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Introduction to:
Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Procedures for Kids with Autism or Other Neuropsychological
Disorders: A Brief Non-Technical Guide for Parents and Teachers
Ideally, children with autism and other neuropsychological disorders need to be under the care
of a pediatrician experienced in the treatment of neuropsychological disorders and also need to
be evaluated and followed by a pediatric neurologist. Additional evaluations and treatment by
occupational therapists, physical therapists, and speech language pathologists, and
psychologists are usually necessary as well. (Many kids with neuropsychological disorders do
not make eye contact or follow directions. Parents often wonder if there is something wrong
with their child's hearing. Usually, this is not the case, but these kids do need a hearing
evaluation just to make sure.)
Unfortunately, what kids with neuropsychological disorders need and what they get are usually
two different things, with their needs being lost in the politics of special education and managed
health care. Many families in rural areas, as well as families in urban areas, do not get the
services they so desperately need.
As I state in the preface to my collection of case histories, Little Bubba's Not Ready for Nashville
Yet, Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) and a handful of drugs are the most effective ways to
manage behavior problems in children with neuropsychological disorders. And if it's at all
possible, you should contact an ABA therapist in your area for help. (Go to http://www.aabt.org/ to locate ABA therapists.) Find someone experienced in working with children who have
the same diagnosis as your child.
Of course, this costs money, and special ed supervisors and managed health care moguls are
tight-fisted, especially when it comes to behavioral problems. If you have to go it alone, try the
ABA programs in my ebook, which I have been giving parents, teachers, and other caregivers in
my clinic for the last thirty years as guidelines. These basic ABA programs are 2 to 5 pages in
length, double-spaced, simple to use and easy to understand, and will usually eliminate the child'
s behavioral problems in a short period of time. Occasionally, small modifications have to be
made in the ABA programs for a particular child.
Many parents and caregivers think ABA programs are too simplistic to work on their child's
complicated neuropsychological disorder, but don't be mislead, ABA procedures work, although
they do require a lot of effort and patience and a lot of money if you visit an ABA psychologist in
his office--$75--150 per hour. (Many of the ABA programs in my eBook are also effective for
normally developing children with behavioral problems.)
ABA procedures require baseline measures of the behavioral problem (either a count or a time
measure of the behavioral problem during the assessments), before we introduce a behavioral
intervention. We then continue to monitor the occurrence of the behavioral problem during the
intervention, and we usually know after a week or two if the ABA behavioral intervention is
working or not. If for some reason there is not a significant change from baseline after two
weeks, then you modify the program, as suggested. (See Overview.)
The chapter on an Overview of Behavioral Assessments, Behavioral Interventions, and
Maintenance and Generalization of Behavioral Changes should be read before any of the ABA
programs are implemented.
Contents:
I. Overview of Behavioral Assessments, Behavioral Interventions, and Maintenance and
Generalization of Behavioral Changes:
Defining behavior in behavioral terms, taking baseline measures, noting the antecedents and
consequences of behavior, starting a behavioral intervention to change behavior, and
maintaining behavioral changes are covered.
After reading the free overview, look at the list below to find the behavioral problems you want
to work on first. Children with neuropsychological disorders often have numerous behavioral
problems and the order that you take up the behavioral problems is important.
Eye contact on command is the first problem you will want to deal with if your child is not making
consistent eye contact and seems unaware of what is going on. After your child is making eye
contact reliably, then move to following directions. Many children who do not follow directions
are also aggressive, have tantrums, or engage in self-injurious behavior when given a direction.
The ABA program for following directions can be combined with the ABA programs for aggressive
behavior, self-injurious behavior, or tantrums, and run at the same time.
Once you have your child making eye contact, following one-step directions 90% of the time, and
have eliminated aggressive behavior, self-injurious behavior, and tantrums, you are ready to
start working on your child's developmental delays. And remember--your child often engages in
negative behavior just to get your attention. Try to focus on and reinforce appropriate behavior
in your child. As appropriate behavior increases inappropriate behavior will decrease. You "reap
what you sow" with kids.
Note: Caregivers will notice a certain redundancy if they read very many Applied Behavioral
Analysis (ABA) programs from my ebook or other sources. Of course, different ABA programs
target different behavioral problems, but some caregivers only download one or two ABA
programs from our website rather than buy the entire eBook so important information has to be
repeated in each ABA program. In addition, there's still that repetition that pops up in program
after program. Perhaps that's why ABA programs work so well for kids with autism and other
neuropsychological disorders.
Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Programs for Common Behavioral Problems:
1. Establishing Eye Contact/Sustaining Eye Contact
2. Following Directions
3. Tantrums and Screaming/colic
4. Aggressive Behavior: Hitting, Biting, Pushing, Kicking, Screaming, and Hair Pulling
5. Self-injurious Behavior: Head-banging or Biting or Hitting Oneself
6. Behaving Appropriately in Stores and Restaurants
7. Increasing Compliance
8. Desensitization to Loud Noises and Other Fears and Phobias
9. Toilet Training
10. Teaching Stimulus Discriminations (Colors, Shapes, Letters, etc.)
11. Increasing Functional Speech (Selective Mutes)/Verbal Drills
12. Excessive Chewing and Pica
13. Teaching a Child to Imitate or Model Correct Behavior
14. Separation Anxiety
15. Attention Deficits
16. Hyperactivity
17. Independent Play
18. Self-Stimulatory Behavior
19. Echolalia
20. Vomiting
21. Social Problems
22. Listening and Remembering
23. Decreasing Frustration
24. Sleep Problems
25. Following Directions Without Saying "No"
Disclaimer
The ABA programs in the eBooks on this web site are designed as guidelines for parents and
caregivers of children with behavioral problems and developmental delays associated with
neuropsychological disorders, such as autism, and are not a substitute for direct consultation by
a psychologist. (Go to http://www.aabt.org/ to locate ABA therapists in your area.) If your child
has psychiatric problems then a psychologist or psychiatrist should be consulted.
Be sure you have virus protection software on your computer before you download any ABA
programs or case histories. We cannot be responsible for files that have been infected by a
virus placed there by hackers.
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