Editorial
Front Page - Friday, September 4, 2009
Autism Behavior Services serving area children and families
David Laprad
A tight hug around your neck. A twinkle in your child’s eyes as he looks at you. A brief exchange of words:
“Do you know mommy loves you?”
“Yes.”
“Do you love mommy?”
“Yes.”
These are simple pleasures you might be enjoying as the parent of a young child. They’re also moments parents with autistic children are frequently denied, as many people with autism have trouble with verbal and non-verbal communication, social interaction and play.
Autism, a neurological disorder that impacts the development of a person’s social interaction and communication skills, is no small problem, either. According to the Centers for Disease Control Prevention, it affects an estimated one in 150 births, which means as many as 1.5 million Americans are believed to have some form of the disorder. And the numbers are on the rise, says the Autism Society of America, which believes the prevalence of autism could reach 4 million Americans within the next 10 years.
There was a time when there was no hope for autistic children or adults. Patients were placed in institutions, where they lived out their days among the mentally disabled. Today, things are different, due in large part to a range of successful treatments, the most common of which is applied behavior analysis.
And there was a time, not too long ago, when treatment options in Chattanooga were limited. That, too, has changed, due in no small part to Autism Behavior Services, a non-profit organization that provides a range of applied behavior analysis services to young people with learning or behavioral difficulties.
Jenni Hampton, co-director of ABS, says the organization is the only one in Chattanooga doing one-on-one services using applied behavior analysis; elsewhere in the city, autistic children are integrated into classrooms. “Children with autism aren’t always ready for a classroom setting,” she says. “We prefer they have some basic skills with which to work first.”
The staff at ABS, which also includes co-director Laura Forkum-Berryhill and a number of interns from UTC, uses the principle of positive reinforcement to strengthen desired behaviors. “We teach that, if you want the ball, you’re going to have to ask for it in some fashion, whether it’s through sign language, pictures or just making a sound,” says Hampton.
On the other side of a glass window behind Hampton, in a large room designed to look like a play area, several little hands shoot up into the air as the children interact with one of the interns working at ABS.
“What we do looks like play,” Hampton says. “Just like any other child, autistic children learn through play. So we use what children will enjoy, even though we’re challenging them to work. We use bubbles, balloons and balls to teach them to ask for something.”
This means the methodologies ABS uses are a far cry from what most people think of as applied behavior analysis. To many, applied behavior analysis has more in common with the approach UCLA professor Ivan Lovaas developed in the ‘60s. Trials at that time involved lengthy sessions sitting at a table in which analysts would try to teach a child to respond to simple prompts. When the young person responded appropriately, the analyst would praise him or give him a toy.
While the skills of many autistic children improved as a result of the treatment, applied behavior analysis got a bad rap early on in the wake of an infamous 1965 Life magazine article that revealed the use of “aversives,” in which analysts would yell at and strike autistic children in response to undesired behavior. In addition, many children came out of applied behavior analysis acting “somewhat robotic,” says Hampton.
Just as detrimental to the reputation of applied behavior analysis was the general lack of accreditation in the field. While Tennessee is among the many states that do not require behavior analyst practitioners to be accredited, accreditation is available through the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. Both Hampton and Forkum-Berryhill have earned BACB credentials, in addition to master’s degrees.
But do their methodologies work? The testimonials on their Web site, at www.autismbehaviorservices.org, suggest they do. But neither Hampton nor Forkum-Berryhill will claim to be a miracle worker.
“There’s never an instant change,” says Forkum-Berryhill. “We did have a little boy with no functional language come to us in July. He’d been in speech therapy for several months before that, and they hadn’t gotten any language out of him. Within two weeks of being with us, he was talking.”
When a child doesn’t respond to a particular methodology, Hampton and Forkum-Berryhill assess the situation and change their approach. “Each child learns differently, so we simply adjust our teaching methods,” Forkum-Berryhill says.
“If the child isn’t learning, there’s something we’re not doing,” says Hampton. “So we’ll develop another plan.”
ABS works with children ages 2 to 12, although Hampton says the earlier in life a child comes to them, the better his chances of success.
“I have a friend who’s graduated from med school and is planning on becoming a pediatrician,” Hampton says. “I told him not to brush off any parent that comes to him with a 2-year-old that isn’t speaking.”
Early diagnosis is critical, says Hampton. She advises any parent with a child of this age who isn’t speaking, or is using just one or two words at a time, to have his child checked for autism. Other warning signs include a lack of eye contact, limited social interaction and arranging blocks in a line instead of building with them. Every child is different, however, so the symptoms are not always the same or as severe.
“Autism is a spectrum order, so some kids can carry on a conversation, while others can make eye contact but not talk,” Forkum-Berryhill says.
Children can be diagnosed as early as 16 months, so Forkum-Berryhill recommends parents be proactive. “It lies in your pediatrician’s hands, and a lot of them are taking a wait-and-see approach,” says Forkum-Berryhill. “But six months is a long time for a child with autism. He could be making huge gains instead of waiting.”
While treatment can be costly, TennCare will pay for the services ABS provides for children under 3, removing the financial obstacle to treatment many parents face.
As Hampton and Forkum-Berryhill talk, a group of children sing a chorus of “If You’re Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands” in another part of their office complex on Cummings Highway. Hampton smiles and says working with autism is more than a job to her.
“I feel like I’ve found my niche; this is what I was put on Earth to do,” she says. “My husband makes fun of me because even my leisure time reading includes something in the field of autism or behavior. I’ll sit down and read the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis on a Friday night.”
Hampton’s commitment, as well as that of the rest of the staff at ABS, can only ensure more parents in Chattanooga will be able to enjoy the neck hugs, eye twinkles and I-love-you’s they desire from their
children.
|
|