How ABA Helps Parents

When children have autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it can be challenging for parents to know how to help them succeed. One of the best ways to help a child with ASD is through applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy. Proven to improve the skills of kids with ASD and decrease problematic behaviors, ABA works best when parent training is integrated into treatment strategies. That’s because parents play an integral role in ABA therapy and can work with their children outside of the therapeutic session.

• What is ABA therapy? Applied behavior analysis focuses on how behavior works and how it’s impacted by certain environments. It also examines the concept of learning strategies and how they apply to people with ASD. A combination of behavioral knowledge and observation is used by an ABA therapist to gain a thorough understanding of each patient’s behavioral patterns. Then the therapist is better able to customize therapeutic strategies to meet the needs of the individual patient. The objective of ABA therapy is to help people with ASD engage and positive behaviors and minimize negative behaviors. The long-term goal is to help individuals become more independent.
• What techniques are used in ABA? ABA is not a one-size-fits-all therapy, and there are many different techniques utilized by ABA therapists to encourage positive behaviors and minimize negative ones, including:
  • Positive reinforcement like praise, a toy, or a treat, to reward individuals for appropriate behavior.
  • Discrete trial training, using brief, clear, instructions to prompt a desired response.
  • Picture exchange communication system (PCES) teaches people with ASD to communicate using pictures.
• What is a parent’s role in this therapeutic approach? Parents are integrally involved in ABA as part of the caregiving team and when parents are involved, children learn faster. If you have a child with ASD, you’ll work with the therapists and doctors to:
  • Assess your child, identifying troublesome behaviors and providing background.
  • Develop a plan, determining how your child prefers to learn, setting goals for treatment, and identifying interventions to improve your family life.
  • Collect information, keeping track of your child’s progress and sharing that data.
• How can parents reinforce ABA therapy? Watching your child’s sessions, you can assess your own skills and determine how to build them to help your child, considering how to incorporate the therapist’s techniques into your own style. Learning how to reinforce ABA therapy is important, because parents spend much more time with their children than the therapists do. The work of ABA seeks to improve social skills, communication, reading, fine motor skills, and more, in order to help people with ASD become more independent and successful.

If your child has been diagnosed with ASD, STAR of CA is here to help by providing important support services. Founded in 2006, we provide behavioral and psychological services to people with ASD and related disorders in an environment that offers support for the entire family. You can contact us through our website or by calling 805.588.8896.

The Basics of ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis)

If your child has recently been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), you’ve probably been investigating different therapeutic options to help your child thrive. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a therapy that has been shown to significantly improve behavior and skills in people with ASD, so it’s worth learning more about. Here, we offer a brief overview of ABA to help you decide if it’s right for your child.

• ABA focuses on improving specific behaviors by adjusting the environment and consequences. These behaviors include social skills, communication, reading, and academics, but they also include adaptive learning skills like fine motor dexterity, hygiene, grooming, domestic capabilities, and job competence. When ABA is used consistently, it is effective for children and adults, and can improve behaviors and skills to the degree that the need for special services is decreased.
• To influence behavior, we must understand it. When we use ABA, we take a scientific approach to understanding behavior, focusing on how behaviors change, how environment affects behaviors, and how learning takes place. The principles of ABA address environmental variables that impact behavior, known as antecedents and consequences. Antecedents happen right before a behavior, and consequences follow the behavior. Comprehensive ABA plans address antecedents, behaviors, and consequences and find ways to modify the antecedents and consequences to impact behavior.
• Applied Behavior Analysis principals are used in several different ways. Sometimes, the goal is to increase certain behaviors, like listening to speakers or greeting people. It may be that you want to maintain behaviors, as in the case of reading previously learned sight words. ABA can also be used to help generalize or transfer behavior from one situation to another, and to reduce challenging behaviors.
• Used correctly, ABA helps people manage many lifestyle challenges. When applied systematically, ABA principles can help individuals learn new skills and apply them in their daily lives. The range of behaviors that can be addressed is far reaching and includes things as diverse as social skills, reading, toileting, riding a bus, requesting objects, and conversing with colleagues.
• Antecedents and consequences can be altered to affect learning. To target antecedents, instruction, instructional materials, environment, and student tasks can modified to meet the needs of the student. To implement consequences, negative and positive reinforcement can both be used effectively. It’s important, when using ABA, to have clear goals, measurable outcomes, and consistency. The best results are accomplished under heavy monitoring and continuous evaluation by a qualified applied behavior analyst.

