Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) therapy is an evidence-based and best practice treatment for children with developmental delays.
“It is very effective if we can start the therapy when children are younger than four years,” says Asha Susan Mani, Autism and Behavioural Consultant, Austin Centre for Rehabilitation. “However, older children can also benefit from this therapy,” she adds.
It is very effective if we can start the therapy when children are younger than four years. However, older children can also benefit from this therapy.
“It helps to develop new skills, shape the previously learned skills, and decrease the problem behaviours in children. These skills are taught through observation and reinforcing positive behaviours. ABA therapy services must be done under the supervision of a certified behaviour analyst,” she explains.
“It is very important to get help from experts if your child is not developing age-appropriate skills or if they are regressing. Early intervention not only helps the child to develop the skills at early years, it also helps the child in the long run. Sometimes, children lose the early intervention period without much progression just by going to a service provider who doesn’t have any supervision framework in place.
“Once you start with therapies, parents should get themselves trained as well so that they can teach the child and reinforce the positive behaviours at home and other settings. Involvement of parents in the therapy programme helps the child to generalise the skills he/she has learnt in the therapy settings. Parents should also learn to capture the teachable moments and help their child to build more appropriate social skills,” she suggests.
“At Austin Center, we make sure the services provided are child-centred and parents are always part of the team. This is the key behind all our success stories. Transparency and strong data collection allow the parents to track their child’s programme, while supervision by our experts ensure faster results.
“We offer a unique and comprehensive treatment approach where goals of ABA, speech and occupational therapy are collaborated, tracked and monitored. Our children are successfully mainstreamed into top schools. School visits and the collaboration with the Special Educational Needs (SEN) departments of the respective schools help us to check how kids from our centre perform in the school environment,” says Mani.
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