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Hey b hey therapy for autists. Disadvantages and advantages of ABA therapy. Necessary conditions for the effectiveness of the correction of childhood autism under the ABA program

STATE PROFESSIONAL

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

"PROFESSIONAL COLLEGE OF NOVOKUZNETSK"

ABSTRACT

"METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF AVA THERAPY"

Completed:

Kungurtseva A.V.

teacher

GPOU PC of Novokuznetsk

Novosibirsk 2016

CONTENT

Introduction 3

1. General characteristics of ABA therapy 5

2. Characteristics of method 7

3. Ava Therapy Techniques for Developing Skills 11

4. The principle of ABA 12 methodology

5. Benefits of ABA 16

6. Disadvantages of the methodology 17

7. Possible difficulties 18

Conclusion 20

References 22

INTRODUCTION

Currently, there are several different approaches to the diagnosis and correction of autism, so parents of autistic children and professionals working with them have to make a choice in favor of a particular correction system. This is not easy to do, especially for parents, as they have to navigate the sea of ​​special information on their own in order to understand who and where will provide their child with the most qualified assistance.

Attentive parents discover that their child is autistic when he is still very young. At a time when ordinary babies begin to gradually recognize their mother (at about 2 months), a child with autism is completely indifferent to the outside world. Already a month after the birth of the baby, the mother can determine by crying what he wants: to play, eat, he is cold, wet, and so on. With an autistic child, this is impossible, his crying, as a rule, is inexpressive, monotonous. At 1-2 years old, babies with autism can say their first words, but their use is devoid of any meaning. The child prefers to be alone. Remaining for some period without a mother or a close relative, he does not show much concern. Over time, the baby also does not show strong attachment to parents and does not seek to communicate with peers. The exact reasons for this condition have not yet been established. Scientists suggest that this condition appears due to brain development disorders, chromosomal abnormalities, gene mutations. Despite the impression that autistics do not need anyone, such kids really need communication, they want to be understood, they just do not know how to do it. The task of parents is to help such a child to establish contact with the outside world.

Currently, there are a large number of methods for the correction and adaptation of children with autism. Most of them are developed abroad. Methods of correction and adaptation differ significantly from each other, as well as theories about the causes of autism. There are psychological, medical, biological methods of correction. The most common description of the following biological methods:

    Normalization of nutrition, excluding from the diet products containing gluten and casein.

    Chelation - removal of heavy metals

    Medical and homeopathic treatment.

In addition, various specialists offer a variety of methods: communication with animals, sand therapy, music therapy, osteopathy and others.

Below is an analysis of the most popular and common psychological methods for correcting autism. Conventionally, these methods can be divided into:

Teaching methods (ABA-therapy, TEACCH),

Methods that restore emotional bonds between mother and child with autism (FLOORTIME, holding therapy)

Neuro-corrective methods (sensory integration)

One approach is behavioral therapy, and the most popular variant is the ABA program.

1. General characteristics of ABA therapy

"If a child cannot learn

the way we teach it

then we should teach it like this,

how can he learn

Ole Ivar Lovaas

ABA Therapy (Applied Behavioral Analysis) Applied Behavior Analysis or the Lovaas Method) is a treatment system for autism spectrum disorders pioneered by Dr. Ivar Lovaas in the Department of Psychology at the University of California in 1987. The idea of ​​the method is that social behavioral skills can be instilled even in children with severe autism through a system of rewards and consequences.

In 1995, Ivar Lovaas created the Lovaas Institute in Los Angeles, which trains teachers to work according to his methodology. There are currently thousands of children in the US and around the world receiving Lovaas therapy. In Russia, this method was first widely used in the Center for Psychological, Medical and Social Support for Children and Adolescents of the Moscow Department of Education .

ABA Therapy is an intensive training program based on behavioral technologies and teaching methods,which make it possible to study the influence of environmental factors on the behavior of an autistic person and change it, that is, manipulate these factors. Another name for ABA therapy is behavior modification. The idea of ​​the ABA program is that any behavior has consequences, and when the child likes it, he will repeat these actions, but if he does not like it, he will not.

The behavior of an autistic child often seems unpredictable and strange. He can spend hours immersed in his stereotypes, show aggression or panic fear in completely harmless situations, and most importantly, completely refuse any cooperation.

In ava-therapy, the function of behavior is distinguished (4 main types of behavior), the preceding factors, the reactions of the environment (primarily people), and various stimuli that contribute to the emergence of a particular behavioral reaction are identified. Often, for effective analysis, it is necessary to conduct sufficiently long observations and collect statistics for further processing. This process involves not only the avatarist, but also all members of the child's family.

This process is not fast and laborious, but as a result, the mysterious behavior ceases to be such and becomes meaningful. Naturally, from the point of view of an ordinary person, this meaning seems distorted, but even a bizarre image reflected in a crooked mirror still has human features. The first step of the ava-therapist is to describe the bizarre behavior reflected in the distorting mirror of autism.

