ABC Group serves children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), ages 12 months through early adulthood. Each child’s treatment program is designed based upon his/her individual needs as determined by assessment. The terminal aim of every young child’s program is to “close the gap” between their current skill level and those of their typically developing peers or develop functional life skills. Behavioral excesses or deficits across multiple domain areas likely contribute to the impairments of functioning. To meet the aim of ‘closing the gap’, a comprehensive, behavioral and education program is necessary.
Beginner Learner Profile
- Very limited range of reinforcers, especially those that can be controlled by the instructor.
- Often engage in disruptive and / or escape behaviors that interfere with teaching, such as stereotypy (stim behaviors).
- Often use inappropriate behaviors as mands (e. g., crying or screaming, etc.).
- Little or No language.
- Very limited ability to interact appropriately with other people. Make very few attempts to interact with adults or children even if they want something. May ignore most adults and children all together.
- Lacking all or most “Basic Learning Skills”. The following are considered “Basic Learning Skills” because they are building block skills or skills that are needed in order for prompting to be effective and more importantly to learn from the natural environment.
- Attending – looking and paying attention to instructor, materials, reinforcers, “Turned into” others and the environment.
- Imitation – the ability to match others gross and fine motor actions, AND vocally (Echoics).
- Matching – the ability to match object to object, object to picture and words to objects and pictures (labeling / tacting).
- Receptive Language – the ability to understand what others say and respond non-verbally.
- Manding – the ability to ask for desired items and activities.
Intermediate Learner Profile
- At least 10 separate, instructor controlled items or activities that serve as reinforcers.
- Typically cooperative in teaching situations for increased amount of time with contrived reinforcers.
- Able to engage socially with others, particularly adults. Initiate social interactions by looking at others, return greeting from adults. Beginning to show interest in other children.
- Much improved “Basic Learning Skills”.
- They are able to attend for at least 3 – 7 minutes during non-preferred activities and often much longer for preferred activities.
- They are able to imitate most actions and words but may need a few trials.
- Typically quite good at matching objects and picture. Able to expressively label at least 100 common items and pictures of those items.
- Receptively understand at least 200 words, able to follow many simple instructions, especially within the context of routine activities and some out of context, able to learn new receptive labels in 1 – 5 trials.
- Manding – able to ask for most reinforcing items and activities. Able to learn new mands in 1 – 5 trials.
Advanced Learner Profile
- Many instructor controlled items or activities that serve as reinforcers.
- Typically cooperative in teaching situations for increased amount of time with contrived reinforcers and social reinforcers.
- Able to engage socially with others, adults and children. Initiates social interactions by looking at others, initiates greetings, able to play for 10 or more minutes with typical children, independently.
- Much much better, approaching typical “Basic Learning Skills”.
- They are able to attend for at least 15 – 20 minutes during non-preferred activities and often much longer for preferred activities.
- They are able to imitate most actions and words typically on the first try.
- Typically excellent matching objects and picture. Able to expressively label at least 250 common items and pictures of those items.
- Receptively understand at least 500 words, able to follow many simple instructions in and out of context, able to learn new receptive labels in 1 trial.
- Manding – able to ask for almost all reinforcing items and activities in varied sentences. Able to learn new mands in 1 trial.
Typical Learner Profile
- Able to learn in regular educational setting without additional support.
Pre-School Programs
In the Early Intensive Service, learners typically require a highly structured and controlled setting to maximize learning opportunities; this is generally in-clinic to start. Following specific parent training on creating optimal learning activities at home, sessions should move to a combination of in-home and in-clinic to get the benefits of both service locations. Parents will be expected to participate in all home sessions.
Parent training is also intensive in this program. Parents can expect to Depending on nap schedules, service is provided 8:30am-1:30pm. While specific teaching goals and recommendations for each individual are made only after proper evaluation of each student, typical goals for children with this profile include:
- Willing participation in play and learning activities,
- reduction in problematic behavior
- Manding/requesting for items, actions, attention, and task delay
- Responding to directions
- Learning to echo/ speech production sounds/words
We utilize a combination of both intensive teaching and natural environment teaching which vary depending on the profile of the learner and the particular skills being taught. Most of this teaching is not intuitive but has been shown to be the most effective of any other treatment.
