Since Aaron’s negative behaviors
continued, Ali and Hannah decided to research some methods that may assist with
Aaron’s behaviors. One easy, cost effective way that Hannah and Ali found to
handle Aaron’s behaviors is through a method called applied behavior analysis.
This is a researched, effective method for children with a wide range of
behaviors. It focuses on how learning takes place. Positive reinforcement is
one of the major principles. When a behavior is followed by some sort of
reward, the behavior is more likely to be repeated. Ali and Hannah decided to
create a chart. On this chart had each day written out and since Aaron really
loves trucks, they cut out pictures of trucks that Velcro-ed to the chart. Each
day, Aaron had room for five trucks and if he displayed good behavior he would
receive a truck. Once the chart was the majority of the way full, Aaron and his
parents agreed that this would lead to a family movie night where Aaron could
pick the movie and they would receive popcorn, a rare treat in this house. Depending
on the changes in Aaron’s likes and dislikes, the chart will have to be
modified but for now Ali and Hannah think that this form of praising the
positive behaviors eliminates the negative behaviors over time. This would
hopefully change Aaron’s actions when he realizes that he receives more
positive attention when he portrays positive behaviors. However, since so much
attention is being focused on Aaron, Amir and Kayla are continuing to act out
because they aren’t receiving the same amount of attention. Ali and Hannah
think that they are going to use a similar reward system for them as well (ABA, 2014).
Because of the cultural concept that
families should be ashamed of having a child with a disability and that it is
their fault, Ali and Hannah are starting to wonder if it is their fault that
Aaron has autism. Because of this, they begin to blame each other for their
actions and for the different ways they are raising their children (Middle East, 2011). Since, family is the most
important support system that a child has; it should have a positive strong
foundation which begins with the parents. A child is always surrounded by their family
and the behaviors of family members can heavily impact the child. The biggest contributing factor in marital relations
affecting children’s emotional development is whether the child hears the
parents fighting. Since Ali and Hannah have been fighting, they have both
acknowledged that this can no longer occur in front of the kids. They want to
resolve the issues that they are having so that they can better raise their
children together. In order to do so, Hannah contacts a local church to see if
there is a pastor that would be willing to give them direction (Murphy, 2014).
Aaron is now in 2nd
grade and he is fully included into his second grade classroom. Within the
Individualized Education plan set by the parents, teachers, and administrative
staff, they decided that full inclusion would provide the least restrictive
environment for Aaron meaning creating a setting where the child with a
disability can receive appropriate education designed to meet his or her
educational needs, alongside peers without disabilities to the maximum extent
possible. Because Aaron sometimes has trouble focusing in class, the teacher
has placed his desk near hers so that she can remind him to be on task. He also
has a schedule that is placed on his desk each day so that he knows what will
be occurring at all times. This has helped with transitions, eliminating the fear
of the unknown. Aaron still needs a little extra assistance in the classroom
but the main room teacher is not able to dedicate much specialized attention so
she has spoken with the principal about possibly having a teacher assistant in
the room that can be of assistance to Aaron when he needs (IEP, 2014).
1) What is the history
of Applied Behavior Analysis? Give a recent study that has shown that ABA is an
effective method for behavior management.
2) Should the same
behavior system be used for Amir and Kayla that is used for Aaron or do you
think they should have their own individualized plans?
3) Which is more
beneficial, for the family to go to counseling together or only the parents?
Decision Point: Does the school provide an teacher assistant
(TA) in Aaron’s classroom to work specifically with him? What would have to
happen for him to qualify to have the TA?
All
About the IEP. (2014). National Dissemination Center for Children with
Disabilities. Retrieved from http://nichcy.org/schoolage/iep
Applied Behavior Analysis. (2014). Autism Speaks. Retrieved
from http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/applied-behavior-analysis-aba
Mentally disabled children in the Middle East and their
integration into society (2011). Middle East Health Magazine. Retrieved
from http://www.middleeasthealthmag.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?http://www.middleeasthealthmag.com/jul2011/feature5.htm
Murphy, A. (2014). Parental Influence on the Emotional
Development of Children. Developmental Psychology at Vanderbilt.
Retrieved from https://my.vanderbilt.edu/developmentalpsychologyblog/2014/05/parental-influence-on-the-emotional-development-of-children/
1) What is the history of Applied Behavior Analysis? Give a recent study that has shown that ABA is an effective method for behavior management.
ReplyDeleteB.F. Skinner further revised the traditional theory of Behaviorism in the 1930s, and developed the modern form of it known as Behavior Analysis. Although deriving from a similar philosophy, behavior modification was one form of behaviorism that modified behavior without addressing what was causing it. ABA uses environmental events. In other words, it analyzes what is prompting that behavior (the antecedent) and then develops consequential strategies. The antecedent also allows the practitioner to teach replacement behaviors for the individual. The term "Applied Behavior Analysis" (ABA) first came to widespread use after the 1968 introduction of The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis which publishes research examining the application of behavior analysis to socially-relevant behavior (ABA, 2014).
Ole Ivar Lovaas is considered a grandfather of Applied Behavior Analysis and developed standardized teaching interventions based on behavioral principals. Lovaas devoted nearly a half a century to groundbreaking research and practice aimed at improving the lives of children with autism and their families. In 1965, Lovaas published a series of articles that therapeutic approaches to autism. The first two articles presented his system for coding behaviors during direct observations and a pioneering investigation of antecedents and consequences that maintained a problem behavior, a forerunner of what is now called experimental functional analysis. The subsequent articles built upon these methods and reported the first demonstration of an effective way to teach nonverbal children to speak, a study on establishing social (secondary) reinforcers, a procedure for teaching children to imitate, and several studies on interventions to reduce life-threatening self-injury and aggression (ABA, 2014).
