I almost missed it - ten years ago today...
Ten years ago today, I embarked upon this strange and wonderful journey. It was the day I started my training in Lovaas-style Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). I was one member of a five-person team of therapists who would be coming in to the family's home to work with their three-year old son. He would be scheduled for over 40 hours per week, so that if anyone missed one of their two-hour shifts, he would still be likely to get his full 40 hours in. That 40+ hours was scheduled across all seven days of the week, though there were only two sessions on Sunday - plus our weekly team meetings. My starting wage was only $7.50 per hour, and I was working, on average, 10-12 hours per week, not counting the meetings.
Our consultant came to Thunder Bay from the Wisconsin Early Autism Project (WEAP). She conducted a three-day start-up workshop that started on August 21, 1999; she returned every three or four months after that, to conduct two-day follow-up workshops at which she advanced the curriculum and taught new techniques to the therapists as necessary. The child's parents paid for her transportation, her hotel, and a rental car, plus (I am sure) her fee.
The child was incredibly cute, the youngest of three children. His two older sisters were sweet and wanted to be involved in everything, but of course that's not always possible. The boy had blue eyes and light brown hair cut in a bit of a mullet (primarily because he refused to go near a hair salon). He was still in diapers. He didn't speak.
We had some teaching from the consultant about what autism is, what ABA is, and what we would be doing. Then we played with the child one-on-one, trying to develop a bit of a rapport with him while the others looked on.
The consultant taught us the techniques. Setting out the materials, what words to say, how to say them, how to prompt, and how to fade those prompts. How to praise, what to use as reinforcers (e.g., gummy bears, sparkly toys), and how to let him know he got the wrong answer. How to take data.
Then she taught us the "programs" that we would begin with - the same ones that are often the beginning of any ABA program (my memory may be faulty; I don't recall which we started that weekend):
Receptive Labels, in which the therapist sets out an array of items and requests one of them. The student is to pick up the correct one and place it in the therapist's waiting hand. This begins with 3-D objects and moves to pictures.
Receptive Imitation, in which the therapist performs an action after saying, "Do this." The student is to imitate the therapist's action. This begins with objects (e.g., hitting a peg with a hammer, pushing a car off the table) and moves to gross motor actions (e.g., turning around, clapping).
Matching, in which the therapist sets out an array of items and gives the student the match for one of them. The student is to place his item next to the matching one. This begins with 3-D objects and moves to pictures.
Receptive Commands, in which the therapist tells the student to perform an action. The student is to perform the action. This progresses from Receptive Imitation; the student is taught actions in Receptive Commands only once they are mastered in Receptive Imitation.
Puzzles, in which the therapist removes the pieces from a puzzle and sets it in front of the student. The student is to put the puzzle back together. This begins with simple shape puzzles with peg handles and pictures below to show where they're meant to go and progresses to full jigsaw puzzles.
Expressive Labels, in which the therapist holds up an item and asks its name. The student is to label the item. This progresses from Receptive Labels; the student is taught to say labels only once they are mastered in Receptive Labels.
Vocal Imitation, in which the therapist makes a sound after saying, "Do this." The student is to make the same sound. This begins with simple sounds and progresses to various combinations, until the student is imitating full words.
There are many other "programs" used in ABA programs, like Toy Play, Spelling, and Fine Motor. I have worked in a lot of ABA programs over the years, and I've worked through most of these programs.
Ten years.
That's a long time. I've had the privilege of working with many wonderful children over the years, and many amazing families to boot. The lengths to which these children's parents are willing to go, to provide their children with what they believe is the best possible educational option, is phenomenal.
And while I do not want to go back to the world of teaching autistic individuals to pretend they are normal, I do recognize the value of that initial training I received, ten years ago this weekend. It taught me how to teach. It taught me how to manage behaviour. A few years later, I was getting compliments from my fellow Sunday School teachers for how I managed my elementary students and dealt with the discipline - the other teachers were older than I, and parents. Just last year, I was able to manage a large group of writers as I headed up NaNoWriMo in Calgary.
