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Understanding Autism: A Guide for Secondary School Teachers

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Understanding Autism: A Guide for Secondary School Teachers

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Understanding Autism: A Guide for Secondary School Teachers (Part 2) - Bing video

This video gives insight on the classroom environment. Important information needs to be presented from the beginning or students will feel out of place or wondering what they need to do; understanding what the student is thinking is a priority. Priming helps with familiarizing students with material before they are taught it. This helps students to not feel overwhelmed with new concepts in school and will ease them into lessons. Making modifications can help students with individual needs can range from giving extended time on assignments to presenting word banks for the help of word retrieval. Give clear cut directions, keep things organized and make the environment easy to follow. The environment includes having a well-structured seating plan that suits everyone. Keeping up with communicating to the parents can help with reinforcing strategies in their home as well as the community. Having a home base for students is a strategy explained in the video where they can go when they need a moment to recollect their thoughts and destress. Visual supports including schedules/graphic organizers help keep students on track and gives them a place of reference to feel comfortable. A social script (that can be provided by the teacher) helps with guiding students through conversations. Reinforcers such as praise will increase students' willingness to participate in assignments and learning course materials. Unpredictable changes can't be avoided but with the help of clearly written agendas/schedules help prepare students as best as possible to face the challenges. Supports by everyone involved can help the student feel a source of happiness and motivation.

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video on teaching an autisic support classroom - Search Videos

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Technology Tools for Students with Autism 

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Technology Tools for Students with Autism 

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boser-udl-for-students-with-autism.pdf (brookespublishing.com)

This article goes into the depths of UDL and meeting the needs of students with ASD through assistive technology and classroom tools that involve technology to support students with ASD. Grammar, literacy, and socialization skills can be shaped through technological services provided in schools. This article also helps provide the perspective of teachers; they can track necessary data using technology. Implementing technology can make transitioning easier for students with ASD.

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Deepening Supports for Teens with Autism 

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Deepening Supports for Teens with Autism 

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Deepening Supports for Teens with Autism (ascd.org)
This article provides insight on helping students with transitioning from high school to after. School supports are improving for the teen population of students who have ASD. Throughout history, high school students struggled with life after high school and schools, as well as the community, families and CSESA provide the foundation and tools that they need to succeed. Independence and social skills are advocated endlessly for high school students in special education. Discovering students' abilities and personal preferences is supported by teachers beginning at the age 14. By helping students discover their interests and disinterests, likes and dislikes, they can help create a transition plan for students to ease into adulthood as independently as possible.

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Abstract

Developing Independence and Confidence

Getting Social

Ready to Read

Independence and Behavior

Preparing for Life After High School

Their Best Hope

Are high schools doing enough to assist autistic teens both in school and beyond?

Abstract

Developing Independence and Confidence

Getting Social

Ready to Read

Independence and Behavior

Preparing for Life After High School

Their Best Hope

With a new generation of teenagers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) entering public high schools, there is even greater urgency to improve school support for these students. The prevalence of ASD has gone up 150 percent in the last five years (Baio et al., 2018). From our estimates, there are around 256,000 students with ASD in America's high schools, and that number will be increasing. Many of these students will be able to access the general education curriculum and be enrolled in diploma-granting programs, but they will need support in developing social relationships, independently functioning in complex high school settings, and transitioning into the community after high school. In addition, there will still be students with ASD who need significant academic supports provided in special education classes, hopefully with inclusive experiences happening during their days. All students with ASD, by law, deserve individualized programs that consist of scientifically validated practice.

One reason that it is especially important for high schools to provide an effective educational program for students with ASD is that historically, these students have struggled when transitioning to life after high school. Students with autism are less likely than those in any other disability group to be able to find and keep jobs or go on to community college or university programs. Also, they often continue to have difficulties making friends or being involved in social activities in the community. More often than other young adults, they tend to live at home with their parents.

Since we know what the post-high school results are, what can we do to change the design in high schools to produce better life outcomes for young adults with ASD?

