Frequently Asked Questions
Why use ABA?
Why is the intensity of treatment so important?
What is Applied Verbal Behavior?
What are some possible indicators of Autism Spectrum Disorders?
What are "stims"?
What does it mean to be "on the spectrum"?
What is the difference between Autism and Asperger's Disorder?
Why Use ABA?
The following is an excerpt from chapter 3 of the Maurice, Green, and Luce book “Behavioral Interventions for Young Children with Autism, 1996.”
Historically most people with autism have required extensive treatment and supports throughout
their lives (Rapin, 1991; Remlin, 1994; Rutter, 1970; Rutter and Schopler, 1987; Szatmari et al.,
1989). Today the mainstream position is that autism is a "severely incapacitating lifelong developmental
disability." It is considered treatable; indeed, a wide variety of treatments, therapies, and techniques
are claimed to help (or even cure) people with autism and new ones are invented regularly (Autism Society
of America, 1995).
Until recently, however, none of those treatments has offered any solid, realistic basis for changing the view that autism is a permanent disability. Several studies have now shown that one treatment approach-early, intensive instruction using the methods of Applied Behavior Analysis-can result in dramatic improvements for children with autism: successful integration in regular schools for many, completely normal functioning for some (Anderson, Avery, DiPietro, Edwards, and Christian, 1987; Birnbrauer and Leach, 1993; Fenske, Zalenski, Krantz, McClannahan, 1985; Harris, Handleman, Gordon, Kristoff, and Fuentes, 1991; Lovaas, 1987; Maurice, 1993; McEachin, Smith, and Lovaas, 1993; Perry, Cohen, and DeCarlo, 1995; Sheinkopf and Siegel, in press). In fact, there is abundance scientific evidence that applied behavior analysis methods can produce comprehensive and lasting improvements in many important skill areas for most people with autism, regardless of their age. No other treatment for autism offers comparable evidence of effectiveness (Lovaas and Smith, 1989; Schreibman, 1988; Shreibman, Charlop and Milstein, 1993; Smith, 1993).
There is little doubt that early intervention based on the principles and practices of applied behavior analysis can produce large, comprehensive, lasting and meaningful improvements in many important domains for a large proportion of children with autism. For some, those improvements can amount to achievement of completely normal intellectual, social, academic, communicative, and adaptive functioning. In fact, a large majority of young children with autism benefit from early behavioral intervention. Most show substantial improvements in many adaptive, useful skill areas and reduction in problematic behaviors. Only a small portion (about 10% of those studied so far) have been found to make few or no improvements despite intensive efforts (e.g. Anderson, et al., 1987; Birnbrauer and Leach, 1993; Lovaas, 1987; McEachin et al., 1993; Sheinkopf and Siegel, in press). There is strong evidence that behavioral intervention is more effective for young children with autism than no intervention, and more effective than typical early education services and assorted other therapies. Gina Green Article Ch3 Early Behavioral Intervention for Children with Autism: What does research tell us
Why is the intensity of treatment so important?
Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General states, "Thirty years of research demonstrated the efficacy of applied behavioral methods in reducing inappropriate behavior and in increasing communication, learning, and appropriate social behavior." The basic research done by Ivar Lovaas and his colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles, calling for an intensive, one-on-one child-teacher interaction for 40 hours a week, laid a foundation for other educators and researchers in the search for further effective early interventions to help those with ASD attain their potential.
The graph below illustrates the learning gap that occurs over time between a neurotypical child and a child with ASD. The yellow line represents the steady developmental progress from birth through 18 years of age in the average child. At 18 years of age, this child is expected to graduate from high school, begin to live life independent of his or her parents, and become a contributing member of society. The green line represents the developmental progress of a child with ASD. There are three important points illustrated by this graph.
- The children in each situation make steady developmental progress, but the rates of progress vary. Children with developmental delay usually make steady developmental progress, but they do things at a different age than other children.
- The end point of achievements for a child who is developmentally delayed is often different from that of the average child. Exactly what will be achieved in adulthood can vary dramatically within the developmentally delayed population as it does within the "average" population. Rate of progress during the first five to seven years of life generally provides a good deal of information about approximately where a child fits in on this illustrative graph.
- The learning gap between these children dramatically increases as time goes on. Because in the beginning years of life the developmental differences between these two children may not be apparent, many children do not get the intense treatment necessary. As a result they begin to quickly fall further and further behind and now have to catch up to peers who are continuously learning new information every day. Therefore if we teach children with ASD at the same rate as typical children, this gap will continue to increase. In order to decrease the gap we need to teach these children at a faster, more intense rate than typical developing children are learning. (in the graph below: increase the font size for the title (Human Development) and the legend at the bottom)
What is Applied Verbal Behavior?