To describe the current level of development and determine current goals, testing is carried out according to the VP-MAPP system or an alternative system. The program is a guide for the ava-therapist for a certain period. Formally, it is believed that the program should be adjusted once a month, but in reality, the need for adjustment appears as the child masters new skills, and the adjustment period can reach two months or more. To track the current level of mastering the program, checklists are used, which are filled in by the avatarist every lesson. The checklists record all the basic data related to the implementation of the program and showing the dynamics of the child's development. It can be said that this is the main tool for evaluating the effectiveness of the avatarist's work and subsequent adjustments to the program.

2. Characteristics of the method

    Applied : ABA pays attention, first of all, to socially significant forms of behavior. At the same time, behavior analysts must take into account not only short-term changes in behavior, but also take into account how these changes can affect the client, his environment and the interaction between them.

    Behavioral : ABA works with behavior, that is, the behavior itself changes, and not what the subject says about it. For the behavioral analyst, the goal is not to stop the client's behavioral complaints, but to change the problematic behavior itself. In addition, behavior can be objectively measured. What is not behavior, behavioral analysts do not work.


fig2. Scheme of work with a child

behavior pattern. Then, when the intervention in the behavior stops or decreases, the behavior is again measured and its changes are assessed. If the intervention of the scientist really affected the target behavior, then the parameters of behavior should change simultaneously with these external influences.

    Technological : If any behavioral analyst takes the description of the training program, he can "reproduce the program with the same results." This means that the curriculum should be very detailed and carefully written, and there should be no room for ambiguity. Cooper has a description of a good verification mechanism for performance characteristics: “Let a person qualified in the ABA read the description of the procedure carefully, and then reproduce it in detail. If he makes mistakes, adds redundant operations or omits some steps, or asks questions to clarify what he read, then the description is not technological enough and needs to be improved. The ABA Technology Feature is a feature that shows that with a clearly defined program of action, anyone can apply behavioral learning methods.

    Conceptual : This is a defining characteristic regarding the use of interventions. Any research and program in the ABA must be conceptually justified in terms of the fundamental principles of behavioral analysis. This sign of ABA suggests that the entire methodology in ABA is based on the principles and laws of behavior. For example, the method of using rewards is based on the principle of reinforcing behavior, the method of using prompts is based on the principle of transferring control over behavior to relevant antecedents, the method of ignoring behavior whose function is to attract attention is based on the principle of stopping reinforcing or extinguishing behavior, and so on. It is important to remember that there are no methods in ABA that are not conceptually sound.

    Effective : When applying behavioral techniques, the result of a change in behavior is always monitored. In particular, the work is carried out not with the theoretical value of the variable, but always with the practical (social) significance of changes in behavior. Due to the fact that ABA collects and analyzes data on an ongoing basis, this allows the learning process to be carried out effectively. If the data shows us that the child has already learned to distinguish between cards of family members (makes 80% of the correct reactions) - this indicates that it is time to start working on a new goal, and not “torture” the child with these cards for another year. If the data shows that when applying a behavior modification procedure (e.g., blaming) to reduce unwanted behavior (jumping on sofas), there is no change in behavior, and the amount of unwanted behavior has not decreased - this suggests that you need to change the procedure and use a different one ( for example, encourage when a child sits quietly or plays with toys, or jumps on a trampoline instead of a sofa). After that, continue to monitor the process, and if the new procedure did not help, make adjustments again and choose another procedure.

    General : Behavioral change must last for a long time, in a variety of settings, and extend to behaviors other than the one being treated. Moreover, a further change in the target behavior after the intervention is stopped is also an example of a generalization. The general sign of ABA suggests that if a child has learned a skill in one environment, it is necessary to take care that he generalizes this skill in another environment, in everyday life and in everyday life. If a child learned to say the sound “A” in class, but then does not use this sound, even when he wants an orange, then this is not ABA, this is a waste of time. The use of ABA assumes that those changes in behavior that have occurred as a result of behavioral correction will be permanent and will help a person improve the quality of his own life.

    Ava Therapy Techniques for Developing Skills

In order to clearly understand what this method is, you need to consider ittypes, directions of effective influence on the behavior of the child. During classes, apply:

1. Discrete attempts technique is to break down complex problems into simpler ones. In order to fulfill them, short periods of time are given, during which tips are given. Because of this, the effectiveness of training is greatly increased. There may be several attempts.

2. Verbal behavior - the purpose of this technique is to teach a child to talk by forming connections between words and their meanings. With this type of work, a specialist can conduct several different exercises: say words, and the child will repeat them; name objects, and the baby will point to him and say his name; teaching a demand or command when a child has to ask for something and only in this case he will receive it.

3. Learning in the natural environment teaches the child how to behave in various situations that the therapist models for him. It is based on the realization of how important it is to give real practical meaning to the skills that a child is learning. This method involves learning skills in the environment in which they will subsequently be used. Using the child's natural daily environment during therapy can help increase the generalization of acquired skills to different everyday situations. In the process of random learning, teachers or instructors use natural opportunities to help the child learn to speak. The child chooses any desired activity or activity, and the instructor follows the initiative or interest of the child. These teaching strategies have been developed to facilitate the generalization of acquired skills and improve memorization. Once the child is placed in a natural situation in which he is interested, the instructor consistently helps him with the goal of encouraging the child's response. For example, a child is swinging on a swing and needs the instructor to push the swing to get the child to swing higher. The instructor waits until the child himself asks for it and only when he asks the instructor will push the swing. Each time he waits for the request of the child and only after that he pushes the swing.

