Introduction:
ABA is one of the most recommended therapies in the United States for those with autism. But there is a lot of controversy in the autism community surrounding it. Some see it as extremely harmful compliance training. Others have had a fantastic experience.
If you are unfamiliar with it, I broke down ABA in an extensive 3-part series, which you can find here.
On top of that, I did a 12-week series of what ABA looked like for us. I’m not trying to promote it or discourage its practice. My aim is simply to inform you so you can make an informed decision on whether ABA is right for you or your kids.
You can find an index of all the video’s here.
And now, the post!
So things are going well for Jonah for the most part.
By far his favorite thing to do is “flash cards.” Letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and this week, “objects!”
Our therapist has been able to get him to identify and label different objects on flash cards.
This is actually not TOO surprising, as we were able to get Jonah identifying different ornaments on the Christmas Tree (car, bell, etc) relatively easy.
It’s amazing to me how much Jonah loves doing flash cards. He will even do them on his own without any people around or prompting.
Other things we are working on this week are body part identification (head, arm, shoulder, etc.) and also trying to get Jonah to identify body parts on other people (Point to “Daddy’s head,” “Jonah’s head,” etc.).
Sometimes it’s hard work and sometimes he is not up for working. And that’s fine.
The best tool we have developed for Jonah so far is the word “space.”
Jonah’s stamina has been about an hour and a half and then he will ask for “space.”The therapist will start different programs with Jonah and if Jonah isn’t “feeling” it, he says “space.” The therapist will honor a “space” request every time and give Jonah some alone time if he needs it.
It has been really encouraging.
So this was footage from just before Christmas. And honestly, since this recap I haven’t done any others.
It was now nearly 3 months ago and recapping what we were doing way back then is a daunting task and I honestly am getting a bit burned out of it.
But this is 12 weeks of ABA. I may venture to do a periodical update, as it has actually been 6 months since we started and I am keen to do a “progress” video comparing our first sessions to current sessions.
But it is still a lot of work. We will see. Thanks for coming along with us on this journey.
ABA Weeks 1-12
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