Yes this is common. My son was 23 months when he started ABA and
they played for the first couple of visits and then started working. He
didn't really cry but was cranky and they have been wonderful working
with him.
I always stay for his sessions or I am in the next room. As a matter of fact I stay for all of his sessions.
Good luck. Hopefully it won't be too bad.
What Ozzie-Rozies-ma said is so true. Therapists will place demands
upon our kids and yes they need to learn to comply. Not every child will
resist by crying by the way. My son used a multitude of different
techniques for avoidance and non compliance. My son went from having
2 words and not orienting to his name at 2yrs 5 months to a fully
engaged, very verbal 5yr old with ABA. I can not say enough about it. We
have had a lot of therapists and they have been great.
I do know why your consultant explained about the crying. There are
some parents who can not sit by and let their little ones cry. After about
2-4 months of ABA they give up or the agency just lets them go. She
probably wanted to let you know up front that your child may cry and if
you can tolerate it. It took a while but I have learned to implement alot
of ABA techniques within my parenting. Good luck.
I think the therapists should make Friends with your child First,Then they can start therapy, and yes your child will cry ,most likely because he wont like to change his behaviour ,or his routine.
My son just wanted to stim all day,he did cry, but he also got better.
He is Only TWO ,If I were you I would stay in the room at first ,Don't be bullied by the ABA workers, this is your child ,Insist on only play for the first few Visits,If Your child is Afraid of the worker,how can they be affective.
God bless,Linda
Alot of ASD kids don't like demands placed on them. The general protocol is that when a child does a task they are rewarded it takes a bit for the realization to kick in and even for them to being willing to cooperate. But, it is important that they get as much tolerance to demands when they are young... life is demands.
For example - going to the grocery store. You get in your car and drive there, following the rules of the road (demand). You park, head towards the shopping carts - there is an old lady taking one out, you need to wait (demand). You assume proper shopping behaviour - quietly selecting food, keeping to one side of the aisle with your cart, not taking things from another's cart (all social demands). You get in line for the register (demand), you make the casual exchange of plesantries with the cashier (demand), you pay (demand), you drive home (demand), you bing the bags in and put them away (demand)...
OTs, PTs and ST will avoid 'rocking the boat' - meaning they wil not do anything to directly challenge a child with asd. In ABA, they have to , or else they would not get responses from our kids - they'd just sit there happily doing their own thing. Also, parents rarely intrude on their children and impose demands - which are the best thing for kids with asd. Parents prefer to give in because it is easier than to deal with their child's excessive behaviours, which can sometimes be embarassing for the parents. My dd Rozie tries to withdraw when given an adult directed task and my ds Ozzie tries to control and is noncompliant when given a an adult directed task.
It si important that parents support the therapy method and follow through with the teaching methods. Parents are their child's best teachers. If you opt not to follow through, your child will most likely keep being resistant and act out when the therapists place demands (which will exhaust him too), and he will not improve as much as children whose parents are actively involved in their child's therapy.
Well said! You need ABA! It is the best and sometimes only way to get through to our kids.My son is supposed to start an ABA program soon and we just met with the autism coordinator for an initial assessment. She really rubbed me the wrong way and I'm feeling a bit unsure about continuing with this program. One thing that bothered me is that she said when my son starts the program, he will probably cry a lot for the first 3 weeks or so to the point that if I am not watching I will wonder what the heck they are doing to him. Is this normal with ABA? I really don't want to put him through this if it isn't necessary.Having your son get
Sarah never cried or tantrumed at all..mute and quiet..it was when demands were made on her in ABA that the crying, screaming started...I was warned too and it was heartwrenching but once I learned that she was so adverse to change and demands and they had to break that down so to speak it made sense. Our therapists followed her around for a week or so and brought a bag of reinforcers to motivate her...and when the demands started the tantrums started..It got worse before it got better unfortunately...I would be right there and sometimes I would go to bedroom and cry myself...she overcame the demands without crying so trust them to do their job..it is harder on you than your child and once this gets overcome then the real learning can take place:) Best of luck! I hope he does really well and enjoys it...my child was very stubborn at first..dont give up!
Yes....this is VERY common. Up until now your little one probably controlled how his life was for the most part. Now someone will be introducing change etc and that doesn't sit well with our little ones.