4. Main reactions - This technique is needed to increase motivation. Usually it uses tasks of choice, alternation, each attempt should be encouraged.

5. Self-management training It is aimed at ensuring that the child can learn to perform actions independently and be more independent from parents. The kid learns to evaluate and control his behavior.

6. Video modeling. This method allows you to teach the observance of hygiene procedures, various social skills, understanding emotions, etc. It consists in the fact that the child is shown several times presentations demonstrating the desired behavior.

    The principle of the ABA technique

ABA specialists argue that skills development sessions should be intensive - for example, with a young child (up to 3 years old), it is suggested to engage in at least 30 hours a week.

Special attention is paid to the “undesirable behavior” of an autistic child. Each type of such behavior (stereotypes, aggression, etc.) is consistently eliminated or at least reduced, also with the help of a system of rewards and punishments.

Based on the data obtained, hypotheses are put forward about the causes of behavior, which are tested in further work. Having identified the cause of undesirable behavior, they select an alternative, which the patient will have to learn.

A key principle in the ABA is the reward principle. A reward is an event that follows a behavior and increases the likelihood of that behavior occurring again. In other words, the reward reinforces the behavior after which it is given. Encouragement does not necessarily coincide with what a person likes. For example, a teacher may scold a student for misbehaving in class, but since this is the only way the child can get attention from the teacher, misconduct will occur more frequently. That is, the teacher's reprimand will be an encouragement for the student's behavior to violate discipline.

ABA therapy for autistics is the basis of most programs that are aimed at treating this disorder in children. The value of behavioral therapy has been confirmed by numerous studies over 30 years. Specialists and parents who have used such a technique as ABA therapy in classes with children leave the following feedback: communication skills are improving; adaptive behavior is normalized; learning ability improves. In addition, thanks to this program, the manifestations of behavioral deviations are significantly reduced. It has also been proven that the earlier ABA therapy courses are started (preferably at preschool age), the more noticeable the results will be.

With this technique, all complex skills for autistics, such as contact, speech, creative play, the ability to look into the eyes, listen, and others are divided into separate small action blocks. Each of them is then taught to the child separately.The performance of each action is worked out with the help of a system of rewards and punishments.As a result, the blocks are connected into a single chain, which forms one complex action.and thus a certain skill is formed.The autism specialist, during the process of learning activities, gives a child with an autism spectrum disorder a task. If the kid cannot cope with it on his own, the teacher gives him a hint, and then rewards the child for the correct answers, while incorrect answers are ignored. This is the basis of ABA therapy. Training according to this method consists of several stages.

First stage: starting simple One of the exercises in the program is "Language-Comprehension". The specialist gives the child a certain task or stimulus, for example, asks to raise his hand, immediately gives a hint (raises the child’s hand), then rewards the child for the correct answer. Having made several joint attempts, the baby tries to complete the action without prompting. The specialist repeats the same phrase to the child again and waits for him to independently correct the answer. If the kid answers correctly, without prompts, he receives a reward (praise him, give him something tasty, let him play, etc.). If the child does not give the correct answer, the task is repeated again using the hint. Then the baby again tries to do everything on his own. The exercise ends when the child was able to give the correct answer without prompting. When 90% of the child's independent answers to the specialist's task are correct, a new stimulus is introduced, for example, they are asked to nod their heads. It is important that the tasks are as different as possible from each other. The new task is processed in the same way.

Second phase: fix the material. After the child has mastered the second task well - “nod your head”, the exercise is complicated. The learned actions alternate in random order: "nod your head" - "raise your hand", "raise your hand" - "raise your hand" - "nod your head" and so on. Tasks are considered mastered when in 90% of cases the child gives the correct answer when alternating the learned exercises. According to the same scheme, the third stimulus is introduced and worked out, and so on.

Third stage: summarize and consolidate. At this stage, the acquired skills are generalized. When the child has accumulated a sufficient number of mastered important stimuli (“take”, “give”, “come here”, etc.), attention is paid to generalization. Exercises begin to be carried out in unusual and unexpected places (on the street, in a store, in a bathroom). After that, people alternate giving the child tasks (specialist, mom, dad, grandfather, grandmother).

Fourth stage. This is the final stage. At some point, the child not only masters the stimuli worked out with him, but also begins to understand new tasks on his own, additional processing is no longer required. For example, he is given the task “close the door”, shown 1-2 times and this is already quite enough. If this is successful, then the program has been mastered, and ABA therapy is no longer needed. The child begins to further absorb information from the environment, as do normally developing toddlers who do not suffer from autism.

For element-by-element learning and honing dozens of actions and objects, a lot of effort and time is needed. It is believed that for children diagnosed with autism, ABA therapy will be most effective if at least 30-40 hours a week are given to classes according to this method. It is advisable to start studying according to such a program before the child turns 6 years old. AVA tarpia is also effective for older children. But the sooner everything starts, the better the end result will be.

