ABA Intervention Plan

Applied behavioral analysis (ABA) is the leading scientific method that helps patients with Autism to overcome their condition. In order to improve their condition, ABA specialists focus on a system of reward, which encourages positive actions like speech, social activity and life skill improvements. This works mostly with children as they are more likely to absorb and accept new challenges; this is commonly referred to as "positive reinforcement" in the literature and has become one of the leading directions for treatment. ABA therapy was devised and implemented by Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas at UCLA in 1987. Since then, ABA therapy has become a leading branch of psychology - behaviorism.

This is why it is important that parents become trained in ABA. However, it is important that parents do not think that one approach will solve any child 's autism difficulties. The idea of using a “cookbook recipe” to fix their child is something that must be thrown out the window and techniques that encourage parents to become educated about the broadness of autism should be used. This includes learning how their child functions and ways to help design a ABA for their child rather than basing it off of statistics (Dillenburger et al.,2004).

Intervention Central is a free online resource for teachers and school districts to use for the implementation of intervention in or outside of the classroom while following the Common Core State Standards. Jim Wright, a psychologist and school administrator out of New York, created Intervention Central in hopes that the website would help offer high quality RTI in even the lowest budgeted schools. The website offers a wide variety of tools for teachers to use for academic and behavioral interventions as well as assessments and informative articles. Intervention Central also offers training videos and webinars on many different topics. The site breaks the intervention process activities down by subject and subject areas.

The Regents of the University of California. (2014). About PRT. Retrieved from The Regents of the University of California: https://education.ucsb.edu/autism/pivotal-response-treatment

In order to understand why people are for or against ABA, we must first understand what ABA is. According to Baer, Wolf, and Risley “Applied Behavioral Analysis is the processes of systematically applying interventions based upon the principals of learning theory to improve socially significant behaviors to a meaningful degree” (Baer, Wolf, and Risley, 1968). This means using operant conditioning in order to teach proper social behavior. This technique is widely used by therapists for children who have Autism. As with most teaching methods, there are pro’s and con’s.

The Applied Behavioral Analysis model, or (ABA) as it is commonly referred to, has been in practice for many years, touching the lives of many people of all ages, backgrounds, and degrees of the Autism spectrum. As with anything, there is a considerable amount of misinformation projecting a negative view of ABA. These views have questioned the protocol, application, and necessity of the ABA. The following is some information and facts to hopefully make clear what ABA not only does, but what it stands for as a therapy that will continue to help those in need.

Many studies have shown that AAT is able to help a wide variety of people. Many different diseases and disabilities have been proven to benefit from AAT. For example, in Table 1 in the equine-assisted therapy article, the author explains that each type of horse therapy benefits certain people. In dressage, a type of riding where the horse and rider work together to make precision movements, helps people with Polio, Parkinson’s Disease, and traumatic head injury (Ratliffe and Sanekane 35). Yet, AAT is used for many other types of situations as well. AAT is a common treatment used for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), medical conditions, compromised medical functions, emotional difficulties, as well as behavioral and physical problems (Nimer and Lundahl 226).

The Autism Internet Modules (AIM) (2014) was a great sources. AIM has a large amount of modules that allows anyone to view the modules to learn more about autism (Autism Internet Modules, 2014). AIM is a great source to provide general education teachers with more information about autism. In addition, teachers could use AIM to educate his/her classroom and one-on-one paraprofessionals. On this website paraprofessionals could learn more about the autism and what supports they could do to help the student they are working with. AIM (2014) would be a great professional development tool for all teachers, parents, administrators, and paraprofessionals to use. In addition, you can use the site to get certifications in different areas that are associated