Developing Independence and Confidence

When one mixes tumultuous high school settings, the roller coaster ride of adolescent developmental change, and the spectrum of autism, one gets a perfect storm of complexity. Complex problems resist single solutions, and comprehensive responses are required. As key personnel at the Center on Secondary Education for Students with Autism (CSESA), which is funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, we helped design a comprehensive treatment program for high school students with autism. The CSESA program focuses on the areas where high school students face the greatest challenges: social competence, reading comprehension, independence, and transition to community and work.

Getting Social

Students with ASD have great challenges in social competence, including limitations in social communication, social awareness, and social problem solving. If not addressed, these limitations can result in difficulty negotiating and compromising in groups, a lack of friendships, social isolation, and victimization by bullies. Social competence is also important for finding and maintaining employment after graduation.

There are many ways that schools can help teens with ASD develop social skills. Peer buddy programs and social skills groups such as Social Competence Intervention (Stichter, 2016) and Program for Evaluation and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS) (Laugeson, 2013) have helped students with ASD improve their ability to engage in conversation, read the facial expressions of others, and arrange for "get togethers" outside of school. Peers are a natural source of support, and structured time together to foster social interaction at lunch or during an elective period can be beneficial to all students. In addition, activities that are fun yet require peer interaction, such as the games Hedbanz or Jenga, can provide a context for developing social competence and fostering friendships. Peers also can assist students with ASD with organizing tasks, following rules, or even acting as a tutor of content.

If typical peers are aware of effective strategies to foster social communication, they can help their classmates with ASD learn about the "hidden" social curriculum of adolescent peer culture. For example, it may not be obvious to a student with ASD that only seniors hang out in a particular part of campus, or that they can joke with a peer at recess, but it's not always appropriate to do that with the teacher before class. Peer networks also provide an opportunity for students to get to know their classmates with ASD beyond the characteristics that define their disability.

Ready to Read

Individuals with ASD often have challenges with understanding the meaning of texts (such as the main theme, key points, character motivation and perspectives, inferences, and responding to the "wh-" questions). These challenges will affect what they learn in most academic content areas.

At CSESA, we've developed two evidence-based approaches to address reading comprehension skills. The Alternative Achievement Literacy (AAL) program is designed for students with the most limited literacy skills (often students who also have intellectual disability and are enrolled in modified degree programs) (Browder et al., 2016). Students with ASD who read fluently (at the 3rd grade level or above) but are struggling with comprehension can try the Collaborative Strategic Reading program (Reutebuch et al., 2015).

When using either approach, it is important to identify age-appropriate, relevant, and interesting texts. Both start with a review of vocabulary that may be new or challenging for students with ASD (emotional content, pronouns, idioms). As its name suggests, the Collaborative Strategic Reading program is organized for pairs of classmates (a student with ASD and neurotypical peer) to read and review texts. After reading the text, the students ask each other to define words, to describe the main idea, or to predict what will happen in a story. Each is also encouraged to ask "wh-" questions about the text. As students get to know each other, they often make this into a game. One instructor used the peer-generated questions on a final quiz administered to the entire class.

When altering texts for AAL, teachers should make as few adaptions as necessary for the student to comprehend the meaning. Perhaps a required text such as Romeo and Juliet can be modified by removing some of the advanced vocabulary, and, if needed, adding pictures to represent the central characters or nouns such as sword, tongue, or villain. Following the reading of a few lines of text, teachers use as little prompting as necessary to assist the student. First teachers ask the student a question about the text. For some students, they may use a prompt board to provide a choice of pictures or words to narrow the possible answers. After the student responds correctly to a prompt, the teacher starts delaying the prompt to give the student a chance to independently respond to the question.

Independence and Behavior

Even the most academically competent student with ASD may struggle with the need for routine, a lack of organizational skills, intolerance of change, sensitivity to sensory stimuli, and anxiety. If unaddressed, these issues may surface as tantrums or meltdowns and can interfere with learning activities.

There are strategies educators can use to address a student's social-emotional needs and prevent the more challenging and interfering behaviors from happening. These include outlining the student's schedule, providing a structure to class sessions, using visual supports to supplement oral instructions, and making adaptations for sensory needs, such as allowing a student to wear a hat in rooms with florescent lights or earphones that interfere with distracting sounds during independent work or exam times. Regardless of the level of support needed by a student with ASD, increasing the use of self-management strategies to boost independence can be beneficial.