    Benefits of the ABA Method

For children with autism, ABA therapy is extremely effective. Learning is not just about repeating the right behavior, the professional therapist helps the child transfer the right model from one situation to another. The most important component in achieving success is the direct participation of parents in the ABA program. Positive results appear fairly quickly. According to the research of the founder of this technique, Ivar Lovaas, about half of the children who received correction under the ABA program can be trained in a regular school. The condition and behavior improved in more than 90% of children from the total number of those who received correction using this method. ABA therapy makes it possible to consistently develop a child, socialize and introduce into society. In children with autism, stereotypes almost completely disappear. The ABA technique allows children who turned to correction late (5-6 years old) to master speech. The program covers all areas of knowledge: from the development of the conceptual apparatus to the formation and improvement of household self-service skills.

Advantages of the ABA Method

    The technique brings fast and pronounced results.

    The technique allows you to consistently develop the child, up to the withdrawal of the child from an inadequate state

    The technique allows you to use almost all known methods of work and borrow the methods of other techniques.

    Children with autism completely or almost completely get rid of stereotypes

    Only the ABA technique allows you to master speech for children who turned to correction late

    The methodology is complex, that is, it covers absolutely all areas of knowledge: from the development of the conceptual apparatus to the formation of household self-service skills.

    Disadvantages of the technique

Unfortunately, ABA therapy cannot be applied at the initial stage if a child with autism is afraid of strangers. The program is quite tough, it should be used carefully. Parents both morally and physically must be ready for full return, work is carried out constantly, the system of rewards and punishments is not violated. Breaks or weakening of work is not desirable, as this may affect the result. It is important to understand that the child is not trained, but trained - they teach skills by repeating them many times. To work according to this method, complete obedience of the child is necessary, and sometimes it is quite difficult to achieve it. It is very important to control classes according to such a program, however, at home one should also try to organize a development system that would correspond to the correctional plan.

Disadvantages of the ABA Method

    This technique is not suitable at the initial stage of correction of the child, if the child has a fear of strangers, but there is a strong attachment to the mother

    Also, it is better to use this rather rigid technique to a limited extent (for example, only for the formation of speech), if the child is not just contact, but is socially adapted and strives, easily enters into communication with children.

    This technique requires the full dedication of one of the relatives of the child.

    The methodology takes into account a fairly strict system of punishments and rewards. However, correction requires complete trust on the part of parents to the actions of the teacher, otherwise there will be no result.

    Work on this system does not tolerate a break in the classroom. Even in case of illness, a lesson is held with the child (in a lightweight form, short, to repeat what has been covered). But relief is not possible.

    The technique requires constant supervision, strict control not only over the classes, but also over the creation of a development system at home corresponding to the correction plan.

    The technique requires at the initial stage the complete obedience of the child, which is not always easy to achieve if the child was brought up before the correction in the system of permissiveness and full service from relatives

    Possible difficulties

The motivation of children diagnosed with autism is somewhat different from that of ordinary kids. It is important to identify what the child may be interested in, will motivate him. Approval or censure for autistic children is ineffective; at the initial stage, praise can be combined with a real reward. Such kids cannot focus on anything for a long time and are often distracted, so it is important to conduct classes in silence, divide tasks into small segments. Repetition compensates for the slowness in learning, abstract concepts are explained in the simplest possible phrases. After the child learns to freely communicate with the teacher one on one, you can offer him communication with two people and so gradually increase the number of others. In such children, the observation skill is ineffective, so imitation is used. Proper learning is hindered by self-stimulation - rocking, clapping. Autistic children do not distinguish between essential and non-essential stimuli, their reaction can sometimes be too pronounced or, conversely, very weak. To obtain information, they most often rely on sight rather than hearing. Children who perceive information well by ear are most successful in the ABA program.

ABA therapy is the only method of corrective work with autistic children that causes so many controversies and discussions. Various dissatisfaction is generated either by outdated information, or by unqualified ABA specialists, of which there are quite a lot today, as this program is becoming more and more popular. The efficiency of work directly depends on the qualifications of a specialist, so it is necessary to choose it very carefully.

Conclusion

Behavioral intervention in children with autism is very important. Its main task is to help a child with certain developmental disabilities to adapt to the environment and take the most full part in the life of society. It should be clearly understood that autistic children are not better or worse than other children, they are just different. A distinctive feature of such babies is the look, "immersed in themselves", they cannot find a connection with the outside world.

As a result of ABA therapy, a child can learn certain skills. Moreover, the emphasis is on “social behavioral”. If we are talking about a child of preschool age, then, for example, such:

    make eye contact,

    imitate basic movements,

    imitate actions with objects,

    imitate small and precise movements,

    imitate pronunciation movements,

    execute single commands

    get to know people you know

    point to desired items

    etc., depending on the program designed for the child by the ABA specialist.

ABA has several hundred programs in its arsenal, including non-verbal and verbal imitation, general and fine motor skills, language understanding, naming objects, naming actions, classifying objects, "show how you are ...", pronouns, answers to the questions "What?" , "Who?", "Where?", "When?", "How?", the use of "yes" and "no", and others. Among the higher-level programs are "Tell me what will happen if ..." (anticipates the outcome of the action), "Tell a story", "Do like (peer name)", "Call (peer name) to play."

