Not trying to change you
I love me! We learn that from a very early age, and it is so important. Love who you are, and don’t try to be someone else. The goal of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is to increase socially significant behaviors. The goal is not to mold one person into another person or a robot, but to help them reach their greatest potential. When applied correctly, ABA incorporates strategies to avoid teaching people to simply follow a script and react because told to do so in specific situations. Instead, it is a process that incorporates techniques, such as manding (requesting), generalization (applying acquired skills to new environments, with new people and at varying times) and functional communication training (using your words) to learn and apply skills when appropriate and genuine to a person.
Individuality in treatment plans
A good ABA treatment plan ensures this individualization. It will help your child appropriately communicate wants and needs, socialize with peers to the best of his/her ability and increase appropriate behaviors to replace maladaptive and inhibiting behavior. This will look different for each child, as each child has different skills, strengths and deficits. One may be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, high functioning and struggling with verbal scripting behavior, which inhibits him from building relationships with peers. This child engages in verbal scripting to fulfill a function, or purpose. ABA would help the child decrease this behavior, and increase an appropriate replacement behavior that fulfills the same function.
ABA does not try to decrease this behavior alone, it understands that there is still some function that needs to be fulfilled. If the behaviors decreased without an increase of a replacement behavior, more maladaptive behaviors are likely to occur. Decreasing the inhibiting behavior and increasing a replacement behavior, along with teaching socialization skills though ABA, will help this child to socialize with peers. Another child may engage in some verbal behavior, such as imitation of sounds, yet, points when she is requesting for specific items. ABA would help this child develop her verbal behavior skills to allow for using her words to make requests, and even beyond, to engage in intraverbal behavior. Intraverbal behavior involves asking and answering questions, as well as filing in words to complete phrases. The requests this child makes are specific to her wants and needs.
Reach your true potential
ABA is not placing a child into an environment to follow a pre-planned script or say a specific answer because that is what is expected. Without treatment, you may never know what your child is truly capable of. We strive to help your child live their life to the fullest. Be you, the best version of yourself.
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