Week 6

January 13, 2018| Jason Michael Reynolds|4 Minutes
January 13, 2018|By Jason Michael Reynolds|4 Minutes

Week 6

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 we are through week 6.

I should say, “I’ve finished EDITING week 6” because we are probably more like in week 15 or 16.

When I started, I had envisioned updating this every week. I should have known better.

The holidays got in the way this time.

I still have plenty of weeks left to edit, but seeing as I don’t get much feedback on the videos I may not.

Life always happens. That’s “life.”

But bare with me and I will update whenever I can.

But now, the Week 6 post.

We have had a mixed week. On one hand, Jonah has been doing really well with his flashcards and has been repeating or trying to repeat virtually every word the therapist has for him. He is actually excited to do flashcards. It’s as if the prospect of learning something new is motivation enough to continue.

It’s amazing to me. Because Jonah understands that what he is saying is represented on the flash cards, I think Jonah understands the potential with the tools they are giving him. He looks forward to doing flash cards every day.

But on the other hand, this week he has started throwing his toys into the ceiling. He does this for me as well, but when he doesn’t want to work anymore, throwing toys has become his avoidance technique. At that point, our therapist stops pushing him to do more. He will just stay where he is and be present and make sure nobody gets hurt.

Sometimes Jonah will actually start hitting the therapist. Our therapist will simply stand up (to avoid being slapped repeatedly in the face) and Jonah just BEATS on him. He doesn’t reprimand him for hitting, or even acknowledge that he is being hit.

When Jonah hits me, what I have been doing is making him “touch me softly” as a corrective measure.

So we are trying to find solutions to that. Our therapist says it is more a communication issue as opposed to a behavior issue, which is why he doesn’t try to correct the behavior, but he doesn’t try to tell me to do the same when he hits me. I really appreciate that the therapist gives me space to parent even if he is taking a different approach.

I am taking a “wait and see” approach for now.

But Jonah is still learning TONS and the ABA therapist and his BCBA are very careful not to let any of their activities become aversive and will make every effort to work with what Jonah wants to do. I see steady progress in what Jonah doing and in his communication skills.

[looking back from where we are in week 14-15, I can see what the therapist was doing with ignoring the hitting as a few weeks after this Jonah had learned the word and concept of “I want space.” So now, instead of hitting, he can simply say “space” and the therapist will go to another room whenever it is requested. The hitting virtually disappeared.]

ABA Weeks 1-12