Today, one of the most effective ways to correct autism is the method of applied analysis, or ABA therapy. What it is? Let's find out in this article.
Behavioral intervention in children with autism is very important. Its main task is to help a child with certain developmental disabilities adapt to the environment and take part in the life of society to the fullest extent.
Autistic children - who are they?
It should be clearly understood that autistic children are not better or worse than other children, they are just different. A distinctive feature of these babies is the look, "immersed in themselves", they can not find a connection with the outside world.
Attentive parents discover that their child is autistic when he is still very young. At a time when ordinary babies begin to gradually recognize their mother (at about 2 months), a child with autism is completely indifferent to the outside world. Already a month after the birth of the baby, the mother can determine by crying what he wants: to play, eat, he is cold, wet, and so on. With an autistic child, this is impossible, his crying is usually inexpressive, monotonous.
At 1-2 years old, babies with autism can say their first words, buttheir use is meaningless. The child prefers to be alone. Being without a mother or a close relative for some period, he does not show much concern.
Over time, the baby also does not show strong attachment to parents and does not seek to communicate with peers.
The exact reasons for this condition have not yet been established. Scientists suggest that this condition appears due to brain development disorders, chromosomal abnormalities, gene mutations.
Despite the impression that autistics do not need anyone, these kids really need communication, they want to be understood, they just do not know how to do it. The task of parents is to help such a child to establish contact with the outside world. ABA therapy for autistics is by far the most effective.
What is the essence of the technique?
What makes it interesting and unique? ABA Therapy - What is it? It is based on behavioral technologies and techniques that make it possible to study the influence of environmental factors on the behavior of an autistic person and change it, that is, manipulate these factors. Another name for ABA therapy is behavior modification. The idea of the ABA program is that any behavior has consequences, and when the child likes it, he will repeat these actions, but if he does not like it, he will not.
What does behavior modification do?
ABA Therapy for Autistics is the backbone of most programs that aim to treat this disorder in children. Value of Behavioral Therapy Confirmednumerous studies over 30 years.
Specialists and parents who used such a technique as ABA therapy in classes with children leave the following reviews:
- communication skills improve;
- adaptive behavior normalizes;
- learning ability improves.
Besides, thanks to this program, manifestations of behavioral deviations are significantly reduced. It has also been proven that the earlier ABA therapy courses are started (preferably at preschool age), the more noticeable the results will be.
Scientists have developed various methods for correcting deviations, which are used in ABA therapy. These methods are based on the principles of applied behavioral analysis.
How does it work?
With this technique, all complex skills for autistics, such as contact, speech, creative play, the ability to look into the eyes, listen, and others are divided into separate small action blocks. Each of them is then taught to the child separately. As a result, the blocks are connected into a single chain, which forms one complex action. The autism specialist, during the process of learning activities, gives a child with an autism spectrum disorder a task. If the kid cannot cope with it on his own, the teacher gives him a hint, and then rewards the child for the correct answers, while incorrect answers are ignored. This is the basis of ABA therapy. Training according to this method consists of several stages.
First step: start withsimple
One of the exercises of the program is "Language-understanding". The specialist gives the child a certain task or stimulus, for example, asks to raise his hand, immediately gives a hint (raises the child’s hand), then rewards the child for the correct answer. Having made several joint attempts, the baby tries to complete the action without prompting. The specialist repeats the same phrase to the child again and waits for an independent correct answer from him. If the kid answers correctly, without prompts, he receives a reward (they praise him, give him something tasty, let him play, etc.). If the child does not give the correct answer, the task is repeated again using the hint. Then the baby again tries to do everything on his own. The exercise ends when the child was able to give the correct answer without prompting.
When 90% of the child's independent answers to the specialist's task are correct, a new stimulus is introduced, for example, they are asked to nod their heads. It is important that the tasks are as different as possible from each other. The new task is processed in the same way.
