amo_mea_filiis. Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Even though ds has been said to have autistic characteristics and even PDD-NOS at one point, he's never had a behavior plan that supports that diagnosis. From 18 months until 5 years i spent all my time defending him and trying to get help based on the diagnosis. We wasted 4 years in public school where i was told he's "functioning" great, and we never had anything good set up. Ds does not respond to typical behavior plans, charts, rewards, punishments, etc. He can comply a bit to get something he wants, like reduced cursing to get his ears pierced, but it does not last very long. I cant afford to buy his compliance, nor is that the best thing to do. I was doing some research last night (a little late, so not much stuck) an came across ABA. Ds has a few life skills i want to work on this year, as well as a few negative behaviors i want to decrease. The problem with learning new skills is that he refuses. Does anyone have experience on either side of ABA? Any good books? I have only ever heard of ABA in reference to low functioning kids, and want to find out if this is what i should be looking into for verbal and capable (when the mood strikes) children. One of the things i was reading is that one of the childs goals can be following a schedule chart! Gee, it would have nice if someone told me this! Lol. I have always tried using schedules but day-long charts have always failed. Ds can follow short schedules, like bedtime routine (dinner, meds, bath, read, diaper, sleep) but i have never been able to piece routines together in a functional way for him. Learning as much as i can about ABA could, at least, put me on a better track to help ds and dd. What say the all knowing hive? Is learning ABA my new research path for now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kht2006 Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Yes I think ABA can help you. I'm taking a 40 hour online CEU class about it right now. If he can't do a whole day schedule how about a first then schedule where you change it out after each activity. DD uses a file folder system with 3 work folders and three breaks. It works great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Ds does not respond to typical behavior plans, charts, rewards, punishments, etc. He can comply a bit to get something he wants, like reduced cursing to get his ears pierced, but it does not last very long. I cant afford to buy his compliance, nor is that the best thing to do. I don't have any experience with ABA, but I wanted to tell you that my Aspie son never responded to the typical behavior plans either. I finally hit on only one thing and that was messing with his bedtime. I penalized him 10 mins. for every bad behavior. However many minutes he accumulated during the day was added to his bedtime. If he went to bed at 9:00pm and got an hour's worth of penalty points, he went to bed at 8:00pm. He hated it and his behavior improved very quickly. There are two things about this though: 1. He didn't have many behavior problems. There were just some we were trying hard to curb. 2. We had no clue about a diagnosis at that time. He wasn't diagnosed with Aspergers until he was 9 years old. I have no idea if an earlier diagnosis would have made things different. It took me 5 years to get someone to listen to me that could agree there was something wrong with ds. And then after diagnosis, I didn't receive any help for treatment. I was told he was quirky and was fine, that he would outgrow things. I could kick myself for not listening to my gut instinct. I don't remember the specifics of your son, but I think I remember there is more going on with him than I had with my son. But I just wanted to send :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amo_mea_filiis. Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 Yes I think ABA can help you. I'm taking a 40 hour online CEU class about it right now. If he can't do a whole day schedule how about a first then schedule where you change it out after each activity. DD uses a file folder system with 3 work folders and three breaks. It works great. First-then works but only for short bursts. I can do maybe 3 activities. He does not transition well. I can say first breakfast, then teeth and get dressed, but no matter how many times i repeat it or go over his schedule board, i cant get him to transition to school work. I have tried starting school during breakfast, but he will only complete one subject. Then i cant get him back from a break. This was the case even in ps. Teacher would say hes fine, but if you observed him, he never really switched activities. He also never completed his work. I have also tried breaking his board into morning, afternoon, evening, all with little routines and he still refuses (or cant) to work with me. I have also been unable to change any of our mini routines, especially morning and bed. I like that we have a good bedtime routine, but if we have a late day, i cant put him to bed without a bath, and of course he has to play in the bath. Im rambling now. Any good books or websites to start with? I have to puul him back from the all day "breaks" that i allowed. I would like to survive the process! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 The research actually shows that higher-functioning kids on the spectrum have better outcomes from ABA than lower-functioning autistic kids. It's very controversial because right now the kids who have the easiest time getting approved for ABA through the schools, insurance companies, and Regional Centers are the ones less likely to really benefit from it. As a society we are spending huge sums on trying ABA for low-functioning kids for years with little improvement. All the same time, the higher-functioning kids who actually would really benefit from ABA are having major difficulty getting it covered. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amo_mea_filiis. Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 Crimson wife- thank you! So what books can i get? The only things that look decent to me are the $100+ textbooks on amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 The research actually shows that higher-functioning kids on the spectrum have better outcomes from ABA than lower-functioning autistic kids. It's very controversial because right now the kids who have the easiest time getting approved for ABA through the schools, insurance companies, and Regional Centers are the ones less likely to really benefit from it. As a society we are spending huge sums on trying ABA for low-functioning kids for years with little improvement. All the same time, the higher-functioning kids who actually would really benefit from ABA are having major difficulty getting it covered. :glare: Yep, and I've been on a waiting list for state-covered ABA for over a year now, and probably still have at least two more years to wait. Crimson wife- thank you! So what books can i get? The only things that look decent to me are the $100+ textbooks on amazon. I got this book. It appears it is now in a second edition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 This book is supposed to be really good, though it's still in my "to be read" pile so I cannot personally vouch for it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 I know amydavis has experience with ABA. You might PM her, if she doesn't see this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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