When challenging behaviors do arise, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act requires that a functional assessment be completed for any student with an identified disability, to determine why the behavior is occurring. Frequently it is the role of the school psychologist to complete these assessments. A well-designed follow-up plan will include evidence-based strategies to reduce the challenging behavior along with strategies to develop or increase the use of an alternative skill or replacement behavior. For example, a functional assessment may show that a student often has a meltdown right before transitioning to lunch. The teacher may develop a picture schedule (visual support) of steps in that transition so the student can examine each step of the schedule right before the transition happens and better predict this change. Once strategies are selected, it is important to provide training to all staff so that everyone uses a consistent approach.

Preparing for Life After High School

Students with ASD often face their biggest challenge when they transition out of school into a job or higher education. They may not have the skills to work independently at the local supermarket, or they may not have the self-organizational skills to navigate around a college campus and follow a class schedule, despite having the academic skills to be successful. Because of the challenges related to these transitions and the lack of adequate support these students often receive when in high school, schools should offer specialized training to students with ASD to put them in a better place for future employment or postsecondary education. The CSESA transition program features several strategies that can assist teachers in this important preparation.

A first step in transition preparation is to identify the sources of support that may exist in the community and even in the high school. Many educators have found CSESA's Community and School Resource Mapping module a useful tool for locating and accessing vocational, recreational, and social support group transition services in the local community.

For all students with disabilities, federal law requires that school personnel establish an individualized transition plan by the time the student is 16 years old. Establishing the plan earlier, however, when students enter high school or are 14 years old, is a much better option. An earlier transition point allows the teachers, family members, and students (if capable) to begin establishing the goals for life after high school and plan the high school experiences that prepare the student to meet those goals. For example, in those early high school years, students may be given the opportunities for career or work exploration (working in a coffee shop or discovering what computer scientists do) that may help them or their caregivers identify reasonable goals for life after the transition. By the age of 16, students are already well into their high school curriculum plans and valuable opportunities may be missed.

It is important to prepare students for direct involvement in both their IEP and transition planning process as much as is feasible. CSESA staff have identified three evidence-based curricula ( Self-Advocacy Strategy, Self-Directed IEP, Whose Future is it Anyway?) from which teachers can choose to provide just such preparation.

Having students with ASD involved in early planning and giving them choices about the future can, for many, instill a sense of self-determination, which is a worthy goal for all adolescents. But, for many teenagers with ASD, this does not happen. In fact, as they grow older, these students often become more dependent on their caregivers, which can limit their success when they leave school.

For young adults with ASD and other disabilities, we know that the best predictor of a student's future job success is their work experience during high school (Carter, Austin, &am Trainor, 2012; Lee & Carter, 2012). Drawing from the work of our colleague David Test and the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition, CSESA staff created sets of lessons and activities that focus on career exploration, job shadowing, work sampling, service learning, internships, paid employment, apprenticeships, and mentoring. Using these resources, high school teachers can select the types of instruction appropriate for individual students. Such preparation requires assessment and careful planning.

Their Best Hope

At an international conference on autism research, Peter Mundy, a noted developmental psychologist and autism researcher, once said that public schools may be the best hope for children and youth with ASD. If so, high school may be the last best hope for these students. Services do exist for young adults with autism after they leave school, but rarely is there the intensity or consistency that is possible through the public school system. The CSESA program was designed to maximize this high school experience and has many freely available resources professionals can use in their work with students with autism. Such work does have the potential for positively affecting the lives of adolescents as they leave schools and become young adult members of our society.

Authors' Note: Preparation of this paper was supported by Grant No. R324C120006 from the Institute of Education Sciences, U. S. Department of Education. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the funding agency. Thanks also to the CSESA research team working across seven universities, which includes the additional CSESA Key Investigators: Kara Hume, Leann Smith Dawalt, Bonnie Kramer, Jessica Steinbrenner, Kate Szidon, and Christopher Brum.

References

Baio J., Wiggins L., Christensen D. L., Maenner, M. J., Daniels, J., Warren, Z., et al. (2018). Prevalence of autism spectrum disorder among children aged 8 years-Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 11 Sites, United States, 2014. MMWR Surveill Summ, 67(SS-6), 1-23.

