Good Behavior The History and Employment of Applied Behavioral Analysis - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1718 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/02/15 Category Career Essay Level High school Tags: Employment Essay Did you like this example? Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD is a developmental disorder that affects behavior, communication, cognition, emotional intelligence, and sensory stimulation. Although one can be diagnosed with Autism at any age, it is considered a developmental disorder because symptoms generally appear and are diagnosed within in the first two years of life (National Institute of Mental Health, 2018). While ASD is very common with 1 in every 59 children being affected by Autism, each case has a unique combination of symptoms (Autism Speaks, 2018b). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Good Behavior: The History and Employment of Applied Behavioral Analysis" essay for you Create order The list of symptoms associated with Autism is vast, some of the most common traits and actions include: difficulty or lack of interest in communicating with others, repetitive behaviors (such as self-stimulatory behavior â€Å"stimming† or echolalia), intense obsessive interests, hypersensitivity to light and sound, delayed accusation or lack of speech, self-injurious behavior, impulsivity, and inappropriate social interaction (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2018) (Rudy, 2018b) (National Autistic Society, 2018) (Edelson, 2000). The DSM-V divides individuals with ASD into three categories based on level of severity: Level 1 â€Å"Requiring support†, Level 2 â€Å"Requiring substantial support†, Level 3 â€Å"Requiring very substantial support† (Autism Speaks, 2018b). Other common disorders related to or also considered to be under the umbrella of ASD are: Asperger’s syndrome, Tourettes syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, Rhett syndrome, learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), epilepsy, dyspraxia, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), sleep problems, and sensory difficulties National Health Service, 2018) (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2018) (Autism Speaks, 2018c). Due to the wide range of symptoms that one can manifest, multilevel diagnostic criteria, and various related disorders that can qualify one for an ASD diagnosis and each individual case is just that, individual. Dr. Stephen Shore, a proud member of the ASD community himself and prominent professor of special education at Adelphi University, famously stated, â€Å"If youve met one person with autism, youve met one person with autism† to illustrate just how diverse the Autism spectrum is (Organization for Autism Research, 2018) (The International Board of Crede ntialing and Continuing Education Standards, 2018). The focus of this paper is the behavioral aspect of ASD and the most common treatment of inappropriate behavior as a result of Autism, Applied Behavioral Analysis or ABA therapy. ABA therapy is the leading method of treatment for ASD and the most widely endorsed, organizations such as the National Institute of Health, the Association for Science in Autism Treatment, as well as the U.S. Surgeon General all consider ABA the best course of treatment for ASD (Centria Autism Services, 2018). The core of ABA therapy is teaching children new skills by breaking them into smaller actions and positively reinforcing each progression towards the goal action. Success in ABA therapy is described as increasing behaviors that are helpful to the child and decreasing behaviors that are harmful to the child or negatively affect their learning (Autism Speaks, 2018a). There is no cure for Autism and ABA does not claim to â€Å"cure† children but rather aims to enhance their quality of life by teaching them valuable skills in communication, self-sufficiency, and emotional intelligence. The late Dr. Ivar Lovaas is credited as the father of ABA therapy. After earning his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Washington in 1958 Lovaas began his career in applied psychology as an assistant professor at the University’s Child Development Institute under clinician Sidney Bijou—a student of zeitgeist of behavioralism, Dr. B.F. Skinner—during this time working under Bijou Lovaas developed his idea for a behavior-shaping form of therapy for children with ASD (Devita-Raeburn, 2016). In 1970 Lovaas launched the Young Autism Project and began putting ABA therapy into practice. Lovaas heavily focused on â€Å"normalizing† Autistic children and extinguishing behaviors that were considered overtly â€Å"Autism-like †. One such behavior his approach harshly discouraged was self-stimulatory behavior, also referred to as â€Å"stimming†Ã¢â‚¬â€a set of repetitive acts such as hand-flapping or other tics that ASD children use to dispel energy and anxiety (Devita-Raeburn, 2016) (Rudy 2018b). A regrettable part of the history of ABA was the corporal manner in which therapists were instructed to eliminate ASD behaviors. In the initial trials of ABA, therapists slapped, shouted at, taunted or even administered electrical shocks to children to reduce unwanted tics (Devita-Raeburn, 2016). Many opposers of ABA often reference such practices when expressing their dissent of ABA therapy but it is important to note that ABA as well as ethical regulations have both progressed immensely since the inauguration of Lovaas’ studies in the early 1970’s—contemporary ABA omits any type of positive punishment behavior shaping. Despite the unsavory and overly regimented implementation of the therapy, after the first 14 months of treatment his patients exhibited enormous improvements in suppression of inappropriate social behaviors as well as strides in behaviors; such as speech, play, and social nonverbal behavior—improvement in the children’s IQs were also recorded (Devita-Raeburn, 2016). As for my personal connection to the world of ABA therapy, I will be starting training in January to become a Registered Behavioral Therapist or an RBT. This will be my first experience in a professional field and I eager to begin. I have had several positions in which I gained experience working closely with children on the Autism spectrum and I hope to continue with this type of work after graduating. To become an RBT I must first complete 40-hours of training conducted by the Behavioral Analyst Certification Board and pass the RBT exam (Behavioral Analyst Certification Board, 