ABA Therapy?

lvisser

Does anyone else have their child doing ABA therapy?

DS just started two months ago... I haven't seen a lot of progress yet... 

When did you start seeing progress?

bumpuser511563

DS has done ABA therapy with a masters ABA student who put in 4 hours a week for one year. Then she later got hired on as a trainer and then lead therapist at an ABA company and provided 13 hours per week. There has been progress that has shown at least 3 or 4 months when she started with us as a student.

I also had other therapies on top of ABA and school.

I think it also depends on how many hours you are receiving and if the individual providing therapy is a good fit.

typeset

We did 28 hours per week of ABA through EI and saw progress before we sat down for our first monthly clinic with his aide and the BCBA. They also had reams of data and charts breaking down how he was doing. Progress has slowed since he started doing ABA through his preschool, but we still have monthly clinic meetings to review progress toward IEP goals. 

typeset

It also depends on what your child is working on and where. The first thing we had to establish was the ability to sit in a chair and attend at the table ("show me ready") before we could tackle anything else, especially the things I wanted most out of the gate--response to name, calling us by name, acknowledging our presence in a room ... 

SantoriniSteph

We did ABA therapy the year he was 2 years old.  It was 15 hours a week split between 3 different therapists, which I had to replace a couple of them throughout the year (not good fits for him).  I think it really depends on who the therapist is, and how much time they have with them.  He connected with one of them and I was starting to see progress by the end of the year.  Now that he is 3, he is in the public school and they provide ABA therapy.  I think combining it with other techniques in the classroom and having other kids around is helping him more.

lvisser

he currently goes m/w/th from 9-3... I can spy on him with the webcam... From what i've noticed they usually switch therapists/activities every 45 minutes or so? 

he def has his favorites...

he just got his dx in December... but in the last week he has been showing more "behavior" for his therapists (which I guess is a good thing... sadly... they can't help him unless they see it)... Just sucks... I hate this...

bumpuser511563

lvisser said:

he currently goes m/w/th from 9-3... I can spy on him with the webcam... From what i've noticed they usually switch therapists/activities every 45 minutes or so? 

he def has his favorites...

he just got his dx in December... but in the last week he has been showing more "behavior" for his therapists (which I guess is a good thing... sadly... they can't help him unless they see it)... Just sucks... I hate this...

Yeah, there was behaviors that DS did when they were not there.

What they suggested to me was to record the behavior on video and we saved it on a usb for the BCBA and lead therapist to look at the video. That way they can still help you with the behaviors.

lvisser

I should have recorded him last night... one of the worst meltdowns we've ever had...

I just pray he can find his words soon...

hopecounts

I would say we saw progress within the 2nd month but it was little stuff and somewhat subtle. 

Like mentioned they were mainly working on sitting and attending, responding to her name, etc.

A lot of the early work is focused on stims/distractions/behavior that interfere with his ability to do the work so it may not be as obvious.
Words starting really taking off for DD around month 3 of ABA, they had gotten through a good bit of the set up work and she was better able to focus and do the verbal work. 
She is now clicking on a long after 8 months and has gone from 10-15 words to about 50 with 2 word combos being common and 3 word combos emerging spontaneously. So it has worked great for her.

I highly recommend that you video your kiddo at home every 3-6 months so you can see the progress and have a comparison, as well as having a way to evaluate where he is and where he is most lacking. 

Our team uses VB-MAPP but also consults the parents on what we want to focus on so that we see progress in areas that are causing us issues. 

It can take time, it's good they switch providers, it helps with generalization as long as the providers are rotating what they are working on as well so it isn't x provider doing y everytime.

lvisser

BeaF12 said:

lvisser said:

I should have recorded him last night... one of the worst meltdowns we've ever had...

I just pray he can find his words soon...

@lvisser is you son non-verbal? My son has severe apraxia, not ASD, but was non-verbal until over 3 yrs old. We started using our iPad w/ an app called Speak for Yourself, many of the users have ASD. Check out their website, Facebook page, Facebook users group and you tube videos. The difference in my son is amazing. I had his 4 yr check-up today and I told his MD that last year I was asking anyone w/ a pulse for help and advise w/ parenting him. His tantrums and meltdowns were constant. Now that he can use his words both verbally and on his talker, our life has changed. Communication can come before language. I also recommend googling AAC and PrAACtical AAC for great articles. Feel free to PM me if you have questions or want more information, Im usually on my phone and am not on special needs page every day, but I do check in Oct 2012 every day, so you can page me there. Good luck. 

He has about 5 words... and none of them are very clear.  So i guess that makes him non verbal... His ABA teacher just mentioned last week the possibility of apraxia...

hopecounts

@LovelyRitaMeterMaid

Personally we kept ST and OT as they work on the issues from different perspectives to give a more full spectrum treatment.

ABA works on behaviors, speech, attention, etc ST focuses on speech and OT works on sensory issues and crossing the midline/core strength/etc.

It's a lot but I would try to do all 3 if possible.

lvisser

We are doing just the ABA and speech (which is through EI)...

I know that they will only cover 135 days of therapy when our plan renews... but I can put as much therapy into those days as I can...