What do kids do in ABA, you may wonder. The therapy for autistic children has been praised by scientists and parents alike, but what does a typical session look like?
In order for parents to get to know the ABA therapy better and what ABA therapy sessions are usually like for children on the autism spectrum, we’ve asked a couple of questions to one of our Lead BCBAs at Abacus Therapies, Natalie Schad.
Why do parents choose ABA therapy for their child? Do physicians usually recommend it for children with autism?
ABA is typically recommended to children once they receive a diagnosis of autism from their physician. Most of our clients are families that have recently been diagnosed with autism and they were recommended ABA therapy as one of the best available therapies for children on the spectrum.
What’s the ABA therapy session structure? How is it organized?
This varies client to client based on needs, but at Abacus Therapies we typically use a naturalistic teaching approach. That means we will typically be working with the child in their natural environment(s) and building skills to help them navigate throughout their day, such as learning how to communicate their needs and emotions more efficiently, learning how to eat meals, brush their teeth, and so on.
This can be at schools, homes, community- based settings, sports practices, grandparents houses, swimming classes, etc. We will sometimes sit at a table and run “trials”, but this is not always seen.
What techniques are used in ABA therapy? Can you give us examples?
At Abacus Therapies, we use a wide variety of ABA techniques. Which exact techniques we are going to use for a session depends greatly on our little client. Every child is unique and individual goals also change as the program progresses.
Still, here are a couple of ABA techniques that we may apply on a regular basis:
- Natural Environment teaching – working with the child in their natural environment(s) and building skills to help them navigate throughout their day. This can be at schools, homes, community- based settings, sports practices, grandparents houses, swimming classes, etc.
- Discrete Trials Training – more structured, typically at a table setting. Cards/ trials are presented in a rapid succession to build skills with repeated exposure to the same stimuli.
- Functional Communication Training – teaching communication skills as replacement for challenging behaviors (i.e. making requests appropriately, terminating undesired tasks, asking for more time, expressing emotions etc.)
- Extinction + replacements – reducing/ eliminating problem behaviors (identified via an FBA/FA) and teaching appropriate replacement behaviors that serve the same function as the behavior we are reducing.
How long does an ABA session last?
Again, this will vary based on each client’s need. Your child will be thoroughly assessed by our team to determine a clinical recommendation for the level of support needed. Overall, at Abacus Therapies recommendations range from 10 hours-40 hours/ week, averaging around 15 hours per week, typically.
As you can see, it’s quite a wide range but we are able to tell after the first consultation and meeting with the child how many hours we recommend initially, and if we see the opportunities for increasing or decreasing the number of hours in the future.
How frequent are ABA sessions?
Again, it very much varies. It depends on the client’s needs, but we strive for 5 days per week to keep a consistent, successful routine and schedule.
How soon do parents recognize the benefits of ABA therapy?
Again, this will vary client to client.
The biggest thing to know or recognize is that behavior change takes time and is hard work. I typically recommend at least 4 months of consistent ABA before assessing “benefits” but that does not mean that if no progress is seen within 4 months, it is not working. Each client is different and responds differently and at Abacus Therapies we are constantly evaluating progress and making changes to ensure that everyone is benefitting.
We also provide parent support and training, which increases the likelihood of ABA benefits or progress.
Which is better, individual ABA or group ABA?
Both have their own benefits – individual therapy allows for more 1:1 and direct learning while group ABA includes access to peers and others for generalization of skills. We typically recommend a combination of the two. This fall, we’ll be able to offer group ABA therapies in our center in Charlotte, NC.
We hope we’ve been able to provide you with an insight into what you can expect from ABA therapy. If you have any follow-up questions for our team of experts, feel free to contact us via email, text, or phone. We look forward to meeting you and discussing how custom ABA therapy can help in your unique situation.
