ABA therapy

Question 1

what is ABA therapy

Answer 1

a learning based theory based on operant conditioning but we do not punish the child we only use reinforcement

Question 2

what part of operant conditioning does ABA actually use

Answer 2

positive reinforcement where each child is given a different reward to reinforce behavior e.g stickers, bubbles

Question 3

what other process used in operant conditioning is used in ABA and what is it referred as in ABA

Answer 3

shaping /descrite trial training where we reinforce behavior the closer we get to the desired behavior to help make sure the child isn’t overwhelmed and gradually reaches their goal

Question 4

give an example of discrete trial training for eye contact

Answer 4

when child looks at face they will be rewarded
then when they make eye contact for a second they will be rewarded
then they will only be rewarded when they give eye contact for a long period of time so they become more comfortable with it

Question 5

how is ABA flexible/personalized

Answer 5

each child has their own specific rewards they will enjoy
therapist and child are 1:1
each child will have their own goals
each child will have a different base line

Question 6

what is a functional behavioral analysis

Answer 6

a baseline is taken on what the individual child can do and their personal targets

Question 7

what is the antecedent

Answer 7

trigger - what causes a behavior to happen

Question 8

what is behavior

Answer 8

the behavior we see

Question 9

what is consequence

Answer 9

consequence of the behavior from the researchers perspective

Question 10

what is the ABC model that ABA is based on give an example

Answer 10

therapist works out what antecedents trigger behaviors that lead to consequences
if we can alter these then we can change behavior
e.g Antecedent:therapist asks child to pass toy behavior:child says yes consequence:therapist rewards child with specific toy

Question 11

what is Lovaas find about ABA

Answer 11

Lovass supports the idea that ABA is effective for supporting autistic children as they found 47%of autistic children who revived ABA therapy achieved normal intellectual and educational functioning compared to 2% of control group

Question 12

give an OTOH point of using Lovass to support ABA

Answer 12

53% of children did not reach normal IQ and intellectual functioning so ABA is not effective for everyone

Question 13

what did Cebula find about ABA

Answer 13

looked at 135 families and found there was more evidence of positive interactions between siblings and autistic individuals in the ABA group . Parents also rated ABA as effective therefore this shows ABA can improve social skills

Question 14

OTOH what did Cebula not account for

Answer 14

only children are ignored as they don’t have people to develop their social skills with at home

Question 15

what did Gale find about ABA

Answer 15

gales study supports ABA as they interviewed and observed 3 children with autism looking at acceptance of food , refusal to eat and disruptive behaviors and gale found after ABA acceptance of food increased and disruptive behaviors decreased after ABA therapy

Question 16

what is the problem with gale

Answer 16

sample size of 3 not generalisable to all children with autism

Question 17

what did warren find about ABA

Answer 17

Warren conflicts ABA as he found lots of ABA therapies were poor quality and although early intervention for those under 2 was promising he thought results were not consistent enough to claim effectiveness

Question 18

why is the fact ABA can be used by parents a strength of its usefulness

Answer 18

parents can ignore and reward behaviors at home which makes them feel like they are helping and can continue rewarding outside of training so ABA can be utilised to help the children frequently

Question 19

why may CBT be better than ABA

Answer 19

ABA has only shown benefit for short amount of time as children forget about rewards so far so we don’t know it will be an effective therapy outside of ABA sessions compared to CBT which actually teaches skills to help manage anxiety

Question 20

how is ABA socially controlling (relate this to double empathy)

Answer 20

the children’s behaviors are being changed against their will because of what others deem as normal there is double empathy in society as we have created a society where allistic people can’t understand autistic people and vice versa which leads to communication issues and allistic people norms are forced onto autistic people

Question 21

how is ABA socially sensitive

Answer 21

makes children with autism seem abnormal and that they need to be ‘fixed’ as people like teachers may tell parents they need this therapy to succeed and without it they will fail = this is offensive and can lead to self fulfilling prophecy

Question 22

is ABA cost and time effective

Answer 22

usually around 40 hours per week which is very intense and expensive for a therapy which may not be long term effective as this therapy usually continues for 1-3 years

Question 23

when is ABA usually started

Answer 23

2-4 years old