Sr Re: Hard time dealing with daughters aggression

[Guest guest]

>

>

> How on earth did you find a behaviorist who would consider the " why

> bother " of the behavior without just barrelling in and trying to

> extinguish it? I don't know how many times I tried to explain why I

> thought my child was exhibiting a behavior, only to be told, " we don't

> care WHY " . I can give quite a few examples of times when someone posted

> on a local internet chat group about a behavior the behaviorists were

> trying to extinguish -- swishing spit and spitting is one that is common

> that comes to mind--and the behaviorists never considered a medical

> reason, like a sore throat, and went about the business of putting it

> " on extinction " without even wanting to know the " why bother " .

>

> That frustrates me so!

>

> PennY

PennY, you really did have some horrible people working with you! No

wonder you are so set against ABA!

The WHOLE POINT of analyzing behavior (which is what a GOOD ABA

program does) is finding out WHY a child is engaging in a certain

behavior. How on EARTH can anyone write a behavior plan without

knowing (or at least having a good guess) why a behavior occurs?

" Extinction " (which is a term I HATE, by the way) only works if a

behavior is occurring to attract attention. I try to avoid the word

" extinction " as much as possible, and only ever use it to describe the

theory, because it implies just being able to " get rid of " a behavior

problem. You can NEVER just " get rid of " a behavior. You can ONLY

change that behavior into something else that meets the same need

(asking for a drink for a sore throat instead of spitting, for

example). Extinction also implies that it will be a quick process, and

changing behavior is NEVER quick.

Ugh! It frustrates me too, because it is people like that that make

all ABA providers look bad! Unfortunately, there are no standard

requirements or training required to become an ABA consultant, and

very few people who provide the services actually went to school for

it (including yours truly, although I am starting my BCBA program in

January). It all comes down to the on the job training that people

get, and unfortunately, a program is only as good as the person

writing the plan.

I wish I could come visit you and teach what ABA is SUPPOSED to be

like

Amnesty