Guest guest Posted July 10, 2010 Report Share Posted July 10, 2010 Dear Cheryl, I can so relate to your story. So many of us have been in your position when our children were newly diagnosed and we were trying to navigate the maze of all the intervention options. Even now, 12 years later it can be a challenge. I think the key is to know there are many options available and what works for one child may not work for all. Each child has strengths and weaknesses and is unique. If one way worked for all children we would certainly all sign up because we all want what's best for them. We do know that intense intervention is ideal no matter which intervention(s) you try with your son. Also, you know your son and your situation better than anyone, so going with your gut is also important. I also recommend talking to a variety of parents so you can educate yourself about choices. If you want to go on the Autism Speaks web site at www.autismspeaks.org there is a myriad of info. If you would like to speak in person feel free to contact me at sharigoldberg22@... Happy to help in any way I can. Take care, Shari Goldberg Cleveland Chapter President/Autism Speaks In a message dated 7/10/2010 9:49:41 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, ddzlaw@... writes: I've been using ABA for years, and my son is certainly no robot. ABA is a methodology that can be used for all children (regardless of their disabilities). The idea is to teach a child a skill using a behavior approach and to generalize that skill to other situations/environments. When using a behavioral approach to teaching, you should use whatever reward system works for your child (not necessarily a food reinforcer). Your speech therapist obviously has never been a part of an ABA team and is passing on misinformation to you. That is very unfortunate. We did try other types of therapies before starting our own ABA program (including biomedical treatments). In fact, we didn't start ABA with our son until he was six because we wanted to try other approaches first (we also had received some misinformation regarding ABA). With only 20 hours per week of one on one discrete trial training, we saw results within a few months. Our son is now 12, and we continue to use the ABA methodology to teach more advanced skills (e.g. cooking, walking to and from school,organizing school work, etc.). I have visited the Behavioral Institute, but do not have any direct experience with them. With that said, I have not heard anything negative about them. I work with many families in the area, and I usually hear the complaints about providers. I would encourage you to use the ABA methodology in your son's treatments notwithstanding your speech therapist's concerns.Thank you.Debbie Z.>> trying to figure this all out is exhausting... everytime I think I come up with a plan for my son who is 2 1/2 I hear something or read something or go to a conference and then just feel helpless... > > So I thought I had it figured out again... going to check out Behavioral Intervention Institute of Ohio in Westlake... He could start when he is 3 in November... Finally felt like I had some hope...> > so I am talking to sons speech therapist today and she said ABA makes kids into little robots who do things for M & M's. Argh! > > Please... if you have any experience with Behavioral Intervention Institute of Ohio or ABA in general... good or bad... could you please post it? > > > thanks> cherylmiller@...> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 11, 2010 Report Share Posted July 11, 2010 I second that!!!! I very much recommend reading Maurice's book....I have had family members read it as well. Feel like I could have written it myself, as we have "lived out" some of her situations! I agree with another parent who mentioned looking for a new SLP...you are being misinformed. ABA doesn't have to last "forever", either-as you have heard from other parents here, it does work and it is simply a method of teaching until each child has mastered certain skills and then works on generalizing them in different environments, preferably, natural environments. The generalization is what is key and so challenging for our kiddos. It truly does have the best track record and it gives our kids chances for much better outcomes. Keep talking with others who have done home programs or otherwise. You may want to check on Milestones.org's site for more resources/support. Best of luck to you and your family!!Jul 10, 2010 07:37:30 AM, wrote: > Cheryl, > I don';t usually respond to posts here, but I felt so strongly about your >situation, that I really felt I had to. My first reaction to what your speech therapist >told you would be to fire your speech therapist. ABA is BY FAR the method by which >most of our children make gains...it is the gold standard of care. If you can get >ABA for your child, don';t let anyone talk you out of it. I feel so strongly >about this, that when my daughter was 3, we moved from Ohio to Wisconsin to get >an in-home program established for our daughter. (At that time, WI had an autism >waiver so Medicaid paid for Audrey to have 35 hours/week of in-home ABA) My daughter >spoke about 25 words at that time...by the end of the first month, she looked at >me and said "I love you." My daughter is still very much autistic, but >our life, HER LIFE, would be so much harder now had we not invested the time to >get her the best treatment in her early years that we possibly could.> > You need to read "Let Me Hear Your Voice"...your local library >should have it. > > I don';t know where you live, but if you want to get together sometime, >we can do that. I have been where you are. > > > > > >> > trying to figure this all out is exhausting... everytime I think I come >up with a plan for my son who is 2 1/2 I hear something or read something or go >to a conference and then just feel helpless... > > > > So I thought I had it figured out again... going to check out Behavioral >Intervention Institute of Ohio in Westlake... He could start when he is 3 in November... >Finally felt like I had some hope...> > > > so I am talking to sons speech therapist today and she said ABA makes >kids into little robots who do things for M & M';s. Argh! > > > > Please... if you have any experience with Behavioral Intervention Institute >of Ohio or ABA in general... good or bad... could you please post it? > > > > > > thanks> > cherylmiller@...> >> > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 A while back, a school district called me to consult on a child in one of their classes, at the mother's request. Before approving the request, the Director of Education had to understand better what ABA was. When I explained it, she answered, " I was trained many years ago as an SLT, and we did very much the same thing, then. I know SLT methods change regularly and go through cycles, but that used to be what we were taught in school. I'd just call that good teaching practice. " Needless to say, I consulted in the classroom. :-) On Fri, Jul 23, 2010 at 12:25 AM, tripleblessings2001 <Tripletmom2001@...> wrote: I'm sorry that your SLP said that to you. One word of advice, get a new speech therapist. Our SLP was already using ABA techniques (not actually calling it ABA) even prior to a diagnosis. People that make comments like that about ABA do not understand ABA and don't know what they are talking about. -- Dena Page, M.Ed., CBA(Relocating to Cleveland next month)Certified Behavior AnalystCertified Auditory Integration Therapy (DAA) Practitionerwww.listenbetterwithait.com Certified Irlen Screener Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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