NYSABA 2002

[Guest guest]

Sorry for my long latency in posting. SO I will make up for it with a

very long winded post..

We were at the NYSABA conference up in Saratoga. It was our very

first time ever attending and it was a wonderful experience! Very

elightning and I have to mention the party in the presedential suite

is a reason enough to go! But on a more serious note, I cannot

express the importance of our parent enrollment and involvment in our

local chapters of the Association of Applied Behavior

Analysis,especially if you are implementing it with your own children.

I think maybe the parent turn out was only 10% or less. I encourage

you all to become mebers and to take part in the workshops and poster

sessions. It was so great to see, that though our dicipline has

somehow been segregated by teaching procedures choices or the

mechanics of the science on how we may choose to apply them to each

of our own children, we all boil down to being " family " ... all with a

passion to be effective, all with the common goal in mind in the

applying the science effectively & systematically in order to see

progress with our children. I think it is a wonderful crossroad where

parents and professionals can share ideas and data and research . It

was an eye opening experience for me to see just how related we

really are with one another, as well as , how alot of the animosity

and differences in " style " or " method " or " teaching package " can alot

of the times be individually created (be it as a group, or school or

individual )

Thank you to all who arranged this conference, and for allowing us

all to have a familiar meeting ground to see just how closely knit we

really are.. or frankly how we really SHOULD BE .

Thatk you for welcoming parents , and for encouraging us to be

involved. Thatnk you for your support and welcoming our presence, and

for allowing us to speak so candidly on the parent panel.

If there is one good thing I left there with, dont feel compeled to

be a teacher/parent - scientist. Being experimental and not being

afraid of trying a perhaps " new " evolution or discovery or idea that

many in the field may be implementing.

Be an educated consumer, know what is out there, know how to take

measurable and effective data. Dont feel intimidated when you call an

agency and they say " oh we dont DO that type of ABA

here " ..Understand, and it is our duty at the ELIJA foundation to let

you know, that there is no one win all end all approach or package

deal. All of our children are individuals, and for one to feel

confined to only 1 set of teaching methods or one cookie cutter

approach , simply because they may feel " ignorant " or have a lack of

knowledge or staff or time doing anything else, seems quite

contradictory to " science " as a whole. If you feel somthing is

lacking in your programming , or you see your child may not be

aquiring certain skills in the current adaption of the science you

are using to teach that specific goal, realize that your options are

endless.. realize the beauty of the ABA , is that so long as you stay

true to the principles of the science, you dont have to feel bonded

to one particular practice method. Once you have this way of thinking

you can apply the science in MANY WAYS. I hear many parents say to

me " Oh I cant do THE ABA with my child, he absolutley hates it when

I do it with him. " I never really understand what this means. " THE

ABA. " You can apply the science in a diner during sunday morning

breakfast, in the checkout out line at toys r us, during music

therapy , during bathtime. I heard some parents bashing " alternative

methods " ie. Dolphin Therapy, hippotherapy, relation ship therapy

(RDI) " in comprison to ABA.

HECK if you look at any of our children during these " alternative

therapy sessions " and wonder WHY we get higher rates of responding or

WHY they seem more alert and attentive.. you can turn these into a

complete ABA scenerio. THEY FIND THESE ACTIVITIES extremly motivating

& HIGHLY reinforcing. IT has nothing to do with the dolphin per se ,

or the tamborines or the horse or over stuffed bean bag... but with

the reinforcing value the child finds in these activites.

SO it always seems to amaze me how simple the science is, yet how

complicated and steadfast we really make it seem. Once you THINK in

ABA terms in everyday life, you see how often you really ARE applying

it, or how often you are missing oppotuinites to apply it effectively.

To become a memeber of NYSABA go to

www.nysaba.org

and if you are NOT from NY find out how to become a memeber of your

local chapter by going to

http://www.abainternational.org/

SUpport your local and international chapter, support the researchers

in the field, listen to them speak, understand what you are REALLY

doing with your child. Make sure you are looking at the quality of

programming, and you should be able to watch every session your child

is in and understand WHY and WHAT the teacher is doing with him or

her.

I do have to say ..The scarriest part of all this, we have 1 in 84

children DX with a ASD disorder in the state of NY.. and I am going

to roughly assume that there are ATLEAST thousands upon thousands of

Speech pathologists, parents, special educaters, teacher aides,

paras who deal with children with ASD on a EVERYDAY basis.. and

there were only maybe 300 people there (bobby can you give me a # on

this?)

SO if the geographic location or time and family constraints or

financial situation holds you back from attending.. I encourge you to

go to your local conferences, and attend as many workshops held by

credible agencys in the field..

Undrstand the principles, understand the science, it is not enough to

just know " procedure " that may have been xeroxed out of a behavioral

intervention manual. Know your stuff, know your child..

Or to be REALLY RADICAL, as DR. Mallot says

SAVE THE WORLD WITH BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS!!!!

Please consider signing up as a memeber !

AND dont forget to apply to the journals as well!

Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis

http://www.envmed.rochester.edu/wwwrap/behavior/jaba/jabahome.htm

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior

http://www.aba.wmich.edu/avbjournal/

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

http://www.envmed.rochester.edu/wwwrap/behavior/jeab/jeabhome.htm

Nice to be back home I must say..

P.S. Behavior Analysts are much more fun to hang with after a few

drinks.