What does an ABA Specialist do?

What does an ABA specialist do? 

I'm often asked this question and there are a lot of misconceptions about what an applied behavior analysis does, so I'd like to give some specifics of what my job entails.

executive functioning skills

Executive functioning skills are those skills which help us plan, organize, prioritize, initiate tasks,
afford us flexible thinking ,monitor impulse control and provide us working memory:

*People with low impulse control have more difficulty monitoring what they say and what they do, they will often say whatever comes to mind.  When they see someone who has been at the gym working out, for example and are sweaty, they will tell that person they stink. When someone frustrates them, they will act out by hitting them rather than walk away from them.

An ABA specialist will practice social settings where they will encounter situations and what they can say that is socially appropriate. An ABA will practice skills to aide them with giving alternative behaviors to adapt rather than act in rash ways as well.  Reading social stories will also give social skills in this area.

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*People with low emotional control
have difficulty recognizing their emotions, they often over react or take extra long to regroup when things get rough. 

Practicing emotional control helps regulate emotions, an ABA will discuss situations that are likely to trigger an emotional situation and the two can practice appropriate emotional responses.

*People with rigid thinking have difficulty thinking outside the box, doing things different that their routine, or accepting any variables.

ABA specialist will aid a person in adapting to changes and unexpected events by brainstorming variables in life as well as changing schedules in safe environments.

*Working memory is being able to remember directions, so people who have difficulty in this area struggle when they are told to, 'read chapter one and answer questions 1 through 10'.  

Much of aiding people who struggle with working memory is changing the environment and working with other people such as teachers, employers, etc. Having instructions written down for them to refer to often is an effective tool, having timers to remind them of time limits, emails to send reminders, calendars of upcoming events, etc., all these tools aid the individual so they don't have to rely on their working memory.

*People with organizational difficulties need assistance knowing what part of a project is most important, they have difficulty starting a task because they freeze rather than know where to start, and they are often easily distracted by things such as visual or noise disturbances.

The ABA will aid in setting up the environment to aid the individual to be successful.  This includes such things as  decreasing visual stimulus such as posters, changing the color of walls, turning off music, eliminating clutter and unnecessary noise and traffic. Helping them getting started on a project by giving them an outline of steps to follow for the project.

boundaries and personal space

People with autism and sensory processing disorders often have difficulty reading social cues and expectations, such as allowing a space between them and others, to stay out of closed doors or not snooping through a woman's purse, or keeping clothes on in a public space, or not hitting someone they are angry with. They are concrete thinkers and many social rules are abstract.

They need simple, concrete, black and white rules to follow. For example if you say to them, 'follow the rules'  when playing a board game, this is too vague for them to understand what this means and they will likely continue to break the rules, causing frustration for everyone and others think they are being defiant. If you say instead, roll the dice, count the black dots, then move your piece that many times and stop.' they will have an easier time following these directions, as they are clear, easy to follow and concrete.

Before an activity:

1. Define the expectations

2. Provide guidance without expecting perfection and allow room for autonomy

3. If they begin to stray, block and redirect back to the activity. For example, if you are teaching them to walk from classroom A to classroom B, if they begin to walk down the wrong corridor, put your arm out to block them from the wrong corridor while saying to them, 'walk this way', then wait for them to walk toward classroom B.

4. Allow natural consequences while offering firm boundaries. For example if the child drops to the floor because they aren't getting to walk down the wrong corridor, wait them out with a calm voice and remind them what the choices are (always give choices), they can choose to go on to classroom B or return to classroom A. Not following directions by going down the wrong corridor is not a choice, however. 

5.  If possible negotiate beforehand with the child. What does the child want? What are the child's expectations? What are the consequences if the child doesn't follow through? What options are available if the task becomes difficult and the child has a meltdown? 

6. The more consistent the ABA (or parent or teacher) is, the more the child understand their boundaries and the more consistent their behavior will become. 

emotional regulation skills

Emotional regulation includes being aware of what emotions we are feeling, paying attention to our emotions, properly labeling our emotions, and properly modifying our emotional reaction to set them within the social boundaries. Poor emotional regulation leads to depression, aggressive behavior, poor performance; among other things.  Good emotional regulation can aid in good social and academic skills and mental health.  