Browder, D., Gibbs, S., Ahlgrim-Delzell, L., Courtade, G., & Lee, A. (2016). Early literacy skills builder (ELSB). Verona, WI: Attainment Company.

Carter, E. W., Austin, D., & Trainor, A. A. (2012). Predictors of post-school employment outcomes for young adults with severe disabilities. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 23, 50-63.

Laugeson, E. A. (2013). The PEERS curriculum for school-based professionals: Social skills training for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. NY: Routledge.

Lee, G. K., & Carter, E. W. (2012). Preparing transition-aged students with high functioning autism spectrum disorder for meaningful work. Psychology in the Schools, 49, 988-100.

Reutebuch, C. K., El Zein, F., Kim, M. K., Weinberg, A. N., & Vaughn, S. (2015). Investigating a reading comprehension intervention for high school students with autism spectrum disorder: A pilot study. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 9, 96-111.

Stichter, J. P. (2016). Social competence intervention. Columbia: University of Missouri.

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Deepening Supports for Teens with Autism - ASCD

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With a new generation of teenagers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) entering public high schools, there is even greater urgency to improve school support for these students. The prevalence of ASD has gone up 150 percent in the last five years (Baio et al., 2018).

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Graphic Organizers in Special Ed. Classrooms

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Graphic Organizers in Special Ed. Classrooms

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Graphic Organizers in Special Ed Classrooms (thoughtco.com)

This article describes how graphic organizers can help atypical learners learn and understand materials without reading and writing intensively. This article also gives insight on how to choose appropriate graphic organizers based on student's needs.

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Special education students often need support in organizing their thoughts and completing multi-stage tasks. Children with sensory processing issues, autism or dyslexia can easily become overwhelmed by the prospect of writing a short essay or even answering questions about material they have read. Graphic organizers can be effective ways to help typical and atypical learners alike. The visual presentation is a unique way to show students the material they are learning, and can appeal to those who are not auditory learners. They also make it easy for you as a teacher to assess and understand their thinking skills.

How to Choose a Graphic Organizer

Find a graphic organizer that's best suited to the lesson you'll teach. Below are typical examples of graphic organizers, along with with links to PDFs that you can print out.

"KWL" stands for "know," "want to know" and "learn." It's an easy-to-use chart that helps students brainstorm information for essay questions or reports. Use it before, during and after the lesson to allow students to measure their success. They'll be amazed by how much they've learned.

Venn Diagram

Adapt this mathematical diagram to highlight similarities between two things. For back to school, use it to talk about how two students spent their summer vacations. Or, turn it upside down and use the kinds of vacations-camping, visiting grandparents, going to the beach-to identify students who have things in common.

Double Cell Venn

Also known as a double bubble chart, this Venn diagram is adapted to describe the similarities and differences in characters in a story. It's designed to help students compare and contrast.

Concept Web

You may have hear concept webs called story maps. Use them to help students break down the components of a story they have read. Use an organizer to track elements such as the characters, setting, problems or solutions. This is a particularly adaptable organizer. For example, put a character in the center and use it to map the attributes of the character. A problem in the plot can be in the center, with the different ways characters try to solve the problem. Or simply label the center "beginning" and have the students list the premise of the story: where it takes place, who are the characters, when is the action of the story set.

Sample Agenda Type List

For children for whom remaining at task is an ongoing problem, don't underestimate the simple effectiveness of an agenda. Laminate a copy and have her affix it to her desk. For an extra boost to visual learners, use images to augment the words on the planner. (This one can help teachers, too!)

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Graphic organizers are great tools for students with learning disabilities and those requiring visuals for conceptual understanding. Find the right worksheet for your lesson and print it out.

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Strategies for autism in the classroom (leafwingcenter.org)

This could be a useful source for teachers who have students with autism because it lists examples of sensory activities as well as how to set up your classroom and keep routines for the students.

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Each student with autism is unique therefore each student will have unique needs in the classroom. However, there are many strategies and basic principles of effective instruction that can be implemented for students with autism within the classroom. Many of these strategies provide structure and teach a variety of skills across content areas of the natural and traditional classroom setting. These include:

Autism in the classroom: strategies for success

Assignment Notebooks

A Routine

Classroom Environment

Communication

Students with autism can thrive in the classroom with a few strategies for success. One of the ways is with an assignment notebook. An assignment notebook is an easy way to have a visual for students to be able to know and understand what is expected of them and what is coming up next in class.