My time as an ABA therapist has certainly come to a (welcome) end, but thanks to it, I learned how to give myself structure. I learned how to break things down into steps so that they are more manageable. I learned that it's okay to get help if you've never done something before. I learned that there is a progression to learning, and I learned how one thing builds upon the last until you have a strong foundation... and then a strong building.
Originally posted at http://comautworld.blogspot.com/
Our consultant came to Thunder Bay from the Wisconsin Early Autism Project (WEAP). She conducted a three-day start-up workshop that started on August 21, 1999; she returned every three or four months after that, to conduct two-day follow-up workshops at which she advanced the curriculum and taught new techniques to the therapists as necessary. The child's parents paid for her transportation, her hotel, and a rental car, plus (I am sure) her fee.
The child was incredibly cute, the youngest of three children. His two older sisters were sweet and wanted to be involved in everything, but of course that's not always possible. The boy had blue eyes and light brown hair cut in a bit of a mullet (primarily because he refused to go near a hair salon). He was still in diapers. He didn't speak.
We had some teaching from the consultant about what autism is, what ABA is, and what we would be doing. Then we played with the child one-on-one, trying to develop a bit of a rapport with him while the others looked on.
The consultant taught us the techniques. Setting out the materials, what words to say, how to say them, how to prompt, and how to fade those prompts. How to praise, what to use as reinforcers (e.g., gummy bears, sparkly toys), and how to let him know he got the wrong answer. How to take data.
Then she taught us the "programs" that we would begin with - the same ones that are often the beginning of any ABA program (my memory may be faulty; I don't recall which we started that weekend):
Receptive Labels, in which the therapist sets out an array of items and requests one of them. The student is to pick up the correct one and place it in the therapist's waiting hand. This begins with 3-D objects and moves to pictures.
Receptive Imitation, in which the therapist performs an action after saying, "Do this." The student is to imitate the therapist's action. This begins with objects (e.g., hitting a peg with a hammer, pushing a car off the table) and moves to gross motor actions (e.g., turning around, clapping).
Matching, in which the therapist sets out an array of items and gives the student the match for one of them. The student is to place his item next to the matching one. This begins with 3-D objects and moves to pictures.
Receptive Commands, in which the therapist tells the student to perform an action. The student is to perform the action. This progresses from Receptive Imitation; the student is taught actions in Receptive Commands only once they are mastered in Receptive Imitation.
Puzzles, in which the therapist removes the pieces from a puzzle and sets it in front of the student. The student is to put the puzzle back together. This begins with simple shape puzzles with peg handles and pictures below to show where they're meant to go and progresses to full jigsaw puzzles.
Expressive Labels, in which the therapist holds up an item and asks its name. The student is to label the item. This progresses from Receptive Labels; the student is taught to say labels only once they are mastered in Receptive Labels.
Vocal Imitation, in which the therapist makes a sound after saying, "Do this." The student is to make the same sound. This begins with simple sounds and progresses to various combinations, until the student is imitating full words.
There are many other "programs" used in ABA programs, like Toy Play, Spelling, and Fine Motor. I have worked in a lot of ABA programs over the years, and I've worked through most of these programs.
Ten years.
That's a long time. I've had the privilege of working with many wonderful children over the years, and many amazing families to boot. The lengths to which these children's parents are willing to go, to provide their children with what they believe is the best possible educational option, is phenomenal.
And while I do not want to go back to the world of teaching autistic individuals to pretend they are normal, I do recognize the value of that initial training I received, ten years ago this weekend. It taught me how to teach. It taught me how to manage behaviour. A few years later, I was getting compliments from my fellow Sunday School teachers for how I managed my elementary students and dealt with the discipline - the other teachers were older than I, and parents. Just last year, I was able to manage a large group of writers as I headed up NaNoWriMo in Calgary.
My time as an ABA therapist has certainly come to a (welcome) end, but thanks to it, I learned how to give myself structure. I learned how to break things down into steps so that they are more manageable. I learned that it's okay to get help if you've never done something before. I learned that there is a progression to learning, and I learned how one thing builds upon the last until you have a strong foundation... and then a strong building.
Originally posted at http://comautworld.blogspot.com/