In ABA therapy, there are several therapeutic models designed for early childhood (from 1.53.5 years), preschool and school age, adolescents and adults.

This method does not try to adapt the world to the child (that is, it does not create a comfortable environment, like the TEACCH or Son-Rise method). The ABA technique makes the child enter the world around him, into communication, even against his will at the first stage of correction.

The ABA method REQUIRES the child to communicate and achieves this in any way that is available to the child.

The purpose of this method of therapy is twofold: to develop in the child a desire to learn and to help him understand that learning is possible.

In general, the use of ABA is best known as a therapy for people with developmental disorders, primarily the treatment of autism and autism spectrum disorders. However, ABA discipline allows you to find an approach to any person. This method has a wide range of applications: raising children, education, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, sports and physical education, learning foreign languages, preventing diseases, treating various kinds of addictions, increasing labor productivity, and others.

Bibliography

A book with no more than three authors

    Baker B. Path to Independence. Teaching children with special needs household skills[Text]: / B. Baker, A. Brightman. - Moscow.: Tenerife, 2006. - 497 p.

  1. John O. Cooper, Applied Behavior Analysis[Text] : /John O. Cooper, Timothy E. Heron, William L. Heward;per. from English.Z. Kh. Izmailova-Kamar. -Moscow.: - "Practice", 2016. - 864 p.

    2. LovaasAND. BookITeaching Developmentally Disabled Children: The Me Book by[ Text] / O. Ivar Lovaas. - University Park Press; (April 1981).

    Meleshkevich O., Erts Yu. Special children. Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)[Text] : /O. Meleshkevich, Yu. Erts. - Samara: "Bahrakh-M", 2014. - 208 p.

    Nikolskaya O.S. Autistic Child: Ways to Help[Text]: / E.R. Baenskaya, M.M. Liebling; ed. O.S. Nikolskaya.- Moscow.: - Tenerife, 2012.

    Frost L. Alternative Card Communication System (PECS)[Text] : /guide for teachers / L. Frost, E. Bondi. - Moscow.: Tenerife, 2011. - 416 p.

    Schramm,R. Childhood autism and ABA: ABA ( Applied Behavior Analysis ) : therapy based on the methods of applied behavior analysis [Text]: / Robert Schramm; per. from English. 3. Izmailova-Kamar; scientific ed. S. Anisimova. - Ekaterinburg: Rama Publishing, 2013. - 208 p.

Journal article:

    Vlasova O.A. Methods for assessing the level of development of autistic children and adolescents used in foreign practice[Text] / O.A. Vlasov// Autism and developmental disorders. - Moscow City Psychological and Pedagogical University; No. 3 (30). - 2010

    Erts-Naftulieva, Yu. M. Carrying out the procedure "functional analysis of behavior"[Text] /Yu. M. Erts-Naftulieva, E. B. Zhestkova // Autism and developmental disorders. 2014. No. 4. S. 24-31.

    Cohen, H. Early Intensive Behavior Correction Technique: Replicating the UCLA Model in Society[Text] /H. Cohen, M. America- Dickens, T. Smith// Developmental and behavioral pediatrics, 27,S145- S155. – 2006.

    Lovaas, O. I. Behavioral Therapy and Normal Educational and Intellectual Functioning in Young Children with Autism[Text] /O.I. Lovaas // Journal of Consultation and Clinical Psychology, 55, 3-9. - 1987

    Sallows, G. O. Intensive Behavioral Therapy for Children with Autism: Results of a Four-Year Study and Prognosis[Text] /G. O. Sallows, T. D. Graupner// American Journal of Mental Disorders, 110, 417-438. - 2005

Electronic edition

    Vedenina, M.Yu. Review of the main foreign approaches to the provision of psychological and pedagogical assistance to children with autism [Electronic resource] / M.Yu. Vedenina // Almanac of the Institute of Correctional Pedagogy. - 2014. - Almanac No. 19. – Electron. Art. - Access mode:

    Liebling, M.M. Ten arguments against ABA therapy [Electronic resource] / M.M. Liebling // Electronic Almanac of the IKP RAO. - 2014. - No. 20.

    Nikolskaya, O.S. Studying the problem of childhood autism in Russia [Electronic resource] / O.S. Nikolskaya // Almanac of the Institute of Correctional Pedagogy. - 2014. - Almanac No. 19. – Electron. Art. - Access mode:

Internet resource:

    Vlasova, O.A. Life with a diagnosis of autism / O.A. Vlasova // Portal of psychological publications; Interview with GEO magazine. - September, 2010: ( )

    Vlasova, O.A. "Adaptation of children with autism in Russia" / O.A. Vlasova // Portal of psychological publications; Interview with the Russian service of the Air Force. - October 162009. _ health_ autism. shtml? page= all )

See L.G. Borodin. About the book by O.Ivar Lovaas "Education of children with developmental disorders" // Autism and developmental disorders, No. 3, 2005, p. 7-22; No. 1, 2006, p. 15-21; O.V. Skrobkin (Kurmanov). The use of foreign programs in the correction of speechless children with autism // Autism and developmental disorders, No. 3, 2006, p. 12-17; No. 1, 2006, p. 13-20


Abbreviation AVA stands for Applied Behavior Analysis and translated into Russian as Applied Behavior Analysis. ABA is a set of principles that form the basis for many behavioral therapy methods. ABA is based on the science of learning and behavior.

