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| Hello my name is Jose F, Linares Currently I am an ABA therapist at Home of Angels Located in Alhambra Working with Children diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and co-morbidities ages 3-5 |
- interventionist: creating strategies to reduce maladaptive behavior and redirect them to more appropriate behaviors.
- data Taker: observe patient during group or 1 on 1 sessions and record behaviors present, antecedent what happened before the behavior, the actual behavior, and what was the consequence. Record response time, on-task duration, and percentages of goal completion. Record interventions implemented and reinforcement or punishments provided during session.
- Leading: implement and directing program for the required session, supervise each individual therapist and patient. gather resources required for the session and each individual patient.
- orientation and training leader: provide ABA terminology for each individual intern or volunteer, provide intervention strategies, provide general information on each individual patient, and provide feedback and evaluations for interns/volunteers.
When visiting a mall or dining in a restaurant with loved ones you notice a child engaging in a tantrum what is your first thought?
A) what bad parents, they don't know how to educate a child
B) Poor child he/she must belong to an abusive home
C) What an annoying kid
D) This Child must have a mental illness or condition which leads to that behavior
Unfortunately in society this is our immediate reaction when seeing a child demonstrate maladaptive behaviors or inappropriate behaviors. Society is quick to judge, and provide a negative comment which is basically bullying a parent and child for doing something incorrectly without providing a solution or correction. I have heard individuals having a conversation and saying "oh I see, she's a young single mom, no wonder her child is like that. I bet she can't even clean herself let alone educate a child". As it is educating a child is a challenge, now imagine educating a child who learns differently compared to others. As individuals we need to be careful with the words we select and the actions we take in order to show respect and comprehension to others. With this blog my goals is to raise awareness on behalf of children diagnosed with Autism spectrum disorder and the families of those children.
Overall learn to be KIND, COMPASSIONATE, and UNDERSTANDING.
What is Autism?
The Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD is a persistent deficit in social communication and social interaction.
Most children diagnosed with autism engage in self-stimulation which is abnormal repetitive behavior due to over stimulation, under stimulation, anxiety, or pain. The repetitive actions include
- clapping
- hand-flapping
- jumping
- rocking back and forth
- walking on tippy toes
- vocalization: child may repeat sounds that are pleasing to them for long periods of time and the frequency to which it is done may increase as well
- vestibular: a child may begin to spin in circles
Prevalence & Incidence
In the early 1990s special education programs in the United States are annually required to report how many children receive services for an Autistic Spectrum Disorder. From 1994 to 2005 the numbers of children ages 6-21 receiving services have gone from 22,664 to 193,637 (Center for Disease Control & Prevention, 2000).
Annually the costs are estimated to reach 35 billion dollars (CDC, 2000). The overall cost is divided by various contributors who provide children with the necessary services which include:
- Education curriculum
- treatment to reduce symptoms and effects connected to disorder
- public or private agencies paying for these services
- psychologists
- occupational therapists
- speech pathologists
- physical therapists
The Department in Psychology in Virginia Polytechnic Institute conducted a study on 140 mothers and their children. According to the study:
- 94.2% of the patients diagnosed come from Caucasian decent, 2.2% are African-American, 1.4% Latino, and 0.7 Asian/Pacific Islander
- 79.9% of the children are males, 19.9 are female
- 48.9 were diagnosed with co-morbidities
- 16.1% had siblings.
What factors can lead a diagnosis with autism?
Usually appearing at age 2
- Advance parental age at time of conception
- prenatal exposure to air pollutant and pesticides
- Maternal obesity, diabetes, immune system disorders
- extreme prematurity, low birth weight
Testimonials From parents
During my third year at California State University, Los Angeles I volunteered at Centro for an entire school year. I began working with children who were diagnosed with various developmental delays including Down syndrome, autism, and spine bifida. There is a misconception that these children are not present and retain little to no information, however those individuals who hold that idea are highly mistaken. From my short experience these children hold creative minds that are able to see details and patterns which neurotypical individuals fail to see. Many of the skills and abilities required for daily living they can perform too with the assistance of early intervention.