Another strategy is through a routine. A routine makes a great strategy for success for autism in the classroom. Routines are necessary for all students but particularly those with autism. A routine allows for consistency and for a student to know what is coming next. Change is bound to happen at school once in a while with substitute teachers, fire drills, etc. Change can be difficult and a barrier in the classroom for students with autism so keeping things the same most of the time will lead to success in the classroom setting.

The classroom environment itself is also a strategy for success for students with autism. Structure and predictability facilitate the student's understanding of the environment, which can help decrease worry or agitation the student might have. This is really important for students with autism who tend to react negatively or really have a difficult time with changes and unsent uncertainty in their environment. These types of students are often overwhelmed by sensory stimuli. Therefore, an overload of sensory at once can be very stressful and cause a negative reaction within the classroom. By limiting loud noises, certain light frequencies, textures, and control of temperature, the classroom can become a great place for a student with autism to learn and be successful.

The last key to strategies for success for autism in the classroom is communication. As with routines, clear communication is important to all students but a significant necessity for students with autism. Keeping directions clear and simple prevents any confusion from occurring and allows students with autism to process instructions easily. Students with autism oftentimes do not understand common phrases or figurative language so communicating in a direct manner with short tasks allows for the student to process and complete the task in a timely manner.

Ways Autism impacts Learning in the classroom

Autism impacts learning in many ways. Students with autism have difficulty adapting their behavior to different situations. When there is a change in their normal routine or something is out of the ordinary it can be highly stressful for students with autism. They also have challenges socially interacting with others. In lower elementary grades, oftentimes learning occurs through play with other students. This can be an obstacle for students with autism. Some students with autism need to be moving in order to learn. This can pose an issue in the general education classroom setting because of space constraints as well as the possibility of distracting other students.

Strategies for autism classroom set-up

One of the main strategies for a classroom setup for students with autism is to label materials and spaces. Setting up the classroom a certain way can increase a student with autism's ability to be successful in the classroom setting. We can help students understand expectations, and in general, make sense of their entire environment. Researchers have defined environmental support as "aspects of the environment, other than interactions with people, which affect the learning that takes place".

Predictability and sameness are significant factors throughout students' daily lives. One way to address these elements in the classroom is with "Environmental Supports".

Examples of environmental support

Labels

Boundary settings

Visual schedules

Behavioral-based education tools

Activity completion signals

Choice boards

Students with autism can get overwhelmed easily or become overstimulated. Have a designated calm down area. When the instances occur, it is easier on everyone if there is a designated area for the student to go to aid in their self-regulation. The space should be quiet and include items they may use to help calm down and re-focus themselves.

All of these environmental support strategies are a simple yet effective way to help a student respond appropriately in their day-to-day activities throughout their school day. Environmental support can be effectively utilized across all environments and all settings to help support individuals with ASD. Additionally, environmental support has been shown to increase student independence, and help stimulate language.

Sensory activities strategies for students with autism to help with focusing in the classroom

Sensory activity strategies for students with autism can help to minimize the feeling of being overstimulated. However, there are activities within the classroom setting that can help students still experience sensory and learn while doing so. Targeted sensory activities can aid a student with autism in the classroom to stay grounded and focused as well as fulfill their need for movement.

Some sensory activities can include:

Stamping on Paper

Slime Play

Fidget Toys

Using shaving cream for letters or math

Rhythm instruments

Finger painting

Playdough

Students with autism may struggle with these types of play. The goal is to figure out the unique needs of each unique student with autism. Some types of sensory experiences are calming and successful for one student, but may be extremely overstimulating for another. However, once the best sensory play is found for a student it can really open the door and decrease some of the challenges to learning. Sensory activities can improve social skills, hand-eye coordination, as well as fine motor skills. It can also help to challenge a student's brain that they typically do not use and be a key to being successful in the classroom setting.

Again, we want to emphasize that each student is unique and the strategies used need to reflect their unique needs.

Other Related Articles:

Frequently asked questions about ABA therapy

What is ABA Therapy used for?

Who Can Benefit From ABA Therapy?