ABA specialists work with the person to help them identify their emotions as well as put a name to what they are feeling. People along the spectrum often have a difficult time reading other people's facial expressions and understanding what emotion other people are conveying, so we work to help them read expressions and behaviors, both other people's and their own.

ABA specialists help the person understand when they are feeling strong emotions and how to cope with them, such as taking a break from a difficult task rather than throwing the task all over the room; or if a person is bothering them, to tell the person to take a step back rather than yell at them. 

independent living skills

Many people with developmental disorders need assistance living either independently or with minimum assistance.  Some of the skills they need help learning include managing money, using a debit card, making a shopping list, cooking on a stove, reading a recipe, cleaning a house, maintaining hygiene, learning the public transportation system, developing job skills, crossing the road, and buying food and clothes.

An ABA specialist will work with the person in teaching these skills to an acceptable level so they can live with minimum assistance.

safety skills

There are several skills people with developmental disabilities need practice to learn so they may be safe. They need to learn how to cross the street, unassisted or with minimum assistance; how to judge who is a safe person to ask for help and who is not; to not elope from home, school or other safe environments; how to judge hot surfaces and items such as stoves and water; to not put inedible and/or poisonous items in their mouths; to keep seat belts on when cars are moving; to not open car doors when cars are moving.

These are just a few of the many safety skills that need to be taught.

following directions

In conjunction with safety rules, it is imperative to teach following directions to children with developmental disabilities.  Because many children with disabilities have a difficult time comprehending the consequences of their actions, they often do unsafe things that neuro-typical children learn from naturally from their environment but children with developmental disabilities do not learn by observation alone.

They must learn through being taught, for example that a ball will hit them when thrown at them if they do not stop it by catching it or moving out of its way. They must learn that petting a dog that is growling at it may result in being bitten. They must learn that walking into a fast moving river may result in being swept away.  All these things are teachable, but take more work with a child that is not neuro-typical by teaching them how to follow directions rather than having them picking up cues from the environment. 

educational skills

Many ABA's such as myself work in school settings. Within the schools, we act as teachers, teaching all manner of educational skills from math, to reading, spelling, word processing. We assist teachers in P.E. home economics, computer skills, science, art, library, etc.  Our knowledge of subject matter must be wide and varied, we teach at all grade levels, from elementary to high school.

We also plan and coordinate with teachers and others staff and parents all in the best interest of the child.

behavioral regulation skills

Positive reinforcement, extinction, and the use of discrete trial are the primary tools to aid in helping the child with behavior regulation. Most children learn naturally by picking up cues from their environment. Children with autism have a more difficult time with learning from their environmental cues.  By having a more structured environment, the success of learning is increased for those with autism and other developmental disabilities.  

See this blog for examples of positive reinforcement, extinction and discrete trial.

alternative verbal communication skills

Many children with Autism are non-verbal or have limited verbal skills. There are several alternative communication approaches that are taught to increase expressive communication abilities.

The use of pictures is one such way; 

The child is taught to touch the picture of the item they want or need. In this way, they communicate their wants and needs through pictures rather than through screaming, hitting, or having a meltdown.

Often, even children with high verbal skills have a low verbal ability when they are frustrated and can benefit from this method.

Another method is to teach sign language. Sign is not just for people who have hearing loss. Sign language is a useful skill for the non-verbal and small children with few verbal skills. It is often easier for them to learn sign language than to learn verbal communications.

Another communication technique is the use of a voice box called a Vantage, or the use of programs on iPads or tablets. These programs augment speaking or verbal communicating, as well as provide a schedule, routine, teaching aides, transition aides, and offer choices.  

The ABA specialist must understand and use these methods as well as have a thorough knowledge of them in order to teach them and help the families and teachers and other professionals know which method to choose for their child. The ABA specialist also works with speech specialists, occupational specialists, parents, and many others to coordinate and communicate the best interests of the person.

I hope this list of skills gives you a better understanding of what you ABA specialist can do for you.