This science includes general "laws" about how how behavior works and how learning occurs. ABA therapy applies these laws to behavioral therapies in a way that increases the level of desired behavior and reduces the level of dangerous or problematic behavior that can interfere with learning and effective social interaction. ABA therapy is also used to improve speech and communication skills, attention, memory and academic skills.

The ABA method is recognized as the best scientifically proven treatment for autism. "Evidence-Based" means that ABA Therapy has been scientifically tested for usefulness, quality, and effectiveness.

ABA therapy includes many different methods. All of these methods focus on antecedent factors ( what happens before the behavior occurs), as well as the consequences ( what happens after the behavior occurs). One of the key ABA techniques is "positive reinforcement/reinforcement". Its essence is that when a behavior is followed by a reward or encouragement, there is a high probability that such behavior will be repeated in the future. Other common therapies based on ABA principles are block training, incidental (or natural) training, verbal behavior training, support skills training, and the like.

All these types of ABA therapy…
Structured
Involves collecting data on target skills and behaviors
Suggest positive strategies for changing responses and behaviors

Support skills training . It is a natural, semi-structured intervention that relies on natural learning opportunities and subsequent factors.
The goal of support skills training is to increase the child's motivation by adding choice, turn-taking and other components to their environment, redirecting the focus from deficient areas of skills to the area of ​​support skills for independent functioning. The four pillars of skill are considered to be motivation, initiative, self-regulation and the ability to respond to multiple stimuli. It is believed that by stimulating the development of these skill areas, improvement in non-target behaviors can also be induced.

ABA therapy methods support autistic children in the following areas:

1. Teach skills that replace problematic behavior. This way the child can learn WHAT TO DO instead of what NOT to DO.
2. Increase desired behavior and reduce unwanted behavior. For example, reinforcement procedures encourage mindfulness during a task and reduce auto-aggressive or stereotyped behavior.
3. Maintain the desired behavior.
4. Change the response of others to the child's behavior. Some parental responses may inadvertently reinforce problem behaviors.
5. Increases academic, social and self-help skills in a child.
6. Increase the ability to focus on tasks and increase motivation to learn.
7. Improve cognitive skills.
8. Generalize or transfer behavior from one environment or situation to another (for example, completing tasks in a room for individual learning eventually turns into successful completion of these tasks in a general education class).

The components of a strong ABA program include:

Supervision. Programs should be developed and supervised by certified behavioral therapists with experience working with autistic children.

Education. All participants in the program must have an appropriate level of training and support from specialists throughout the program.

Programming. The ABA program should be designed after a careful assessment of the level of skill development of the individual child. The goals of the program and the objectives for the generalization of skills must be determined in cooperation with the parents of the child and included in the plan without fail.

Data collection. Data on the child's progress in acquiring skills as well as changes in behavior should be systematically collected and analyzed by the supervisor for further program planning.

Family education. The child's family members should be trained to teach and reinforce the child's skills. They should also be involved in the planning and program review process.

Meetings of the therapy team and family members should be held regularly to ensure consistency in the implementation of the program, as well as to discuss current problems and the progress of the child in the educational program.

Doesn't speak at all. If he wants something, he gets it himself. Prior to visiting ABA therapists, he attended a specialized kindergarten, where defectologists and speech therapists worked with him. At least, I hoped that was the case. But after I started taking him to ABA therapy classes, it became clear that he was either not trained at all, or was treated fundamentally wrong.

How does ABA therapy work?

First of all, the advantage of ABA is that they work with the child not in a group, but individually. Autistic people do not look into the eyes, especially strangers. Therefore, the primary task of the therapist is to create eye contact with the child. After that, there are very easy tasks, the implementation of which takes place in the form of a game.

My Serezha easily performs visual tasks:

  • Compare cards and find a similar one;
  • Repeat my movements;
  • Choose the same item as I show.

What Serezha has a penchant for, the testing specialist determined. He also determined how developed the child is. Then the test results were sent to the curator, who lives in another city and supervises the work of therapists. The curator draws up an individual training program for Serezha, according to which the therapists work with him in the future.

How ABA therapists cash in on someone else's grief

A few years ago, Cape Seryozha was sitting in line with a doctor, and in front of us was a mother with the same one, who, unlike my son, spoke quite well. This woman said that she did ABA therapy with her child, and thanks to this they achieved such success in the development of speech, which we did not have before at all. Then she sent me the full program of ABA therapy by e-mail, but I did not understand anything in it, although everything is described in some detail there.

When my son and I started going to ABA therapists, it became much clearer to me how to do it. I hoped that the curator would write some kind of individual program for us, according to which it would be easier for us to study. And imagine my surprise when I paid the curator a tidy sum for writing and received a standard program that I already had, but the word “child” in it was replaced with “Seryozha”.