If your child has been diagnosed with ASD, STAR of CA is here to offer support, not just by keeping you informed of opportunities for fun with your kids, but also with important support services. Founded in 2006, we provide behavioral and psychological services, including ABA, to people with ASD and related disorders. Our nurturing environment offers support not only to those with ASD but also to the entire family. You can contact us through our website or by calling 805.588.8896.

Benefits of Applied Behavioral Therapy

If you’re the parent of a child who has recently been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), you’re probably looking for anything that will help your child. You may feel overwhelmed by the diagnosis, and that’s ok. In fact, there are many different therapies that may help your child, and one of the most beneficial is Applied Behavioral Analysis therapy (ABA).

What is ABA? Used since the 1960s in treating young children with ASD and related disorders, this evidence-based best practice treatment has evolved over the years. ABA uses customized Behavior Intervention Plans to make gradual, systematic changes in the consequences of behaviors. In this way, socially positive behaviors are encouraged, while socially detrimental behaviors are discouraged. Using ABA, therapists are able to help children develop not only basic skills like looking, listening, and imitating but also more complex skills like reading and carrying on a conversation.

ABA looks at how behavior works, and applies that understanding to real-world situations. Treatment plans are developed based on individual needs, and for children with ASD, this can help them reach goals in communication and language, social skills, self-care, play, motor skills, and learning and academics. Using ABA for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder is beneficial for many reasons.

• It works. While many other therapies are available to children with ASD, there’s more scientific evidence supporting the use of ABA than any other treatment.
• It gives children with ASD the opportunity to make friends. The social skills that many children with ASD are lacking can be taught using ABA, allowing children to interact with others successfully and make friends.
• It provides children with the skills they need to live real-world lives. Something as simple as toileting skills is crucial for daily function in society. ABA can help children with ASD learn basic skills and much more.
• It helps parents to parent more effectively. ABA can teach parents how to interact with their children, while also teaching the children how to interact with others. Parenting a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder is not easy, but ABA can help you be a better parent.
• It sets the bar higher for children with ASD. Some children lose their ASD diagnosis after ABA therapy. Applied Behavioral Analysis is beneficial because it shows parents and children what those children are capable of accomplishing. When expectations are raised, children achieve more. Behaviors that were thought impossible before the start of therapy may suddenly be within the child’s grasp, leading to the confidence that makes even higher goals possible.

If your child has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, STAR of CA is here to offer support. Founded in 2006, we provide behavioral and psychological services to people with ASD and related disorders in a nurturing environment that offers support for the entire family. We love what we do, and are devoted to improving lives through focused, caring services. You can contact us through our website or by calling 805.588.8896.

Helping Children with Autism Learn to Communicate

For children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), communication can be a major challenge. Children whose language skills do not develop typically often have difficulty conveying their wants and needs effectively, which leads to frustration. This puts these children at risk of potentially harmful and misunderstood behaviors like tantrums, aggression, or self-injury. That’s why it’s vital to focus on working with children with ASD to help them develop communication skills.  

One effective way of doing this is with functional communication training (FCT). Rather than teaching kids to label an item, FCT focuses on using language to get something needed or desired. This information is conveyed with language, signs, and pictures, to help individuals achieve a desired result. The object may be obtaining something like a toy or food, expressing the desire to participate in an activity, or stating a need for something like a trip to the bathroom or a break from something. Using positive reinforcement, FCT helps teach children about language and communication, in order to increase their ability to have their needs met by interacting effectively with others. By rewarding appropriate methods of communication, whether verbal or nonverbal, we’re able to empower children with ASD to advocate for their own wants and needs.  

