Re: ABA therapy in school and home programs

[Guest guest]

Kayla has a similar program. She is in a full day/5 day a week self-

contained preschool class. Her 1:1 aide also administers the discrete

trials (5 programs, 2 times a day) and the behavioral consultant

comes in 2 - 3 days a week to design the programs and oversee the

progress.

The behavioral consultant also comes to the house for about an hour

every Saturday. I love the home component, even if it is only an hour

a week. I like to see what they are doing since the school is 30

minutes away and it's not convenient to drop in every week what with

gas prices being so high. I also like it because the behavioral

consultant is a contractor so she can talk honestly and openly about

what is actually going on in Kayla's preschool class. And of course I

like to see what programs they are doing.

Our behavioral consultant doesn't think Kayla needs an intense 40+

hour week ABA program. We are basically using the discrete trials to

help her meet some of her IEP goals, although she is also following

the ABLLS as she designs the programs.

As far as the ABA itself, Kayla's making good progress, but she's

being terrible noncompliant again. She's back to screaming and trying

to get out of doing the work. When that doesn't work, she tries to be

silly and " sings " to herself and looks at her hands. But they keep

plugging on.

Ecki

Mom to Kayla (DS/ASD, 4/5/04) and Laurie (PDD-NOS, 7/12/01)

http://oppositekids.blogspot.com/

>

> I was curious to know what folks' experiences have been with ABA

therapy for their children. My son, , initially received a few

hours a week of ABA last yr. (at 3 yrs. old) at the private school he

attends. It's a full day program-most of the students have Down

Syndrome, only and another boy (who is 8 yrs. old) are dually

diagnosed. receives OT,PT, and speech through the therapists at

school, as well as sensory integration sessions, and exposure to all

of the activities that go on in a pre-school, hence the reason why he

is in school from 9am to 3 pm every day. The ABA component is

provided by our school district. has a full-time one-on-one

aide who is ABA trained and administers his discrete trials. She is

supervised by the district's behavioral consultant(who comes to

school every week for 1-2 hours) to oversee how 's

trials/programs are being run. is up to 3 trials per day, plus

the aide reinforces the behavioral strategies throughout the day.

Overall, is making good progress with the ABA program-there

are trials that he has successfully completed and others that require

a lot more time.

>

> I recently met with the behavioral consultant and she suggested we

may want to consider more therapy for , like directed play

therapy or additional ABA at home.

> I feel that already has 30 hours of school/therapy per week

and at 4 years old this is a full schedule, however, I certainly

don't want to hold him back from getting more of what he could

benefit from. During the week would be difficult, because by the time

he gets off the bus from school and has a snack it's after 4PM- a

long day and he is tired- so maybe Saturdays would be an option. What

do you think? So much of what I have read applies to children with

autism only and those home-based programs run anywhere from 40 to 60

hours per week. I'm not aware of any literature that discusses ABA

therapy in the dual diagnosis population.

>

> In all honesty, could probably benefit from more SP,OT,and PT

too, as he is very delayed in these areas, but there is only so much

time, energy, and maybe developmentally, he is just not ready.

> I struggle so much with ( as I'm sure many of you do too) with

creating the right balance of therapy/education or whatever else

would be of benefit, with just having some time off to relax and do

fun things!

> Your experience and input is so valuable. Thank you for listening

to me ramble. Sometimes our childrens' needs can be very overwhelming

to manage- it has been one of those weeks. I especially feel it

because is our only child and my husband, as much as he loves

, doesn't seem to fully understand the big picture and thinks I

worry to much.

> Humph- easy for him to say when he works approx. 60 hours per week

and basically sees only on the weekends.

>

> Best,

>

> Mom to , 4yrs. old

> DS/PDD-NOS

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

my overall feeling is that therapists in the home are intrusive and

invasive. HAving said that, you need to decide how much of " others " the

rest of the family can tolerate. When I had a behavorist coming to the home

18 hours a week - mosstly after school until bedtime - I personally hated

it. I am not sure how Elie progressed . We finally fired this person when

she used hands on restraint to compell Elie to follow her direction. I

personally only believe in hands on for restraint if a bull is in direct

collision course or a truck is or the child is in danger of burning in a

fire . Short of that we adults need to be bright enough most of the time to

be able to avoid physical force!

