If you are not aware of ABA training, and you work with children with Autism, you may want to explore this fascinating opportunity immediately. If you are already aware of it, but haven’t yet taken the ABA training, it is essential that you do so. This applies to teachers, administrators, classroom aides, and to parents too.
This is because the training will introduce anyone to the most effective strategies for helping children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders) of any kind. Based on the science of Applied Behavior Analysis, ABA training is among the only accepted and advocated treatments for people with ASD. It uses an innovative set of approaches to get results, including precise teaching techniques, intense observation, and a huge amount of positive reinforcement.
What the basic ABA training will do is introduce the parent or teacher to the simple fact that there is no standard approach to helping an Autistic child to learn the most beneficial and positive behaviors. Instead, it places an emphasis on the use of observation to determine why a certain behavior is, or is not, developing in the Autistic child.
The easiest example to use is the child who has failed to develop any ability to communicate. This is something that the child has not chosen, but is due to the symptoms of their Autism. A lack of speech or language is actually a somewhat common occurrence with Autistic children, and the ABA strategies can be used to overcome the problem.
This is because it will teach the parent or teacher to begin to identify the factors that are actually influencing this behavior. For example, is the child not receiving enough positive reinforcement for their vocalizations? Then this must be something that is encouraged through very precise teaching strategies that reward the child for any vocalizations or attempts to communicate orally.
Because there is no known cure for ASD, and because it manifests itself in such a wide array of forms and levels of severity, the ability to use a tool such as ABA is actually extremely effective. This is because it relies on observation and analysis, and then provides the parent or teacher with a powerful method for changing socially significant behaviors. This means that the Autistic child who receives teaching and encouragement from parents or teachers who have been trained in ABA strategies is far more likely to enjoy meaningful and beneficial changes in their pre-existing or disabling behaviors.