• How does FCT work? The first step in the process is to identify something that highly motivates the child. It could be a favorite television show, a toy, a favorite snack or an activity. The child is taught a sign or given a picture that represents that thing. Using errorless learning, the therapist guides the child to use that sign or picture in order to get the reward. Repeating this process, with the presentation of the picture or sign always bringing the earned reward, helps children become familiar with the process and more independent in communicating. As signs, words, or pictures are being consistently used correctly, new ones can be added gradually, to increase the child’s vocabulary.  
• What are the goals of FCT? The goals vary between children, depending on the child’s level of communication. For children with complex needs or significant language impairment, it may be challenging to build a small repertoire of functional communication. Children with a higher level of function and less complex needs may be able to gain as much language as their typically developing peers, by using FCT. Using assistive tech, some children may be able to speak in full sentences. Others may only be able to use single words. It’s important to tailor the goals and the treatment to each unique child. That’s why functional communication training is typically taught one-on-one by a clinician with a speech or language pathology background, or by a behavioral psychologist trained in applied behavior analysis (ABA). A major factor in the success of FCT is reinforcement of the training by parents and teachers. It’s important for children to learn that the appropriate sign, word, or picture must be presented in order to obtain the desired reward.  
• How does FCT help with behavioral issues? The development of functional communication training originated as a way to reduce troubling behaviors exhibited by children with ASD. By assessing the function of the inappropriate behaviors, we can determine the reason the child is behaving that way. If it’s because of a lack of communication, then teaching a child to communicate reliably and effectively should extinguish the behavior. For example, a child might engage in self-injurious behavior to get attention, access something he or she wants, escape something undesired, or serve a sensory need. When this succeeds, it’s accidentally reinforced, but with FCT, these unhealthy behavioral patterns can be broken. When a child learns to self-advocate using a word, sign, or picture and discovers that the reward is given quickly and efficiently, he or she is likely to choose the easier path of appropriate behavior.  
• Does the age of the person with ASD matter in FCT? Functional communication training can work with every age, and some adults who have been introduced to FCT have been known to gain skills quickly. However, the earlier the intervention can happen, the better, because the younger the child is when the communication repertoire is built, the better off he or she will be.  

If your child has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, STAR of CA is here to offer support. Founded in 2006, we provide behavioral and psychological services to people with ASD and related disorders in a nurturing environment that offers support for the entire family. We love what we do, and are devoted to improving lives through focused, caring services. You can contact us through our website or by calling 805.588.8896. 

How Does Natural Environment Teaching Work?

Natural environment teaching is an approach to teaching children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that focuses on their daily surroundings. Think about the environments your child sees and explores on a daily basis: home, school, daycare. These places are the context in which your child’s learning takes place and his or her development happens. Natural environment teaching uses these surroundings to teach important skills, often through the creation of specific learning opportunities for your child. Ultimately, your child should be able to independently use the skills he or she learns in each of these environments.  

At STAR of CA, we offer a fully integrated approach to providing the education and resources families affected by ASD need. Our team offers a wide array of services, from ABA therapy to family support. If you’re in need of ASD services in the Ventura area, you can reach us by calling (805) 644-7827 today.  

The ABCs of DTT

Discrete trial teaching (DTT) is an approach to teaching skills that works by breaking them down into the smallest component possible.  Skills are taught as discrete behaviors and then linked together to create a larger behavior. If you have a child who has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), then you may want to become familiar with how DTT works.  

In very simplistic terms, the parent or therapist presents an SD (cue) i.e., “show me blue”.  The child is then expected to respond to the cue (hopefully [as in the scenario above] by selecting blue).  The parent or therapist then provides a consequence to the behavior i.e., redirection (try again) if they select the incorrect answer) or verbal praise i.e., that’s right, nice job if they choose the correct answer.  For example, if the child carries out the request, then the parent or therapist can provide positive reinforcement to encourage that response in the future.  