Applied Verbal Behavior (AVB), a component of ABA, is a series of evidenced based teaching techniques that focus the principles of applied behavior analysis on the acquisition of language/verbal skills. As A.Charles Catania explained in his article “Introduction to Verbal Behavior”:
In addition to fostering communication skills, AVB is also often included with ABA programs in order to identify a child’s naturally occurring motivation, capture it, and then use it to help him/her learn more effectively. This process is explained in an article by Robert Schramm entitled, “Motivation and Reinforcement: The Verbal Behavior Approach to ABA Autism Intervention.”
Reinforcement is the reason he will have more internal motivation and require less external motivation the next time. Using motivation and reinforcement in unison will create an ever- increasing desire to accomplish any skill to which these two principles are consistently applied. This last statement is extremely important as it clearly states why Applied Behavior Analysis and Verbal Behavior help a child desire the learning process. If your child is consistently given motivation to attempt a new skill and finds that the successful completion of that skill is consistently met with a positive experience, your child will have an ever-increasing desire to accomplish that skill again. If you can begin applying these two principles of reinforcement (ABA) and motivation (VB) to every skill you want your child to learn, then he will begin to desire learning every skill you want to teach him.
In essence, Applied Verbal Behavior not only teaches children to understand and use language, but also how to learn as typical children do…from the everyday world!!!
What are some possible indicators of Autism Spectrum Disorders?
- Does not babble, point, or make meaningful gestures by 1 year of age
- Does not speak one word by 16 months
- Does not combine two words by 2 years
- Does not respond to name
- Loses language or social skills
- Poor eye contact
- Doesn't seem to know how to play with toys
- Excessively lines up toys or other objects
- Is attached to one particular toy or object
- Doesn't smile
- At times seems to be hearing impaired
What are "stims"?
Stereotypy or self-stimulatory behavior ("stims") refers to repetitive body movements or repetitive movement of objects. This behavior is common in many individuals with developmental disabilities; however, it appears to be more common in autism. In fact, if a person with another developmental disability exhibits a form of self-stimulatory behavior, often the person is also labeled as having autistic characteristics. Stereotypy can involve any of five senses. Hand flapping, body rocking, smelling objects or people, eye squinting, and making repetitive vocal sounds are some common self-stimulatory behaviors among children with autism.
Self-stimulatory behavior is not, however, confined to the autism community. Take a look around at the office, library, waiting room and lines for service. You will see ordinary people twirling their hair, tapping a pen or pencil, biting a pencil, fumbling in their pockets, playing with a button on their clothing, snapping their fingers, cracking knuckles, whistling, blowing bubbles with gum, rocking in a chair, playing with toothpicks or playing with a beard or moustache.
A major difference between self-stimulatory behaviors in typical developing individuals and those with ASD is that people with ASD often become so preoccupied with the self-stimulatory behaviors that they frequently miss valuable learning opportunities, which then hinders their development even further. Since a typical person engages in these behaviors at a much lower intensity and/or frequency, they are normally able to continue attending and learning from their environment.
What does it mean to be "on the spectrum"?
Autism is a spectrum disorder, which means it manifests itself in many different forms. A diagnosis can range from mild to severe, and though children who have it (i.e. are on the spectrum) are likely to exhibit similar traits, they're also as individual as the colors of a rainbow, each one managing a grab bag of symptoms. While one child may rarely speak and have difficulty learning how to read and write, another can be so high-functioning he's able to attend classes in a mainstream school. Yet another child may be so sensitive to the feel of fabric that all tags must be cut off before he wears a piece of clothing, while his friend who's also autistic may not have any sensory issues at all.(Autism Speaks, 2007).
What is the difference between Autism and Asperger's Disorder?
Asperger's Syndrome is a neurological disorder that, like others on the spectrum, is marked by difficulties in communication and social interaction. Like autism, individuals diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome find it challenging, even impossible, to connect with others, often don't hold eye contact and have trouble reading other people's faces and gestures. Many kids flap their hands, a behavior often associated with classic autism; speak without much emotion (or have otherwise unusual speech patterns); need to follow schedules rigidly or else the world feels out of control, and are intensely, even obsessively, interested in one specific subject, so much that they become veritable experts in that field. They also exhibit sensitivities to various stimuli, from sounds to clothing to food items. Compared with classic autism, however, children with Asperger's Syndrome usually don't show any signs of major cognitive difficulties Instead, their IQ falls in the normal or even superior range and they exhibit few, if any, delays in speaking. They also generally hit most of their milestones within reasonable time periods. Because of this, some describe children with this condition as "high-functioning" or as having a "mild" form of autism, at least compared to others on the spectrum (NIMH, 2007).