Lovaas was cited in his early career to use low dosages of electroshock therapy to children with extreme self-injurious behavior. In 1973, Lovaas published a long-term follow-up for the behavior modification intervention and was dismayed to find that most of the subjects had reverted to their pre-intervention behaviors. After these findings, Lovaas and his colleagues proposed several ways to improve outcomes such as starting intervention during the children's preschool years instead of later in childhood or adolescence, involving parents in the intervention, and implementing the intervention in the family's home rather than an institutional setting. Subsequent articles like the 1987 "Behavioral Treatment and Normal Educational and Intellectual Functioning in Young Autistic Children" reinforce this proposal of early and intensive intervention—without the use of aversives (such as electric shocks)—paired with continual therapy yields the most effective results for children with autism. Lovaas highly believed that the support and involvement in parents applying therapy at home contributed to a higher success rate. Lovaas dedicated his life to the study of autism and was a strong advocate for people with autism even co-founding what is today the Autism Society of America (ABA, 2014).
1.) Study: Many studies show that ABA is effective in increasing behaviors and teaching new skills (Goldstein, 2002; Odom et al., 2003; McConnell, 2002). In addition, many studies demonstrate that ABA is effective in reducing problem behavior (Horner et al., 2002). A number of studies also indicate that, when implemented intensively (more than 20 hours per week) and early in life (beginning prior to the age of 4 years), ABA may produce large gains in development and reductions in the need for special services (Smith, 1999); however, large studies with strong experimental designs are needed to confirm the results reported for intensive, early intervention. The United States Surgeon General (1999) concluded, "Thirty years of research demonstrated the efficacy of applied behavioral methods in reducing inappropriate behavior and in increasing communication, learning and appropriate social behavior” (ABA, 2014).
ReplyDelete2) Should the same behavior system be used for Amir and Kayla that is used for Aaron or do you think they should have their own individualized plans?
ReplyDeleteI think that the same system should be used for Kayla and Amir also. Since they are still so young in age, kids like to do the same things as their brothers and sisters, so keeping the same strategy and plan would only work out positively. They could make it into a competition even to see who can get the most points by the end of the day so they get a reward. Here are some of the benefits of using the Adaptive Behavior Analysis:
• To increase behaviors (e.g. to increase on-task behavior, or social interactions) and to teach new skills (e.g., life skills, communication skills, or social skills);
• To maintain behaviors (e.g., self-control and self-monitoring procedures to maintain and generalize job-related social skills);
• To generalize or to transfer behavior from one situation or response to another (e.g., from completing assignments in the resource room to performing as well in the mainstream classroom);
• To restrict or narrow conditions under which interfering behaviors occur (e.g., modifying the learning environment); and
• To reduce interfering behaviors (e.g., self-injury or stereotypy).
3) Which is more beneficial, for the family to go to counseling together or only the parents?
I think for the first couple of months it should just be the parents going to counseling together because they both need to get on the same page and stop arguing in front of their kids. By having that individualized counseling just the two of them it gives them time to evolve and solve any problems that they are worried or fighting about. Once the parents have gotten to a better place where they can converse with each other without fighting, they should bring the kids into the counseling sessions just to involve them in the process. It’s important that families are all on the same page, especially when one of the children has a disability which can make parenting or family situations/interactions harder. There can be no harm coming out of counseling, so they should at least give it a chance for a little while to see if it helps with their situation.
Decision Point: Does the school provide an teacher assistant (TA) in Aaron’s classroom to work specifically with him? What would have to happen for him to qualify to have the TA?
ReplyDeleteSince the parents are deciding to put Aaron in a general education classroom to receive his schooling, the school should provide a teacher’s assistant to him. As a special educator your main goal is to make everyone happy and make sure the child succeeds. It’s very important that the parents make decisions when it comes to their child and the services their child receives so having them make the decision to put Aaron in a general education class is something the school needs to listen to. Although it may not be the opinion of some special educators, they have to do what they think will be the most beneficial to the child. Since he will be in the general education classroom it is only right if they provide him services since he does need help and qualify for accommodations. Since Aaron has an IEP and has been evaluated, he qualifies to receive services while in school. The IEP team will have to get together and point out what areas he struggles with the most and where he succeeds the most and then place an appropriate teacher with him (Mauro, 2014).
• Maurice, C. Green, G., & Luce, S. C. (Eds.). Behavioral intervention for young children with autism: A manual for parents and professionals. (pp. 45-67). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
• Maurice, C., Green, G., & Foxx, R. (Eds.). Making a difference: Behavioral intervention in autism. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
• Goldstein, H. (2002). Communication intervention for children with autism: A review of treatment efficacy. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 32, 373-396.
• Horner, R. H., Carr, E. G., Strain, P. S., Todd, A. W., & Reed, H. K. (2002). Problem behavior interventions for young children with autism: A research synthesis. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 32, 423-446.
• McConnell, S. (2002). Interventions to facilitate social interaction for young children with autism: Review of available research and recommendations for educational intervention and future research. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 32, 351-372.
It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt. Mark Twain
ReplyDelete