OT: ABA (was: How do I find an aide?)

[Guest guest]

>

> this is going to sound like a stupid question, but i am very new to

> this--dylan (2yrs, 8 mnths) is going for his initial neurologic

evaluation

> tomorrow--what is ABA therapy, and what does it accomplish?

Amy,

I am biased (because we have had such great success!), but the short

answer is that ABA is one of the best ways to teach developmentally

delayed kids almost anything. ABA stands for Applied Behavior

Analysis, which doesn't tell you anything about the program. It is

one-on-one intensive instruction with a tutor for hours each week.

We started in Sept with 18 hours per week, (when Brett was 2 yrs, 8

mos) and are now up to 38 hours. When we started, Brett couldn't

identify " mommy " or " daddy " , couldn't follow a simple direction

like " touch your nose " , and given a book and a toy car in front of

him, couldn't " touch the car " .

Now he identifies his parents, 4 siblings, classmates, tutors and

friends. His receptive language (what he understands) is nearly age

equivalent. He can count to 10 forwards and backwards, match capital

and small letters, knows his colors and shapes, plays appropriately

with most toys, and is almost potty trained YAY!!

A good ABA coordinator is a must. If your school system (or early

intervention program, since your son isn't yet 3) doesn't provide

them, start asking parent support groups or FEAT for referrals. The

coordinator will set up an appropriate curriculum for your child,

help find and train your therapists, and meet with your team every 6-

8 weeks to update your program. Of course, some parents are their

own child's curriculum coordinator, but it is a VERY difficult job to

start from scratch, especially if you're still being overwhelmed with

diagnosis and prognosis.

Some good resources are the FEAT (Families for Early Autism

Treatment) website, the yahoo group " autismaba " , " Let Me Hear Your

Voice " by Maurice (the mom to TWO recovered autistic

kids!), and the Autism Research Insititute's website. Also, most

general books about PDD/Autism Spectrum Disorders have a chapter or

two about it. And if you can get your hands on it, the September

2000 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine had a great article

called " The Miracle of JP " about a mom who not only was her son's ABA

coordinator, but also his only tutor! (A candidate for sainthood if

there ever was one!)

We started ABA before the diet, but I wish I had known about the diet

earlier. GFCF has made Brett so much more receptive to learning, and

much more verbal. I think our progress would have been even faster

if we had started them together. However, we are now cautiously

hopeful that Brett will " catch up " by kindergarten.

My heart goes out to you- You're about where we were in August, and

it is so scary and overwhelming. Learn all you can about autism, and

Dylan will definitely benefit. Good luck, and please keep us posted

on his progress!

Hugs,

Sue