> I was curious to know what folks' experiences have been with ABA therapy

> for their children. My son, , initially received a few hours a week of

> ABA last yr. (at 3 yrs. old) at the private school he attends. It's a full

> day program-most of the students have Down Syndrome, only and another

> boy (who is 8 yrs. old) are dually diagnosed. receives OT,PT, and

> speech through the therapists at school, as well as sensory integration

> sessions, and exposure to all of the activities that go on in a pre-school,

> hence the reason why he is in school from 9am to 3 pm every day. The ABA

> component is provided by our school district. has a full-time

> one-on-one aide who is ABA trained and administers his discrete trials. She

> is supervised by the district's behavioral consultant(who comes to school

> every week for 1-2 hours) to oversee how 's trials/programs are being

> run. is up to 3 trials per day, plus the aide reinforces the

> behavioral strategies throughout the day. Overall, is making good

> progress with the ABA program-there are trials that he has successfully

> completed and others that require a lot more time.

>

> I recently met with the behavioral consultant and she suggested we may

> want to consider more therapy for , like directed play therapy or

> additional ABA at home.

> I feel that already has 30 hours of school/therapy per week and at 4

> years old this is a full schedule, however, I certainly don't want to hold

> him back from getting more of what he could benefit from. During the week

> would be difficult, because by the time he gets off the bus from school and

> has a snack it's after 4PM- a long day and he is tired- so maybe Saturdays

> would be an option. What do you think? So much of what I have read applies

> to children with autism only and those home-based programs run anywhere from

> 40 to 60 hours per week. I'm not aware of any literature that discusses ABA

> therapy in the dual diagnosis population.

>

> In all honesty, could probably benefit from more SP,OT,and PT too,

> as he is very delayed in these areas, but there is only so much time,

> energy, and maybe developmentally, he is just not ready.

> I struggle so much with ( as I'm sure many of you do too) with creating

> the right balance of therapy/education or whatever else would be of benefit,

> with just having some time off to relax and do fun things!

> Your experience and input is so valuable. Thank you for listening to me

> ramble. Sometimes our childrens' needs can be very overwhelming to manage-

> it has been one of those weeks. I especially feel it because is our

> only child and my husband, as much as he loves , doesn't seem to fully

> understand the big picture and thinks I worry to much.

> Humph- easy for him to say when he works approx. 60 hours per week and

> basically sees only on the weekends.

>

> Best,

>

> Mom to , 4yrs. old

> DS/PDD-NOS

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Sara,

Your points are well taken - I felt the same way, esp. during the early

intervention years when it seemed to be a " revolving door " of therapists in our

home. It was very intrusive and frustrating at times. I'm not so sure how much

overall benefit derived at that time- I think it was a combination of him

not being developmentally ready and the incompetence of some of the therapists

who we ultimately asked not to return. Finding qualified replacements was

difficult and not instantaneous.

Having said that, we certainly see the value of early intervention and it was

through 's current private placement ( they serve students from birth to

age 9) that we began to see progress. He attended an early intervention program

2 mornings a week at 15months old (in addition to the home therapies). The

results that we saw were encouraging.

Best,

To: @...: pastmidvale@...: Sat, 19 Jan 2008

19:45:12 -0500Subject: Re: ABA therapy in school and home programs

my overall feeling is that therapists in the home are intrusive

andinvasive. HAving said that, you need to decide how much of " others " therest

of the family can tolerate. When I had a behavorist coming to the home18 hours a

week - mosstly after school until bedtime - I personally hatedit. I am not sure

how Elie progressed . We finally fired this person whenshe used hands on

restraint to compell Elie to follow her direction. Ipersonally only believe in

hands on for restraint if a bull is in directcollision course or a truck is or

the child is in danger of burning in afire . Short of that we adults need to be

bright enough most of the time tobe able to avoid physical force!On Jan 19, 2008

3:07 PM, McDonnell wrote:> I was curious to

know what folks' experiences have been with ABA therapy> for their children. My

son, , initially received a few hours a week of> ABA last yr. (at 3 yrs.