Second stage: fixing the material
After the child has mastered the second task well - “nod your head”, the exercise is complicated. The learned actions alternate in random order: "nod your head" - "raise your hand", "raise your hand" - "raise your hand" - "nod your head" and so on. Tasks are considered mastered when in 90% of cases the child gives the correct answer when alternating the learned exercises. The third stimulus is introduced and worked out in the same way, and so on.
Third stage: generalizing and consolidating
At this stage, the acquired skills are generalized. When the child has accumulated a sufficient number of mastered important stimuli (“take”, “give”, “come here”, etc.), attention is paid to generalization. Exercises begin to be carried out in unusual and unexpected places (on the street, in a store, in a bathroom). After that, they alternate people giving the child tasks (specialist, mom, dad, grandfather, grandmother).
Fourth stage
This is the final stage. At some point, the child not only masters the stimuli worked out with him, but also begins to understand new tasks on his own, additional processing is no longer required. For example, he is given the task “close the door”, shown 1-2 times and this is already quite enough. If this is successful, then the program has been mastered, and ABA therapy is no longer needed. The child begins to take in information from the environment further, as do normally developing non-autistic toddlers.
What determines the effectiveness of the correction of autism in a child?
It takes a lot of effort and time to learn and perfect dozens of actions and objects element by element. It is believed that for children diagnosed with autism, ABA therapy will be most effective if at least 30-40 hours a week are given to classes according to this method. It is advisable to start studying according to such a program before the child turns 6 years old. AVA tarpia is also effective for older children. But the sooner things start, the better the end result will be.
Benefitsthis technique
ABA therapy is extremely effective for children with autism. Learning is not just about repeating the right behavior, the professional therapist helps the child transfer the right model from one situation to another. The most important component in achieving success is the direct participation of parents in the ABA program.
Positive results appear quickly enough. According to the research of the founder of this technique, Ivar Lovaas, about half of the children who received correction under the ABA program can be trained in a regular school. The condition and behavior improved in more than 90% of children from the total number of those who received correction using this method.
ABA-therapy provides an opportunity to consistently develop the child, socialize and introduce into society. In children with autism, stereotypes almost completely disappear. The ABA technique allows children who turned to correction late (5-6 years) to master speech.
The program covers all areas of knowledge: from the development of the conceptual apparatus to the formation and improvement of household self-service skills.
Disadvantages of the methodology
Unfortunately, ABA therapy cannot be applied at the initial stage if a child with autism is afraid of strangers. The program is quite tough, it should be used carefully. Parents both morally and physically must be ready for full return, work is carried out constantly, the system of rewards and punishments is not violated. Breaks or weakening of work is not desirable, sincethis may affect the result. It is important to understand that the child is not trained, but trained - they teach skills by repeating them many times. To work according to this method, complete obedience of the child is necessary, and sometimes it is quite difficult to achieve it. It is very important to control classes according to such a program, however, at home, you should also try to organize a development system that would correspond to the correction plan.
Possible difficulties
Motivation of children diagnosed with autism is somewhat different from that of ordinary kids. It is important to identify what the child may be interested in, will motivate him. Approval or censure for autistic children is ineffective; at the initial stage, praise can be combined with a real reward. Such kids cannot focus on anything for a long time and are often distracted, so it is important to conduct classes in silence, divide tasks into small segments. Repetition compensates for the slowness in learning, abstract concepts are explained in the simplest possible phrases. After the child learns to freely communicate with the teacher one on one, you can offer him communication with two people and so gradually increase the number of others. In such children, the observation skill is ineffective, so imitation is used. Proper learning is hindered by self-stimulation - rocking, clapping. Autistic children do not distinguish between essential and non-essential stimuli, their reaction can sometimes be too pronounced or, conversely, very weak. To get information, they oftenrely on sight, not hearing. Children who perceive information well by ear are most successful in the ABA program.
ABA therapy is perhaps the only method of corrective work with autistic children that causes so many controversies and discussions. Various dissatisfaction is generated either by outdated information, or by unqualified ABA specialists, of which there are quite a lot today, as this program is becoming more and more popular. The efficiency of work directly depends on the qualifications of a specialist, so you need to choose it very carefully.
