JACOB'S WEBSITE
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What is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)?Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) uses scientific methods to build socially accepted behavior and to reduce problematic ones. ABA treatment for autism focuses on teaching small units of behavior systematically. Every skill is broken down into small steps. Home-based, one-on-one teaching by trained professionals forms the first measurable component of the program. The home-based ABA program will include many domains such as imitation skills, perceptual motor skills, expressive and receptive language development, self-help skills, drawing, visual direction and advanced language and play skills. The benefits provided by ABA to young autistic children have been well documented through the work of Dr. Ivar Lovaas. Lovaas’ original 1987 study demonstrated that after 2 yrs of intensive (40 hrs/week) home-based ABA therapy started with autistic children before the age of 5, almost half (47%) reached normal functioning. A follow-up study in 1995 showed that they continued to function at normal levels. To put these results into perspective, before the advent of intense intervention, less than 5% of people with autism achieved independent functioning. An ABA program is specifically designed to benefit autistic children in two ways. First , the ABA curriculum can be tailored to the particular strengths and weaknesses of the independent child. The purpose of this intensive therapy is to ‘retrain’ the brain to perform lost function. This is called "reduplication or transferability of function". The groundbreaking research by Lovaas and his colleagues suggests that intensive teaching that requires young children with autism to engage actively with their physical and social environments and provides them with consistent consequences can result in independent functioning for many. The studies also suggest that early, intensive, home-based behavioral intervention provides the best opportunity for a sizable proportion of autistic children to lead normal lives. ABA therapy is currently the only beneficial and meaningful option for effectively treating autism. Maurice, Catherine, Do you Hear what I Hear? A mother’s documentation of ABA therapy and its effects on her 2 autistic children. She also co-authored Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism: A follow-up workbook.
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