Integrating ABA Therapy Into Your Child’s Daily Routine
Autism is treated by Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy. In general, ABA therapy sessions are arranged in clinical settings. A child with autism has therapy sessions with ABA occupational therapist to assist him in adapting better behavioral practices. If your child has been diagnosed with autism and if you also bring your child for ABA therapy sessions, then this blog is really helpful to you.
You might wonder, like many other parents, if you can arrange therapy sessions at home. Today, we will explain useful ways of integrating ABA therapy into your child’s daily routine. We will explore how such practices can benefit your child’s learning experience and improve overall results. So, let’s dig in!
Top 4 Ways of Integrating ABA Therapy Into Your Child’s Daily Routine
Home is your child’s comfort zone, and you can conduct ABA therapy practices at home efficiently. The best individualistic approach is to consult your child’s therapist and get a customized daily activities plan. The therapist will help you design a routine for your child that includes different daily practices helping in specific challenges and social skills in children’s lives
The top 5 ways of integrating ABA therapy into your child’s daily routine are listed below. Keep your child’s consultant in contact and ensure these practices help execute the process smoothly.
1. Define the Objective Clearly
Before starting any activity, clearly define the ultimate goal you want to achieve. Make it simple and achievable for unlocking potential in your child. It could be as simple as letting your child use a spoon independently during meals.
2. Divide Tasks into Manageable Chunks
Don’t force your child to learn all at once. Let the little learner complete a task slowly.
- For example, in the case of learning to tie the shoe laces, do not explain the whole process at once.
- Start by doing the complete process yourself, and let your child pull the laces to tighten after the last knot.
- Slowly, you can reduce your involvement and let your child handle the process.Teach While Playing
A child retains the lesson learned in play based activities longer than the lesson explained verbally by parents. Play with your child and incorporate different skill development activities while playing with them. Teach them new skills by involving their toys and let them enjoy the process.
3. Use Attractive Visuals
Make fancy cards for your child to help them learn new skills in an enjoyable manner. Children love creative learning activities instead of traditional methods. Design cards for them and incorporate visuals while teaching them different tasks. This approach will help them more in communication skills and encourage them to take similar actions.
4. Celebrate Little Wins
Use positive reinforcement and encourage every little effort of your child. Consistent reinforcement helps motivate and encourage the child. Give your child regular feedback and praise them for every activity they complete successfully. You can give them some of their favorite snacks to keep them motivated.
Benefits of Integrating ABA Therapy Into Your Child’s Daily Routine
Integrating ABA therapy into your child’s daily routine is highly beneficial. Home is a comfortable environment, and involvement after family training can enhance learning and generalization of sensory skills. Here are the top benefits of doing ABA therapy at home:
Discipline
Regular practices help maintain a consistent routine. This helps in effective learning and contributes well towards behavior change.
Comfort
Children who are uncomfortable with outsiders and stressed about visiting the therapist regularly enjoy home-based learning. Staying at home in front of the parents is more comforting for the little human. Your children will learn better in a less stressful mood, and you will notice great results.
Parental Involvement
When you, as a parent, stay more active in learning and executing the practices for your child, it helps you to help your child better in their sensory processing. You can discuss with the therapist to know more about the process and how to create the best possible environment for your child to learn and improve efficiently.
FAQs
How do we use ABA in everyday life?
This is a very common question in ABA therapy. There are different tasks that we perform in everyday life that can be linked with ABA therapy practices. You can start by understanding nonverbal or facial communication and advance it to the next level, such as managing short tasks like eating with a spoon, tying shoelaces, etc.
How do you do ABA therapy at home?
You can do ABA therapy at home by starting with a verbal demonstration and building connections, then slowly progressing to different tasks. Teach your child to maintain eye contact, identify colors, and learn different emotions and household things.
How many times a week should you do ABA?
A child with autism should get 2-5 hours of comprehensive services per day. The hours can vary, but it’s better to stick with the recommended team services range for better results. If you can’t take out an equal number of hours every day, ensure that you conduct 10-40 hours of ABA therapy per week.
How do I incorporate ABA in my classroom?
There are many interesting teaching pedagogies that you can practice in your classroom to incorporate ABA while teaching. You can start by incorporating visuals while teaching and creative classroom activities.
Conclusion
Integrating ABA therapy into your child’s daily routine is one of the effective management methods for children with ASD. It’s carried out by expert therapists in clinical settings but can also be conducted at home after caregiver training. Follow this guide and start conducting the therapy at home.
Ensure to set clear objectives, set achievable goals, teach your child while playing, use attractive visuals, and apply positive reinforcement techniques to boost your child’s confidence. These activities will let you help your child learn better and faster.
Conducting the therapy at home offers a comfortable space for your child where he can learn regularly. Parental involvement enables you to understand the process at a deeper level so you can help your child in the best way possible for them. You can learn about integrating ABA therapy into your child’s daily routine by consulting an ABA therapist.
References
- Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) – Autism Speaks
- Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for Children With Autism – CHOP
- 14 ABA Resources You Need to Know About – Therapy Brands
- Comprehensive ABA-based interventions in the therapy – NCBI
- The Controversy Around ABA – Child Mind Institute
- A popular list of Autism & ABA curricula and assessment-motivity
- ABA: An Evidence-Based therapy for Autism – NECC
- Contact Us – Schedule Consultation