old) at the private school he attends. It's a full> day program-most of the

students have Down Syndrome, only and another> boy (who is 8 yrs. old) are

dually diagnosed. receives OT,PT, and> speech through the therapists at

school, as well as sensory integration> sessions, and exposure to all of the

activities that go on in a pre-school,> hence the reason why he is in school

from 9am to 3 pm every day. The ABA> component is provided by our school

district. has a full-time> one-on-one aide who is ABA trained and

administers his discrete trials. She> is supervised by the district's behavioral

consultant(who comes to school> every week for 1-2 hours) to oversee how 's

trials/programs are being> run. is up to 3 trials per day, plus the aide

reinforces the> behavioral strategies throughout the day. Overall, is

making good> progress with the ABA program-there are trials that he has

successfully> completed and others that require a lot more time.>> I recently

met with the behavioral consultant and she suggested we may> want to consider

more therapy for , like directed play therapy or> additional ABA at home.>

I feel that already has 30 hours of school/therapy per week and at 4>

years old this is a full schedule, however, I certainly don't want to hold> him

back from getting more of what he could benefit from. During the week> would be

difficult, because by the time he gets off the bus from school and> has a snack

it's after 4PM- a long day and he is tired- so maybe Saturdays> would be an

option. What do you think? So much of what I have read applies> to children with

autism only and those home-based programs run anywhere from> 40 to 60 hours per

week. I'm not aware of any literature that discusses ABA> therapy in the dual

diagnosis population.>> In all honesty, could probably benefit from more

SP,OT,and PT too,> as he is very delayed in these areas, but there is only so

much time,> energy, and maybe developmentally, he is just not ready.> I struggle

so much with ( as I'm sure many of you do too) with creating> the right balance

of therapy/education or whatever else would be of benefit,> with just having

some time off to relax and do fun things!> Your experience and input is so

valuable. Thank you for listening to me> ramble. Sometimes our childrens' needs

can be very overwhelming to manage-> it has been one of those weeks. I

especially feel it because is our> only child and my husband, as much as

he loves , doesn't seem to fully> understand the big picture and thinks I

worry to much.> Humph- easy for him to say when he works approx. 60 hours per

week and> basically sees only on the weekends.>> Best,> > Mom to

, 4yrs. old> DS/PDD-NOS>>>> [Non-text portions of this message have been

removed]>> >-- Sara - Life is a journey- we choose the path.[Non-text portions

of this message have been removed]

[Guest guest]

Kayla doesn't use a formal PECS program. I asked her ABA consultant if

we would be doing that. She really thinks Kayla will be talking soon,

and the general feeling is that they would rather teach her signs,

because you may not always have your PECS cards with you, but you

always have your hands.

They tried to do an ABA program to teach her how to use the PECS

drawings, but she wouldn't look at them and simply slapped at the

pictures randomly just to get through the trials.

We do use photo cards of all of Kayla's foods for snack and meals. The

school taught her the signs for " cookie " and " pretzel " so now she's

constantly going up to the teachers and signing " cookie " all day, LOL.

She even signed " cookie " at breakfast one day. When I told her we were

having waffles and signed " waffles " she just signed " cookie " again and

pointed to the letter " C " on an alphabet placemat she uses. She's

smarter than we think! So I let her have a cookie for breakfast that

day!

Ecki

Mom to Kayla (DS/ASD, 4/5/04) and Laurie (PDD-NOS, 7/12/01)

http://oppositekids.blogspot.com/

>

> Thanks, Ecki, for sharing Kayla's program. is also being non-

compliant at the moment- part of that toddler thing!

>

> By the way, does Kayla use PECs? started this school year with

this program and is having gradual success. We use it in combo with

sign language.-

>

>

[Guest guest]

I am so glad to hear that you have had similar experiences. I thought we

were the only ones who had been asked to be removed from Ebonies case

We went thru OT's PT's, speech therapy, 4 psychiatrists. I adopted Eb from

Calif and one psychiatrist said that the best recommendation he could give me

is to bundle her up and send her back to California. The only reason we

still have a primary care physician, is that she happens to be my best friend.

We have now found a school that works with kids with DS and ASD. How

wonderful that has been.

The public school that she attends is a self contained classroom and she

drives them all crazy!!

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