Then classes began with a therapist, where they worked out:

  • Put your hands up;
  • Tap with a hammer;
  • Wave the flag...

Of course, these lessons are necessary. It is from the simple to the complex that the skill of imitation is practiced, which is most often absent in autistic children. Having learned to repeat movements after an adult, a child begins to repeat sounds after an adult, and then colloquial speech appears. But the fact is that these classes must be carried out at home. And Serezha and I worked hard on this.

Classes with an ABA therapist are not cheap, so I, taking into account the fact that I myself work with a child, asked to reduce the number of classes. To this I was answered with a categorical refusal, since with more rare classes, they cannot guarantee success. Although they do not guarantee success in any case. It was spelled out in the contract that they gave me to sign. That is, they are insured by this agreement in case the parents spend money, see no result and demand the amount spent through the court back.

The last straw for me was that I had to pay for viewing by the curator via Skype. What is it for? To check the work of the therapist and point out to him what he is doing wrong. Why should I pay for this control? I don't pay a therapist to do it wrong. In general, I said that we now have no money. When the situation improves, I will come back, but for now I will practice the simplest exercises with my child myself. For free.

Well, I hope I don't have to go back to them. I have the program. Now everything is clear to me. That mother did it herself, and I can handle it myself. By the way, I posted the program on Yandex disk and it is available for viewing here https://yadi.sk/i/Mg4oA3483LjNZ8

My son and I even made several videos with the simplest tasks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUpymC6flAQ

Classes with teachers from the school

This year, Serezha turned 7 years old, and it's time to go to school. At first we wanted to enroll the child in a school for the mentally retarded, but did not have time. There it was necessary to take a queue back in February, and we came to our senses only in August. But in the last days of August, we were immediately taken to a regular school, and I didn’t regret at all that it happened.

Serezha was assigned to homeschooling, and now his class teacher and school psychologist visit us at home. The class teacher is a young girl, but she already has experience working with such children. She worked in a paid kindergarten for children with special needs. And now she is giving Serezha a kindergarten program, since it is too early to give him a school program. Every day we learn with her what is one, what is two and what is three. When he understands this, we will begin to add and subtract them, but it's too early. It's too early to write. Svetlana Grigorievna is still paying attention to how to put Serezha's hand so that he correctly and firmly holds a pen in it. In addition, we show our son the letters written on the cards so that he remembers them, and we compose words from individual letters.

Lessons with a psychologist are more interesting. She brings different toys and pictures, gives easy tasks. Serezha really likes to collect pyramids, look for a way out of the simplest labyrinths, assemble and disassemble nesting dolls, etc.

Our school does not have a full-time speech therapist, but the director set out to hire such a specialist especially for Serezha, so that he would come and work with my son at home, and the school would pay an hourly fee.

Well, I hope things are going well for us now. Specialists work with the child, plus I do ABA therapy with him. Within 4 months we went to therapists and he began to clearly repeat the movements shown by adults. For 2 months that we do not go to therapists, but work with school teachers, Serezha began to understand what one subject is and what several subjects are. He holds the pen more firmly in his hand. The successes are small, but the water wears away the stone. Maybe in the summer holidays we will go back to the ABA therapists, but so far I do not see the need for this. They work with us for free, and they are just as good as they are.

ABA therapy alone.

Everyone has heard about ABA, everyone knows something, everyone believes that somewhere there are smart professionals and hours of ABA therapy can save our children. But where to get a teacher, a coach, what to actually do and what are the rules? Unlike many, I not only heard about ABA, but also “did” it. My article is my personal experience and knowledge. Not claiming the truth!

ABA therapy is an intensive training program based on behavioral technologies and methods of influence. For autists, ABA is the most effective learning method.
Contrary to the opinion that it is difficult or impossible, I did ABA myself. The classes brought tangible benefits to my son. Although it is believed that the number of classes per week should be incredibly high, we managed with 2-5 lessons per day, 30-50 minutes each. We had nowhere to look for specialists and teachers, so we ourselves tried to figure out the ups and downs of behavioral therapy.
And although we were far from perfection, programs, therapy rules, and our ABA was not quite classical, we were able to make excellent progress on this therapy, even on its elements. My child not only loved to study at the table, but also waited for the next task, enjoyed joint games, helped to fold and lay out the material. My son has developed and learned new things. And it was definitely worth the handful of raisins in the form of an encouragement.




My child has not only learned to lay out lotto and colors. He learned a lot more - to interact, he became more accommodating, he became better at responding to the name, improved eye contact. Moreover, the classes benefited not only my child, I liked to work with my son, I became more consistent, more demanding, but calmer with my autenk. Now we had something to do together and I felt more confident with my son.

