can you BTDT moms explain few things...

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-16-2005
can you BTDT moms explain few things...
4
Fri, 10-07-2005 - 8:26am

HI,

We are still waiting for the eval next week - but my friends DS - 2 was just dx with PDD-NOS.
WHat exactly is ABA therapy ( I've read about ti - but still don't really understand exactly how it works) - and , my friend says when her DS tantrums, she has to apply pressure to his shoulders, arms and hands - - why is this and what does that do?
When my DD tantrums (always over not getting her way) - I ignore her and she gets over it in about a minute - is this a bad approach?

tia
beth

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-11-2003
Fri, 10-07-2005 - 8:38am

I can't explain ABA because my son was too old for it when he was dx. But the pressure your describing is is a senory techinque taught by occupational therapists. A lot of kids on the spectrum find deep pressure calming. If what you are doing works for your DD, and it sounds like it does, then there is no need to change it.

Samantha

Samantha
Avatar for cathby
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-16-2003
Fri, 10-07-2005 - 8:53am

Hi Beth,

ABA is Applied Behavioral Analysis. It is basically sitting the kid down at a table and teaching him (in my case) things that he SHOULD have picked up from his environment (but didn't). I used to be all freaked out by it, but it's not anything wacky. It's basically the gold standard of ASD treatment. There is sig. data to back it up, which is lacking in several other treatments. It was developed by a guy named Lovaas. He used a strict ABA protocol, which is usually always modified these days.

My DS (age 4) has been doing it for slightly less than a year. He now knows a lot of what a 4-year old boy should know.

Here is a link:

http://rsaffran.tripod.com/whatisaba.html

My DS loves deep pressure too, like you described. He doesn't need it for tantrums, he needs it just cause he needs it.

I think your way of dealing with that particular kind of tantrum is fine, by the way.

Cathy

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Fri, 10-07-2005 - 11:27am

Regarding the deep pressure issue: My DD loves when I apply pressure to her shouders, but ONLY when she's NOT having a tantrum! I've tried applying pressure on her when she's tantruming, and it only makes things worse -- she hates the close contact when she's having a tantrum. So I usually do the same thing you do, and it works for us as well.

Jennifer :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-24-2004
Fri, 10-07-2005 - 2:04pm

Beth,

I agree with the other posters....if it's working for your child, then stick with it. My son would never calm down if I ignored him. And he doesn't prefer the deep pressure while he's in a tantrum too! He needs to be calm first before any pressure or massage is implemented.

My son is past ABA therapy, but I was told that I had already been doing it with him when he was younger. Repeating, repetition....until he "got" what I was trying to teach him. I'm told that there are modified versions of ABA, some stricter some not so much. Like for example, I didn't sit him down infront of a table and work with him. I worked with him thru daily activities.

Michelle