ABA
Autism/ASD Services, In-home, Center Based and Classroom
Applied Behavior Analysis, also known as
ABA, is the theoretical foundation that underlies all
of ABC’s clinical practices and educational development.
Regions in California
ABC Serves
Program Summary
Meeting the educational needs of children
with Autism/ASD is challenging due to severe learning impairments
that affect their ability to communicate, socialize, play,
and be a part of the community. Planning an effective educational
treatment program requires a proactive, collaborative approach
and ABC believes that this is best accomplished by all
team members working cooperatively together (ABC, Inc.
parent(s), school district, regional center, etc.).
Every child’s ABA program starts with
a comprehensive functional assessment including an in depth
analysis of his or her language repertoire. Development
and progression of the child’s curriculum includes
teaching generalization during the acquisition of skills
and concepts guided by ABC’s R.E.A.L. (Recreating
Environments to Accelerate Learning; Terzich, 1996) program.
The focus of intervention is mainly on those deficits that
impede the child’s ability to engage in purposeful
language interactions with others. ABC subscribes to language
programs consistent with Skinner’s Verbal Behavior
book, allowing more effective acquisition of repertoires
that develop language such as, mands (requests), play and
social behaviors (initial programming components). Once
the child masters a broad spectrum of skills and concepts,
the focus of intervention is bridging them in the child’s
natural learning environment. The goal is to teach the
child more complex repertoires to enhance his/her quality
of life and participate in the real world socially and
adaptively.
All transitions from intensive ABA intervention
(school or home) to public school classrooms are done collaboratively
and systematically over agreed timelines for a successful
and effective transition. Behavioral support is provided
through ABC’s NPA services, as needed, in the child’s
new educational environment.
ABA Programs, In-home, Center
Based, and Schools
EIBT (Early
Intensive Behavioral Treatment) is intended for children
between the ages of 24 months and 6 years of age who have
a diagnosis of Autism or ASD. ABC’s
EIBT programs are designed for in-home or school (when
needed). Each child’s program generally
consists of 30 to 40 hours per week of 1:1 intervention.
The treatment model is ‘team-based’ where ABC
provides assessment, initial and on-going training, weekly
consultation, supervision, lesson development/progression
and troubleshooting. Each child’s ABA program is
individualized where systematic teaching focuses on those
deficits that prevent him or her participating and interacting
with family and peers. Critical skills such as initiation,
language, play, self-help, and socialization are taught
to the child. Day to day routines are also established
in each child’s repertoire to encourage generalization
of learned concepts and skills as they are taught within
ABC’s generalization framework (R.E.A.L.; Terzich,
1996).
EIBT Center Based (new) are
1:1 ABA programs for children between the ages of 24 months
and 6 years 6 months with a diagnosis of Autism or ASD. The
program is intended to increase the child’s behavioral
repertoire across essential domains so that he or she will
ultimately be successful in typical community environments.
ABC is committed to providing ABA intervention directly
to the child and to the training of significant caregivers
so as to increase the likelihood that she or he will be
able to function in as natural a context as possible, as
quickly as possible. Teaching objectives focus on communication,
socialization, self-help, and play skills. Generalization
of these skills across trainers, materials, and environments
is especially emphasized from the beginning of intervention.
Competing behavior problems are also reduced primarily
through a combination of increasing functionally related
skill deficits and direct intervention with the behavior
excesses.
FSP (Functional Skills Program)
Functional Skills Programs have been developed and run
by Applied Behavior Consultants for over ten years, funded
by school districts, regional centers, and parents throughout
California. The goal of ABC’s Functional Skills Program
is to meet the functional and adaptive living needs of
children diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder through
the use of Applied Behavior Analysis techniques and principles.
To reach this goal, ABC uses a combination of functional
skills training, generalization techniques, establishment
of consistent and structured daily routines, and communication
training in conjunction with developing and implementing
behavior plans to reduce each child’s interfering
behavior excesses.
SGP (Social-Functional Generalization
Program) was created in Spring of 1998 to meet the need
of a few families in the Central Valley, through Valley
Mountain Regional Center. ABC ran one SGP program as a
pilot with Alta California Regional Center, and then was
formally vendorized for the SGP program in Spring of 1999.
The overall goal of the program is to give the parents
of children diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder the
skills necessary to identify their children’s social
and functional skill deficits, along with their behavior
excesses, and then create plans to address these issues.
At the end of the program, the parents should need little
or no assistance in creating intervention plans to meet
their child’s needs. A secondary goal of the program
is to fade tutors out of the home as the parents gain and
generalize more behavioral and teaching skills.
School District Classrooms
Child-Specific Classroom Consultation
This service requires an individualized
assessment, lasting between 10-15 hours. Depending on
client need and the intensity of consultation required,
classroom visits range from occurring two times per week
to once per month. Consultation may be limited
to one or two areas of focus (such as PECS or the reduction
of behavior excesses), or may encompass the design and
monitoring of an intensive behavioral treatment program
(e.g., discrete trial and functional skills lessons/routines,
re-structuring the student’s schedule and environment,
on-going staff training, social skills training, etc.).
The length of service may range from short term (e.g.,
3-4 months) to long term (e.g., 2+ years). Child-specific
classroom consultation often occurs in conjunction with
an afternoon in-home intensive behavioral treatment program.
Autism Classroom Training and
Consultation
This model typically includes an assessment
of the current school district classroom structure using
Pyramid Educational Consultants, Inc.’s “Pyramid-Powered
Classroom Checklist” as a general guideline. The
ABC Behavior Consultant evaluates the classroom on each
one of the Pyramid Elements (i.e., Powerful Reinforcement,
Functional Communication, Prompting Strategies, Behavior
Intervention Plans, Generalization, etc.). Upon completion
of the assessment, recommendations are made regarding
which Pyramid elements should be the focus of initial
training and consultation.
Training with Follow-Up Consultation
This type of classroom consultation model
is less intensive and shorter term than the Pyramid-based
Autism classroom consultation model. Typically, ABC is
requested to do training for district school staff on
one or more specific topic(s) (e.g., reinforcement, PECS,
behavior intervention plans, discrete trials, etc.). After
the initial training occurs (e.g., 1-2 days), several
follow-up consultation visits occur to assist the classroom
staff in implementing material taught in the training.
The number of follow-up visits varies per training, but
there are usually 2-4 follow-up consultation visits over
a two to three month period of time for each topic trained.
ABC also provides a variety of workshops
and training series to school districts and other agencies
in the US. These include the following:
- Three-Day and Five-Day Discrete Trials
workshops
- PECS trainings
- Discrete Trial Certification Programs
- Generalization Workshops
- Child-Specific Workshops (related to assessment)
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