Intensive Teaching is the modern version of Discrete Trial. It maximizes opportunities for responding, averaging 16-25 responses per minute, so that skills are learned fluently and opportunities for reinforcement occur more frequently. The variables that influence reinforcer effectiveness are critical to understand for successful intensive teaching.
Natural Environment Teaching (NET) capitalizes on the child’s motivation as the foundation for learning. It produces opportunities for generalization of skills learned in an intensive format, and makes them relevant and useful to the child.
School Age Programs (kids ages 6-12)
Intermediate to School Supplement Service
At ABC Group we offer individualized learning experiences for a diverse array of school-age students. We offer targeted opportunities that promote the academic achievement and social/behavioral development of students who benefit from a smaller, supportive and data driven learning environment. We offer social skills instruction when your child attends ABC Group to facilitate the building of social understanding skills for children pre-school aged through high school. Instruction includes the following topics through lessons and activities:- Conversation Topic Initiation and Topic Maintenance
- Listening with our Eyes and Brain and Body
- Understanding the Perspectives of Others (Theory of Mind)
- Understanding and Using Body Language
- Problem Solving, Negotiation and Compromise with Peers
- Increasing Flexibility and Executive Functioning
Typical goals for this profile include:
- Complex language concepts such as; prepositions, adverbs, past/future tenses
- Intraverbal/Conversation skills
- Manding/Asking for information, missing items, with peers, etc.
- Responding to multi-step directions, group instruction and pre-academic work
Academic Acceleration Program
Our students in the ACCEL program are engaged in developmentally appropriate, data-driven, individualized learning programs that put them on a path to achieving learning success. This program is suitable for students who are capable of learning in an Elementary inclusive setting, but may require a more thorough analysis of learning problems.Goals include:
- Closing of academic gaps in math, reading, comprehension, and handwriting
- Reduction in disruptive or off-task behavior
- Confidence and enjoyment of learning
Pre-Teen Programs
Life Skills Program- Some Early Learners over the age of 8 years may also need additional prioritization of skills that will improve their quality of life. Typical goals for this profile include:
- Independent toileting and feeding
- Useful augmentative communication
- Brushing teeth, bathing, menstruation
- Household chores, light meal prep, independent leisure skills
We utilize a combination of both intensive teaching and natural environment teaching which vary depending on the profile of the learner and the particular skills being taught. Most of this teaching is not intuitive but has been shown to be the most effective of any other treatment.
Intensive Teaching is the modern version of Discrete Trial. It maximizes opportunities for responding, averaging 16-25 responses per minute, so that skills are learned fluently and opportunities for reinforcement occur more frequently. The variables that influence reinforcer effectiveness are critical to understand for successful intensive teaching.
Natural Environment Teaching (NET) capitalizes on the child’s motivation as the foundation for learning. It produces opportunities for generalization of skills learned in an intensive format, and makes them relevant and useful to the child.
Supplemental Programs
School Supplement Service: Intermediate programs are preparing children to benefit from a transition to typical preschool or general education Kindergarten, these are ideally full day. School Supplement service is generally provided 2:00pm-5:00pm.
Typical goals for this profile include:
- Complex language concepts such as; prepositions, adverbs, past/future tenses
- Intraverbal/Conversation skills
- Manding/Asking for information, missing items, with peers, etc.
- Responding to multi-step directions, group instruction and pre-academic work
Kokua
HAWAIIAN VALUES
help, assist, comfort, support
Assessment & Evalution
ABC Group utilizes a plethora of assessment tools in order to obtain the best picture of your child’s baseline skills and to develop a learning path geared to your child’s learning needs. These assessment tools will be used throughout your ABA journey at ABC Group.
A blend of criterion-referenced and norm-referenced assessment tools may be used.
Tools include:
- PEAK Assessment (Relational Training)
- Woodcock Johnson IV (oral language, academic (reading, spelling, comprehension, phonics, math, writing, vocabulary) and cognitive functioning.