Centro de Padres Y Ninos Testimonials
During my third year at California State University, Los Angeles I volunteered at Centro for an entire school year. I began working with children who were diagnosed with various developmental delays including Down syndrome, autism, and spine bifida. There is a misconception that these children are not present and retain little to no information, however those individuals who hold that idea are highly mistaken. From my short experience these children hold creative minds that are able to see details and patterns which neurotypical individuals fail to see. Many of the skills and abilities required for daily living they can perform too with the assistance of early intervention.
Centro de Padres Y Ninos Testimonials
If you saw the video above the common emotions parents feel is anxiety, isolation, confusion, and fear for them and their child. I believe early intervention and support groups are necessary due to the increase children that are being diagnosed with ASD. No individual should have to confront this alone their is a saying " it takes a village to raise a child".
Work from current patients (Angels)
Unfortunately due to confidentiality I'am unable to present images of my amazing patients, however hopefully through their art you can have an idea of who they are, their focus in regards to detail, and abilities as well
to the left patient was angry and non-compliant due to lack of sleep, to the right demonstrates no behaviors while performing Task.
M.A: This Patient is a kinesthetic learner who enjoys arts and crafts this includes; crayons, play-doh, markers, painting, bracelets, and oils. This patient is age 5, engages in non-compliance when asked to participate in exercise or academics. Patient has difficulty understanding numbers and letters, however demonstrates understanding and identification through coloring and matching the colors.
L.T : This specific patient is age 4 male. The patient is able to tact (label) various animals, foods, objects, numbers, all the letters A-Z both upper and lower case. Patient is able to perform eye-contact, wave, and say hi for greeting. L.T is a fast learner when taught through mass trials. unfortunately this particular patient seeks attention from therapist which leads him to self harm, non-compliance, elopement (running off), and tantrum. through simple observation we assume patient receives no attention at home, clothing is worn for 2 to 3 days, is always given junk food as snack or meals for sessions. Patient's family sees distant which may lead to this specific behavior. Intervention include providing reinforcement for good behavior and performing planned ignored when patient requests a service through inappropriate behavior. Patient is required to say please or label item or address therapist by name which patient is able to do.
Programs and activities performed during academic Friday's and Sunday Funday G.A.P sessions
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| This is a program of what we do during sessions which is recently reduced due to the COVID-19 situation, normal sessions are concluded at 4 PM. |
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| This is the general format for a Academic Friday Session |
next time we observe a child misbehaving let's not demonstrate frustration or place judgment in a child or parent. Children with developmental delays struggle to perform certain tasks that may seem easy for us. In regards to parents no one is prepared for this step in life so let's be merciful and offer help in any way we can. Most of us may not have ABA experience, however a helping hand and someone who listens can alway be a huge help. Those who have kids without certain limitations let's teach them to respect every individual and avoid bullying anyone due to them being a little different.
References
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2000). Autism Developmental Disabilities
Monitoring Network. What is Prevalence? (pp. 5-7). Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (2020, March). Health & Education: Autism.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/conditions/autism/index.cfm
Rezendes, D.L., & Scarpa. A. (2011). Association Between Parental Anxiety/ Depression and
Child Behavior Problems related to Autistic Spectrum Disorders: The Roles of Parenting Stress and Parenting Self-Efficacy. Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, vol. (2011), 1-10. 10.1155/2011/395190
Zhou, W., Liu, D., Xiong, X., & Xu, H. (2019). Emotional Problems in Mothers Of Autistic
Children and Their Correlation With Socioeconomic Status and the Children’s Core Symptoms. Medicine, Vol. (98), 1-8. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/md-journal/fulltext/2019/08090/emotional_problems_in_mothers_of_autistic_children.68.aspx
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