If you’re looking for evidence-based ASD therapy in the greater Ventura area, call STAR of CA today. Our compassionate and caring team will be happy to provide you and your family with the integrated, up-to-date ASD services you need. You can reach us at (805) 644-7827.  

Mastering the Terminology of ABA: A Guide for Parents

If you are a parent of a child who has autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it’s important that you take the time to learn about applied behavior analysis (ABA). ABA is an empirically validated treatment for autism. It focuses on teaching functional skills and address challenging behaviors that may be impacting your child’s ability to learn and navigate his environment. When you read about ABA, you’re likely to encounter a lot of unfamiliar words and terminologies. Here are some of the terms you may see:  

ABC data 

This is a type of data collection frequently used to identify the possible function of your child’s behavior. In other words, trying to understand the reason why a behavior is taking place and what is maintaining this behavior. A stands for antecedent, or what happens before a behavior. B stands for the behavior itself. C stands for the consequence that follows.  

Comorbidity 

This word refers to an additional condition a person is diagnosed with, in addition to a primary condition. For instance, children with ASD may frequently be diagnosed with epilepsy as well.  

DSM 

DSM stands for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. This manual is widely used around the world to classify mental and developmental disorders.  

Intervention 

This term is simply used to mean any action that is taken to change a particular behavior.  

Mand 

A mand is a volitional request, with the intent of wanting the item. For example, a child saying “ball” because he wants the ball, as opposed to saying “ball” because he sees a ball.  

Prompt 

A prompt is something you provide to a child to help he or she perform a particular behavior. A prompt can come in many different forms and varying in how intrusive they are. They can range from physical prompts to a simple indirect verbal prompt.   

Transitions 

This term is used to refer to switching from one activity to another or moving from one setting to another. Challenging behaviors are often observed during transitions, especially when going from a preferred activity to a less preferred activity.  

Inflexibility 

Children with autism may often have a difficult time with an overall change in routine. Some children have very specific routines that in the event of any slight deviation, it may be a cause for an intense meltdown.  

Since May of 2006, STAR of CA has been offering comprehensive ASD resources to children, adolescents, and parents throughout Ventura County and beyond. Are you wondering whether getting the right therapy could make a difference in your child’s life? You can learn more about the ABA therapy we provide by calling us at (805) 644-7827.  

What Does It Mean to Be “Therapy Ready”?

When an ABA therapist is scheduled to come to your home, it’s important to make sure that your child is ready to receive the therapy. That means that the child should be calm and in a suitable mood for working with the therapist. If your child is tired, hungry, stressed out, or sick, then the therapy session is not likely to be as productive as it could be. The same is true if your child is already distracted by playing with his or her favorite toy. If the session doesn’t start out on the right note, then it will be very difficult for the therapist to make it as productive as it should be.   Work with your child’s supervisor for tips on getting your child ready for therapy. 

You’ll always find the up-to-date ASD treatments and therapies your family needs at STAR of CA. We have been providing state-of-the-art resources to families in Ventura County since 2006, and we are continually working to expand and enhance our services. If you’d like to learn more, give us a call at (805) 644-7827.

Defining ABA Therapy

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is an empirically validated and widely used approach to treating Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and related conditions. It focuses primarily on helping individuals reduce challenging behaviors and develop new skills. Every treatment is customized to meet the individuals’ needs. During the therapy, a skill is chosen and broken up into small, manageable steps using reinforcement as a catalyst to behavior change. The learner’s progress is then carefully monitored throughout so that the therapy can be adjusted as needed to ensure that it stays helpful. ABA therapy has proved to be extremely beneficial in helping individuals with ASD progress in all areas; it is the most common type of ASD therapy in use today.  

STAR of CA offers a wide array of important services for children with ASD and their families that draw on the principles of ABA. We have been serving Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange Counties and other areas since 2006. For more information, call (805) 644-7827.

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