What does ABA Therapy look like?

How do I start ABA Therapy?

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What is ABA Therapy used for?

ABA-based therapy can be used in a multitude of areas. Currently, these interventions are used primarily with individuals living with ASD; however, their applications can be used with individuals living with pervasive developmental disorders as well as other disorders. For ASD, it can be used in effectively teaching specific skills that may not be in a child's repertoire of skills to help him/her function better in their environment whether that be at home, school, or out in the community. In conjunction with skill acquisition programs, ABA-based interventions can also be used in addressing behavioral excesses (e.g., tantrum behaviors, aggressive behaviors, self-injurious behaviors). Lastly, it can also be utilized in parent/caregiver training.

In skill acquisition programs, a child's repertoire of skills is assessed in the beginning phase of the services in key adaptive areas such as communication/language, self-help, social skills, and motor skills as well. Once skills to be taught are identified, a goal for each skill is developed and then addressed/taught by using ABA-based techniques to teach those important skills. Ultimately, an ABA-based therapy will facilitate a degree of maintenance (i.e., the child can still perform the learned behaviors in the absence of training/intervention over time) and generalization (i.e., the learned behaviors are observed to occur in situations different from the instructional setting). These two concepts are very important in any ABA-based intervention.

In behavior management, the challenging behaviors are assessed for their function in the beginning phase of the services. In this phase, the "why does this behavior happen in the first place?" is determined. Once known, an ABA-based therapy will be developed to not just decrease the occurrence of the behavior being addressed, but also teach the child a functionally-equivalent behavior that is socially-appropriate. For example, if a child resorts to tantrum behaviors when she is told she cannot have a specific item, she may be taught to accept an alternative or find an alternative for herself. Of course, we can only do this up to a certain point-the offering of alternatives. There comes a point when a 'no' means 'no' so the tantrum behavior will be left to run its course (i.e., to continue until it ceases). This is never easy and will take some time for parents/caregivers to get used to, but research has shown that over time and consistent application of an ABA-based behavior management program, the challenging behavior will get better.

In parent training, individuals that provide care for a child may receive customized "curriculum" that best fit their situation. A typical area covered in parent training is teaching responsible adults pertinent ABA-based concepts to help adults understand the rationale behind interventions that are being used in their child's ABA-based services. Another area covered in parent training is teaching adults specific skill acquisition programs and/or behavior management programs that they will implement during family time. Other areas covered in parent training may be data collection, how to facilitate maintenance, how to facilitate generalization of learned skills to name a few.

There is no "one format" that will fit all children and their families' needs. The ABA professionals you're currently working with, with your participation, will develop an ABA-based treatment package that will best fit your child's and your family's needs. For more information regarding this topic, we encourage you to speak with your BCBA or reach out to us at [email protected] .

Who Can Benefit From ABA Therapy?

There is a common misconception that the principles of ABA are specific to Autism. This is not the case. The principles and methods of ABA are scientifically backed and can be applied to any individual. With that said, the U.S. Surgeon General and the American Psychological Association consider ABA to be an evidence based practice. Forty years of extensive literature have documented ABA therapy as an effective and successful practice to reduce problem behavior and increase skills for individuals with intellectual disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Children, teenagers, and adults with ASD can benefit from ABA therapy. Especially when started early, ABA therapy can benefit individuals by targeting challenging behaviors, attention skills, play skills, communication, motor, social, and other skills. Individuals with other developmental challenges such as ADHD or intellectual disability can benefit from ABA therapy as well. While early intervention has been demonstrated to lead to more significant treatment outcomes, there is no specific age at which ABA therapy ceases to be helpful.

Additionally, parents and caregivers of individuals living with ASD can also benefit from the principles of ABA. Depending on the needs of your loved one, the use of specified ABA techniques in addition to 1:1 services, may help produce more desirable treatment outcomes. The term "caregiver training" is common in ABA services and refers to the individualized instruction that a BCBA or ABA Supervisor provides to parents and caregivers. This typically involves a combination of individualized ABA techniques and methods parents and caregivers can use outside of 1:1 sessions to facilitate ongoing progress in specified areas.

ABA therapy can help people living with ASD, intellectual disability, and other developmental challenges achieve their goals and live higher quality lives.