In today’s society, we believe that all humans should be treated equal. We see this every day; on the news, blogs, social networking websites, worldwide campaigns. In her online journal article about life with a child with autism, “Tackling That Troublesome Issue of ABA and Ethics”, published in October of 2012, Ariane Zurcher argues that the issue of ABA therapy should affect either more than those individuals living with autism, or no one at all. ABA therapy is an applied behavior analysis in which patients with autism are motivated to do a certain task; they are often rewarded in hope of having an action come naturally. Zurcher dives into an article by Michelle Dawson, The Misbehavior of Behaviorists: Ethical Challenges to the Autism ABA Industry, which is so often used in Zurcher’s own article to back up her argument regarding ABA therapy. She explains how this argument stems from an inadequate definition of what equality is and how we should not use a therapy technique different from what we would use for a neurotypical individual, “If we really believe Autistic people (and children) deserve the same respect, are truly considered equal as those in the neurotypical population, ABA presents some real problems.” (Zurcher 1; par. 4)

My visit was done at Summit Autism Center in Roswell, Georgia on Friday, March 25th, 2016. I interviewed co-founder and director of the center, Jennifer. According to the mission statement, Summit Autism Center aims to “provide individualized, effective, and scientifically based treatment for children with autism and related disabilities that are not otherwise available” (Summit Autism, 2015). Jennifer stated that Summit, in addition to teaching independent living skills and basic school academics, they specialize in applied behavior analysis (ABA), which uses the verbal behavior principles written by B.F. Skinner. They focus on a wide range of skill in hopes of maximizing the individual potential of each child in attendance by working on:

The 2015 National Standards Report on autism states that AAT is an unestablished intervention for individuals under the age of 22, which means that there is little or no support on its effectiveness. They find that there is “no way to rule out the possibility that these interventions are ineffective or harmful” (National Autism Center, 2015, p. 74). Despite this report, numerous parents are asserting that this therapy was beneficial for their child’s social competencies, physical safety, or sensory experience. More quality research is needed to determine if animal-assisted interventions are effective because families are spending substantial amounts of time and money on animal-based interventions in the place of more evidence-based practices. According to Autism Service Dogs of America (2010), a fundraising goal of $13,500 for each service animal is required, which is invested in the dog’s training, housing, and breeding, which usually totals around $20,000. After the dog enters the family, there are continuous training sessions. According to the Autism Spectrum Disorder Foundation (2012), families can end up spending $5,000 annually and countless hours on equine-assisted therapy. With considerable amounts of time and money being invested in these interventions, more research must be performed on the efficacy of these

Since Skinner’s time there has been much research done and many new techniques made in ABA especially in regards of teaching people how to increase behaviors associated with learning and decreasing those that may inhibit learning. These new techniques have been used to help successfully treat or improve the lives of several people with various degrees and types of disabilities and learning disorders. These techniques have been adapted from being used exclusively on adults and modified for children. These techniques can be formally initiated, meaning that they are done in a classroom or a behavioral analysts’ office, or they can be taught to parents or caretakers and are often used to develop skills such as learning theory of mind, eye contact, social skills, and other necessary skills (Renna, 2004).

The hallmarks of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involve marked deficits in social interaction as well as engagement in repetitive behaviors and language difficulties (Leblanc, Richardson, & Warnie, 2005). Although autism can have a profound impact on the capabilities and functioning of the individual, emerging research indicates that applied behavioral analysis (ABA) can be an effective tool for addressing many of the deficits that children with ASD face (Boutot & Myles, 2016). In fact, emerging research indicates that when ABA is utilized for the treatment of young children with ASD many of the challenges faced by this group can be ameliorated (Boutot & Myles, 2016). With these issues in mind the current investigation considers the seven elements of ABA identified by Baer, Wolf, and Risley (1968) in their seminal article on applied behavioral analysis and their application to individuals with ASD. Through a critical review of the seven elements of ABA in relation to ASD it will be possible to illustrate how this approach can be effective for improving outcomes for individuals diagnosed with autism.

The average score 208.6 (4-5 grade level) For math and 210.3 for reading (6-7 Grade Level ) All of my students were tested Most scores were between 200 and 220.

Overall, I thought that the information provided in this article was informative and it helped me to understand more about ABA. It is shocking to me than many educators are not taught about ABA when it can be so useful to not only teach students with autism but also special education students in general. I am very glad that I have the opportunity to learn about using ABA in the classroom because it will be very beneficial to me in my future career because I want to teach students with learning behavior disorders and moderate-severe disabilities at the elementary