Today's ABA

It is important to address the elephant in the room...

ABA - What do we know now and how can we do better as a field?

There is no doubt, the science of learning is powerful. Behavioural science, AKA ABA, has the capacity to change behaviour. Historically, the behaviour being changed was of clients, be they children with behaviours that challenged others or was self injurious, in-patients suffering in institutions/hospitals, clients needing to learn important skills that help them function in the world and improve their quality of life, this is still a major objective. More recently though, it is also changing the behaviour of the behaviour analysts. But why?...

A small percentage of autistic individuals who experienced ABA when they were younger have reported that they experienced trauma from ABA therapy, there is no doubt that these experiences occurred, so we need to prevent this from happening any more...

The field of ABA is listening and needs to respond to these voices, by asking questions and finding out how to deliver services better and in a way that is trauma-informed. There is no better time than now to do this.

Todays ABA...what does it look like? What's different?

There is no better source currently that describes what Today's ABA looks like than here:

A Perspective on Today’s ABA from Dr. Hanley | Practical Functional Assessment

I suggest that a few minutes reading this perspective is time very well spent.

How does Momentum ProACTive Autism Support deliver a trauma-informed service?

Having a diagnosis of Autism indicates that there is a probability that trauma, in one form or another, has been experienced at some stage in that persons life. It is important to know that autistic people experience the world in a very different way than those who are neurotypical. This can mean that everyday experiences, ordinarily not experienced as distressing for the neurotypical, can evoke some very uncomfortable sensations, and possibly extreme reactions, in someone who is neuro divergent.

Although, as practitioners, we cannot always know straight away, what stimuli will be distressing for a client, however, the benefit of plenty of gentle interaction, conversations with the client and their families, as well as observations, will soon inform us. Client behaviour will tell us what's pleasant for them, what's challenging and what causes distress. We use this information to decipher the assent of the client.

I am more than happy to talk to you about your autistic child and their needs, to see if a Momentum ProACTive Autism Support package will be a good fit for your loved one.

Email me: katya@momentum-proactive.com with any questions