- Vineland (adaptive and social skills)
- VB MAPP (language, play, social, behavior, transitional up to age 4 developmental level)
- ADOS-2
- Fluency assessments (assesses levels compared to established performance aims across a variety of domains)
- A myriad of inventories and checklists
Each child’s needs may be assessed across the following eight (8) domain areas:
- Reduction of Challenging Behaviors
- Socialization and Community Access Skills
- Language and Communication Skills
- Coping and Tolerance Skills
- Daily Living and Self-help Skills
- Pre-Academic/Academic Skills
- Play and Leisure Skills
- Theory of Mind/Executive Functioning
`Ike Pono
HAWAIIAN VALUES
to know, to feel, to understand
Our Teaching Approach
At ABC Group, every behavioral education program is designed to give each child the skills they need in order to benefit from placement in the least restrictive educational environment. Using the principles of ABA and motivation, foundation skills are taught in a very systematic fashion, failure is reduced, and independence is rewarded.
Initially, prompting strategies are used and distractions are reduced in order to maximize success.
At first, the teaching is usually begun in the clinic, as the clinic setting provides for frequent supervision by BCBA supervisors, and then gradually expanded and generalized to other environments including home, community or classroom settings.
Our infant and toddler early intervention preschool programs usually consist of play-based programming that focuses on teaching manding/requesting (with eye contact or approximations of sounds/words and shaping those sounds words while at the same time), joint attention, functional and pretend play, and other developmentally appropriate skills.
As the child becomes more fluent at learning from the natural environment, the intensity of treatment (i.e., the number of direct service hours) is gradually and systematically reduced until ABA services are no longer necessary.
Our high quality, intensive (25-40 hours a week) ABA treatment for a duration of 2-4 years, it is possible for young children to lose their diagnosis of autism.
Most early intervention programs (ages 3-6) consist of intensive, one-to-one instructional hours as recommended by research. It is not uncommon for ABA programs to consist of 25-45 hours per week of one-to-one ABA instruction. As the child becomes more fluent at learning from the natural environment, the intensity of treatment (i.e., the number of direct service hours) is gradually and systematically reduced until ABA services are no longer necessary.
Some children may continue to require ABA treatment beyond the early intervention years, or early school age years, and in some cases, throughout their entire adult lives. In these cases, the number of recommended service hours varies individually and is based on a variety of factors including: areas of deficit, rate of skill acquisition, amount of support required to function within the least restrictive home, school, and community environments, and additional/supplemental services received.
Children with ASD often have a long history of failure within the learning situation, every effort is made to make it successful, rewarding, and fun! Tangible rewards or reinforcements (e.g., favored treats, time engaged in electronics or toys) as well as naturally occurring rewards (e.g., social praise/physical proximity) are used. These rewards are presented to the child for their independent participation. Because children with ASD often do not find naturally occurring rewards to be motivating, tangible rewards and naturally occurring rewards are paired so that, over time, the natural rewards become motivating. Each one-to-one instructional session lasts from 3 to 4 hours. Each of these sessions consists of time spent in the structured learning situation, at play activities which target the learning goals in naturally occurring situations. The length of each instructional session and ratio of time spent at each activity is determined by the child’s age, the recommendations for treatment hours, their skill or developmental level, and the complexity of skills being taught.
For learners where school may not be a beneficial setting for the child at the time initially due to their deficits, once the child acquires skills necessary to benefit from education, placement in a school is considered. A well-planned, systematic transition into a school setting is always paramount.
Education for all
Training & Consultation (Telehealth and In-Person)
ABC Group offers flexible consultation and training plans and depending on the needs of your family, school or group. We provide training on topics related to handling challenging behaviors, effective classroom management strategies, establishing routines and house rules at home, introduction of autism, introduction to ABA treatment, providing ABA in a classroom setting. Please contact us so we can best address your training and consultation needs.
*These services can be provided via telehealth or in-person such as during observation of your child’s ABA sessions. Please contact us so we can best address your training and consultation needs.
Home School Options
We also provide several programs geared to homeschooled children. We can supplement any homeschool program and are able to collaborate frequently to accomplish this within a learning partnership. Our ACCEL Program and social skills group programs are perfect examples where we blend our teaching technologies with a homeschool learner who has individual learning needs. Please contact us for more information.
