Therapies for Autism

Question 1

What is applied behaviour analysis (ABA)

Answer 1

improve communication and social status
systematic way of observing someones social communication, identify desirable changes in behaviour using appropriate methods to make changes

Question 2

What conditioning is ABA

Answer 2

operant conditioning

Question 3

What does ABA improve

Answer 3

communication annd social skills among children and adults with autism

Question 4

What is aba trying to show people

Answer 4

how to interact with others

Question 5

How does aba work

Answer 5

reward improved behavior
providing opportunities for them to practice skills in structured and unstructured situations

Question 6

What does ABA do with bad behaviour

Answer 6

ignored and not reinforced but not punished

Question 7

What does the therapist do

Answer 7

analyse effectiveness of therapy and make changes to improve behaviour

Question 8

How does the therapist develop the programme

Answer 8

specifically for child
different interventions, programmes and techniques
evaluate effectiveness of aba complex

Question 9

what did Cohen et al (2006) do

Answer 9

compared ABA effects of treatment with special education at local skills

Question 10

What did Cohen find

Answer 10

3 years olkd scored higher on IQ and adaptive functions
6/21 in regular education
11 had support
1 places primary in education

Question 11

What is cognitive behavioural therapy

Answer 11

changing the way you feel by changing the way you think due to unhelpful belief

Question 12

what does the CBT explore

Answer 12

thoughts and feelings about anxiety

Question 13

What does CBT place attention on

Answer 13

repetition and verbal cues

Question 14

What did Sofronoff et al (2005) find

Answer 14

children experience less anxiety
increase child’s ability to identify strategies to deal with stressful situations that would previously be problematic

Question 15

What did Wood et al (2009) find

Answer 15

78.5% young children undertook 16 CBT serious compared to 8.7% control

Question 16

Describe one therapy that could be used to help children with autism

Answer 16

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Focuses on child’s thoughts and gives them skills to manage their anxiety as a result of autism
Child is taught to recognise maladaptive thought process and effects these have on their autistic behaviour
use repetitive and visual cues as they find it hard working with abstract ideas
Use a picture of a thermometer to rate their anxiety and then identify their thoughts at the time they were anxious

Question 17

Strength of cognitive behavioral therapy

Answer 17

Several studies showing effectiveness for children with autism
Danial and Wood (2013) found CBT helped reduce symptoms of anxiety in young people with autism, as well as improving their overall functioning

Question 18

Weakness of CBT

Answer 18

Not all children with autism are able to communicate effectively so CBT would not be useful for them as they would not be able to explain their thoughts/emotions
Applied behavioural analysis, maybe better as it focuses on improving social skills through token economies