What does ABA Therapy look like?

Agencies that provide ABA-based services in the home-setting are more likely to implement ABA services similarly than doing the same exact protocols or procedures. Regardless, an ABA agency under the guidance of a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst follows the same research-based theories to guide treatment that all other acceptable ABA agencies use.

ABA-based services start with a functional behavior assessment (FBA). In a nutshell, a FBA assesses why the behaviors may be happening in the first place. From there, the FBA will also determine the best way to address the difficulties using tactics that have been proven effective over time with a focus on behavioral replacement versus simple elimination of a problem behavior. The FBA will also have recommendations for other relevant skills/behaviors to be taught and parent skills that can be taught in a parent training format to name a few. From there, the intensity of the ABA-based services is determined, again, based on the clinical needs of your child. The completed FBA is then submitted to the funding source for approval.

One-on-one sessions between a behavior technician and your child will start once services are approved. The duration per session and the frequency of these sessions per week/month will all depend on how many hours your child's ABA services have been approved for-usually, this will be the number recommended in the FBA. The sessions are used to teach identified skills/behaviors via effective teaching procedures. Another aspect of ABA-based services in the home-setting is parent training. Parent training can take many forms depending on what goals have been established during the FBA process. The number of hours dedicated for parent training is also variable and solely depends on the clinical need for it. If a 1:1 session is between a behavior technician and your child, a parent training session or appointment is between you and the case supervisor and with and without your child present, depending on the parent goal(s) identified. Parent training service's goal is for you to be able to have ample skills/knowledge in order for you to become more effective in addressing behavioral difficulties as they occur outside of scheduled ABA sessions. Depending on the goals established, you may be required to participate in your child's 1:1 sessions. These participations are a good way for you to practice what you have learned from the case supervisor while at the same time, having the behavior technician available to you to give you feedback as you practice on those new skills.

As mentioned in the beginning, no two ABA agencies will do the same exact thing when it comes to providing ABA services; however, good agencies will always base their practice on the same empirically-proven procedures.

How do I start ABA Therapy?

In most cases, the first item required to start ABA therapy is the individual's autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis report. This is typically conducted by a doctor such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, or a developmental pediatrician. Most ABA therapy agencies and insurance companies will ask for a copy of this diagnosis report during the intake process as it is required to request an ABA assessment authorization from the individual's medical insurance provider.

The second item required to start ABA therapy is a funding source. In the United States, and in cases where Medi-Cal or Medicare insurances are involved, there is a legal requirement for ABA services to be covered when there is a medical necessity (ASD diagnosis). Medi-Cal and Medicare cover all medically necessary behavioral health treatment services for beneficiaries. This typically includes children diagnosed with ASD. Since Applied Behavior Analysis is an evidence based and effective treatment for individuals with ASD, it is considered a covered treatment when medically necessary. In many cases, private insurance will also cover ABA services when medically necessary, however in these cases, it is best to speak directly with your medical insurance provider to determine the specifics of the coverage and to ensure that ABA is in fact, a covered benefit. Additionally, some families opt to pay for ABA services out-of-pocket.

The next step to starting ABA therapy is to contact an ABA provider whom you are interested in working with. Depending on your geographic location, ABA agencies exist in many cities across the United States. Your insurance carrier, local support groups, and even a thorough online search can help you find reputable and properly credentialed ABA agencies near you. Our organization, LeafWing Center, is based in southern California and is recognized for aiding people with ASD achieve their goals with the research based on applied behavior analysis.

Once you have identified the ABA provider with whom you wish to work, they should help you facilitate the next steps. These will include facilitating paperwork and authorizations with your funding source. Once the assessment process begins, a BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) or qualified Program Supervisor should get in contact with you to arrange times in which interviews with parents/caregivers and observations of your loved one can be conducted. This will help in the process of gathering important clinical information so that with your collaboration, the most effective treatment plans and goals can be established for your loved one. This process is referred to as the Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) and is elaborated on in different blog posts on our website. With regard as to what can be expected once ABA therapy begins, please read our blog post titled: When You Start an ABA program, What Should You Reasonably Expect from Your Service Provider?

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How simple classroom setup strategies for students with autism can help support their success in the classroom.