Here are the rules I set for myself:

If you want ABA, start (find a chair, table in the house and try to conduct the first lesson);

Wait out negative reactions, tears and tantrums, distract;

Just play at the chair, communicate, get used to it;

Increase gradually the time of the lesson and the number of lessons per day;

Make a rough plan of what you want to teach, start a notebook, write down the results of classes, achieve goals;

Find your favorite toys, food, and activities to encourage;

The first week or month may take some getting used to sitting and exercising, be patient;

If during the week some exercise has not progressed, remove it for better times or change tactics;

A variety of tasks, toys and developments, make ABA interesting;

Be consistent, be patient but demanding;

The prize must be well-deserved and desired, seek fulfillment;

Help more and do not skimp on praise;

Record your lessons on video. It helped me a lot to follow the dynamics and track down errors;

Believe in success, no one but you knows your child like that!

What can be taught:

1) sit at the table, play, play with mom, take and give objects, make eye contact, listen to commands, interact

2) imitation of sounds (ahh, uuu, iii, etc.) or actions (show a part of the body, clap, stomp, knock, shake, open, give, put, etc.)

3) games at the table (puzzles, sorters, matryoshka, puzzles, cubes, drawing, modeling, playing musical instruments, cereals, etc.)

4) games for development: find a pair, similar to similar, similar to not similar, sorting by 1 feature, contours, sizes, colors, shapes, counting, letters, etc.

5) Speech, answers yes and no, putting the dolls to sleep and rolling the train by the rope, anything and everything that the child has a penchant for and what the child needs to be taught.

It doesn’t matter what to teach, to assemble a puzzle or put words together, to show pictures or bring objects, the main thing is to make the lesson interesting, varied, enjoyable. At first, you can’t do without encouragement, it can be soap bubbles or a sip of juice or a small piece of fruit. It is necessary that the child understands that for the correct execution or attempt to perform, the mother says FELLOW and rewards. Once this understanding comes, it will become much easier with the child. Desired behavior is encouraged, undesirable behavior is ignored. The child will very soon make the right choice, get involved in games at the table, in communication, he will notice you and the materials. He will love some games and activities, and with them you will dilute a new or difficult task.

There are several rules:
- promotion must be issued immediately at the time of execution
- deserving promotion is required
- do not overfeed
-do with your child and praise
-next time loosened those help and give more time
- next time, wait and beckon with a reward and for the slightest attempt, rejoice violently and reward
- as soon as the task is mastered, alternate the issuance of rewards and just praise in random order
- complicate the tasks themselves, change the material and make options
- start and end interesting
- watch for extra hints
- change the environment in which you teach, not only at the table, but also on the floor, not only the red car but also the blue one, etc.
- Replay, stroke and praise your child for cooperation and successful attempts
- bring the material closer to your face, pay attention to yourself before giving a task
- do not interrupt the lesson at the initiative of the child
- in case of refusal, complete the task with the child’s hand and praise despite the resistance
- do not allow material to be thrown
-Use your child's interests in class
-keep records of what you learn and what you achieve
- enjoy your activities

The first thing a child should learn:

respond to a name

match by name

sit down for small activities

focus on objects or tasks, the face of the teacher

As you study, don't forget:

Slowly but surely, even if the first sitting on the chair takes only a few seconds, it's still the beginning, don't skimp on the praise.

Show the treat to your child and slowly bring it to your face - Look at me

Games should be interesting and then sitting at the table with you will become desirable for the child.

Use familiar words and short sentences

Try to be constant in the words you use and the intonation with which you speak, if there are two teachers, then coordinate your commands.

Our ABA only at the beginning looked like coercion, the child of course resisted, but after a week he not only calmly sat down in a high chair and played, but also began to learn new things, look at cards, give objects. Not for every game and task I gave encouragement (a piece of fruit, raisins, dried pineapple), soon well done or thank you was enough, we played peek-a-boo and soap bubbles, poured some water, and just tickled. Play therapy with ABA elements. I never scolded my child, and only after half a year I became more strict and began to say no and no. But I was persistent, I was demanding and consistent in my demands. The child quickly got used to this form of communication, he was waiting for classes, he got involved and we began to succeed. In case of resistance or unwillingness to play, I simply insisted on my own, persuaded, helped to make my son's hand. And soon the child began to trust me, anything, any new task or exercise was possible to do with his son. And then praise and repeat together again, and the next time the child already did it himself or at least tried. He made contact, he noticed us and began to develop!

I liked the ABA, it has significantly moved my Autenka forward. Unlike many, I am not embarrassed that the child "works" for food, I do not think that picking up a puzzle with my mother, and getting kiwi slices for this, is training. A month later, I encouraged only what I wanted, and sometimes I did not encourage at all. The child liked the activities themselves. And this ability to sit and study later often came in handy for us. After all, it is so nice to buy a new toy or material to get a return, play with your child or teach him something. Over time, we began to move more often from the table to the floor and back, to dilute the classes with the more usual modeling and drawing, exercise and other games for children. It's hard to just start. But as you know, forces appear as you move FORWARD!

I highly recommend watching a video about ABA, everything will immediately become much clearer, for example, this mom posted a lot of her videos. More classic classes with teachers and foreign specialists are also available for viewing, google.

About how to use ABA in life and how to move forward with a child in many ways, in between times is described here

For more details on how we started ABA therapy, see the book How I Started Smiling Again.

What to play, what to teach and where to get materials is written in Chapter 14