2018). Upon passing I will be able to start working with clients directly, usual sessions are conducted in the home, which is reflective of the hybrid approach the agency I will be working for uses. At Gateway Learning Group principles of ABA are employed as well as strategies from programs such as Pivotal Response Treatment, Discrete Trial Training, and the Early Start Denver Model (Gateway Learning Group, 2018). As I have been conducting research for this assignment, I have come across multiple viewpoints on Autism treatment and ABA therapy in particular. When I originally came across negative viewpoints, I was worried to align myself with of a problematic type of treatment. After further research I have come to understand the prominent critiques of ABA are that it is marketed as the â€Å"only option† to parents and it is an attempt to change children in a derogatory way. To the first point, ABA is the most well-known and extensively peracted form of treatment because it came about fairly early. Before Lovaas, the main form of treatment for ASD was to be sent to an institution (which were very scary places back in 1950s), while Lovaas had a less than perfect approach e thically-speaking he did save generations of children from being sent to the â€Å"looney bin†. Additionally, it is difficult to run trials, and subsequently popularize, new forms of treatment because most parents have little interest in their child being a â€Å"guinea pig† for a new study or a be part of a control group and remain untreated. Secondly, I disagree with the claim that ABA is an insulting practice, most of the rhetoric I have come across that asserts such goes on to say that people with ASD should be regarded as â€Å"different† but not â€Å"atypical†Ã¢â‚¬â€yet those words are synonyms—and should not be undergo treatment to change their behavior. Personally I have nothing but compassion and respect for all the people in my family, social circle, and work environment with ASD and I do not look down on them or see them as needing to be â€Å"fixed† but seeking treatment to improve their social skills, self-sufficiency, and communication are all things that ultimate enrich their overall quality of life by enabling them to form de eper relationships, live more independently, and even obtain jobs to help support themselves. Bibliography Association for Play Therapy. (2018). Why play? Retrieved December 9, 2018, from https://www.a4pt.org/page/PTMakesADifference/Play-Therapy-Makes-a-Difference.htm Autism Speaks Inc. (2018a). Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Retrieved December 9, 2018, from https://www.autismspeaks.org/applied-behavior-analysis-aba-0 Autism Speaks Inc. (2018b). DSM-5 criteria. Retrieved December 9, 2018, from https://www.autismspeaks.org/dsm-5-criteria Autism Speaks Inc. (2018c). What is autism? Retrieved December 1, 2018, from https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism Behavioral Analyst Certification Board. (2018). RBT REQUIREMENTS. Retrieved December 9, 2018, from https://www.bacb.com/rbt/rbt-requirements/ Centria Autism Services. (2018). Applied Behavior Analysis Therapy ABA therapies, autism services | Centria Healthcare. Retrieved December 9, 2018, from https://www.centriaautism.com/aba-therapy.html Devita-Raeburn, E. (2016, August 15). The controversy over autisms most common therapy. Retrieved D ecember 9, 2018, from https://www.spectrumnews.org/features/deep-dive/controversy-autisms-common-therapy/ Edelson, S., Dr. (2000). Understanding and Treating Self-Injurious Behavior. Retrieved December 9, 2018, from https://www.autism.com/symptoms_self-injury Gateway Learning Group. (2018). Gateway Learning Group. Retrieved December 9, 2018, from https://www.gatewaylg.com/ Holland, K. (2018, July 18). Levels of Autism: symptoms and Outlook of Severity Levels 1, 2, and 3. Retrieved December 9, 2018, from https://www.healthline.com/health/levels-of-autism The International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards. (2018, April 26). Interview with Dr. Stephen Shore. Retrieved December 9, 2018, from https://ibcces.org/blog/2018/03/23/12748/ Larsson, E. V., Wright, S. (2011). O. Ivar Lovaas (1927-2010). US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, 111-114. Retrieved December 9, 2018, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3089401/. The Lovaa s Center. (2013). Dr. Ole Ivar Lovaas | Pioneer of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Retrieved December 9, 2018, from https://thelovaascenter.com/about-us/dr-ivar-lovaas/ McNamara, R. (2016). Home: News: parents and friends. Retrieved December 1, 2018, from https://www.autismsupportnetwork.com/news/autism-and-stigma-parenting-2748294 Mayo Clinic Staff. (2018, January 6). Autism spectrum disorder. Retrieved December 1, 2018, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/autism-spectrum-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20352928 National Autistic Society. (2018). Obsessions, repetitive behaviour and routines. Retrieved December 9, 2018, from https://www.autism.org.uk/about/behaviour/obsessions-repetitive-routines.aspx National Health Service. (2018). Symptoms Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Retrieved December 9, 2018, from https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/autism/symptoms/ National Institute of Mental Health. (2018, March). Autism spectrum disorder. Retrieved December 1, 2018, from https ://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/autism-spectrum-disorders-asd/index.shtml Organization for Autism Research. (2018). Stephen Shore. Retrieved December 9, 2018, from https://researchautism.org/who-we-are/stephen-shore/ Rudy, L. J., Forman, J. (2018a, August 31). Is applied behavioral analysis (aba) right for my autistic child? Retrieved December 2, 2018, from https://www.verywellhealth.com/aba-applied-behavioral-analysis-therapy-autism-259913 Rudy, L. J., Forman, J. (2018b, November 6). Why Does My Autistic Child Rock, Flap, and Pace? Retrieved December 2, 2018, from https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-stimming-in-autism-260034 (stimming) Rudy, L. J., Forman, J. (2018c, November 28). Why Does My Child with Autism Echo Words and Sounds? Retrieved December 2, 2018, from https://www.verywellhealth.com/why-does-my-child-with-autism-repeat-words-and-phrases-260144 (echolalia) Sarris, M. (2016, February 04). Families Face Autism Stigma, Isolation. Retrieved December 1, 2018, from ht tps://iancommunity.org/ssc/families-face-autism-stigma-isolation