Autism and ABA

I apologize now if anyone just does not care about what I do, but I have had numerous people ask, "What is Autism?" along with "What is that you do with these kids?"  Well, after a short explanation, I often feel that they walk away feeling more confused about what I do, rather than having received an answer to their question.  This is because I am horrible at condensing what autism is along with ABA at the drop of hat.  Therefore, I have decided to answer this question in our handy dandy blog which will also give me an opportunity to practice saying what it is I do in lamen terms so that I am not a babbling fool when asked in the future.   I will include some videos that I find interesting that add to something if you want to watch them.  If you really just are not interested, feel free to scroll to the end...

First, I will start with "What is autism."  Simply put,  Autism Specturm Disorder (ASD - the umbrella for which autism is under) is a disorder in the development of the brain that affects how a person communicates, socializes and his or her ritualistic behavior (Self Stimulatory Behaviors-SSB).  Keep in mind we all have ritualistic behaviors such as shaking our leg or picking at our cuticles, etc.  The difference is that in those with ASD, these behaviors interfere with them being able to function in everyday life.  It is important to keep in mind that ASD is a spectrum disorder which means that there are varying degrees to which one diagnosed with ASD are affected by the symptoms of ASD.

Arman (an individual with autism talking about SSB)

Some myths about autism:

• caused by vaccines - on of my BIGGEST pet peeves when people blame vaccines...

• can only be in children

• autism can be cured - it can be treated with intensive behavior therapy, but not cured

• people can grow out of autism-it is a lifelong disorder

• all with autism cannot talk

• autism is caused by unemotional parents

• individuals with autism are dumb - just because someone can't talk or communicate their needs, does not mean that they are not smart.  To be honest, those I have worked with are some of the smartest children I have ever worked with.

• those with autism cannot form social relationships - I will be the first to tell you that these individuals are full of love and can indeed connect with others to form a social relationship

Now, onto what I do with these individuals.  The field I work in is called Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).  ABA is "a scientific approach to understanding behavior and how it is affected by the environment. "Behavior" refers to all kinds of actions and skills (not just misbehavior) and "environment" includes all sorts of physical and social events that might change or be changed by one's behavior" (autismspeaks.org).  Behavior Analysis is not just for people who have ASD.  In fact, it can be used for anything from healthier eating to basic child rearing.  ABA is mostly reinforcement based which means we focus on the desired behavior and reward for that behavior rather than punishing the undesired behavior.  You will very, VERY rarely see time-outs or any other form of punishment being used in ABA.  This is because when a behavior is followed by reinforcement, one is more likely to continue to do that behavior.  For example, one might call a good friend on a regular basis because they enjoy the conversations they have.  The behavior of calling the friend is reinforced by having good conversations. Or, one might keep reading our blog (behavior) because they are entertained by the witty writting and excitement of the Green's lives (reinforcement)...

ANYWAY, in my job, we (myself and my supervisor, a certified BCBA) assess the children that have been diagnosed with ASD, see where they are in their skills including social, language and academic, then implement programs that will teach them behaviors that will help provide them with a happy, productive life.  We work in in both structured situations (such as formal instruction in classrooms) and in more "natural" everyday situations (such as during play or mealtime at home), and in 1-to-1 as well as group instruction (autismspeaks.org).  The key to ABA is the more consistent everyone is in the individuals life in having them perform the behaviors we teach, the better.  Also, ABA is the only treatment which has empirical research showing that it works in those with ASD.  In fact, California and a few other states have just passed bills that if families with individuals with ASD want insurance or money to cover treatments, the treatment has to be ABA.  Hope that made sense!

 Well, there you have it.  A little as to what I do and what autism is.  Hope it was not too boring, sorry if it was.  I love my job, my little kidd-os that I work with and laugh everyday when I am with them.  If you have the joy of knowing someone with ASD, don't be afraid of them, they want to be loved just like we do!

As for what is going on in the Green home, we are getting ready and excited for Thanksgiving with a few of our friends and family members, although we wish we could be in Atascadero celebrating Jared and Hailey's reception out there with all the fam.  We are there in spirit and I keep watching this video which kind of makes it feel like I am at my favortie place In SLO county if I full screen it, get real close and turn up the volume...

I am, however, excited to make my first turkey.  Good ol' Tom the Turkey is just waiting in my freezer to be made nice and delicious.  Sometimes I think I can hear him counting down the days to when he gets to put on his best dress and make lots of mouths very happy.

Below is a song about Tom's life...

Dallin-boy is busy with school, working hard for those good grades and making sure everyone gets paid at work.  He got a boys night with Darrell on Friday when I went to a show with Summer...they went shopping.  Cute, right?  As my good friend from when I was a counselor at EFY, Heidi, who Dallin met last week, would say, "Toats jelly!"  Which translated from Heidish into English means, "Totally jealous."  Dallin loved the term and now will bust it out at random times.  Love it!

Have a wonderful week! Remember to be grateful for what you have. Love you all!