working with now has very severe physical limitations and the fact that she does not have to shuffle through pages of pictures has made her more likely to communicate. I'm not saying that PECs doesn't work--I am saying it does not work for every situation.