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Services
Currently all services are
provided at the client’s home, therefore the client must
live within 30 minutes of Naperville, IL.
Relationship Development Intervention (RDI®)
Often times typical social skills trainings (i.e., scripts,
turn-taking, etc.) for children with ASD are unsuccessful
and unnatural. This is because until recently these
approaches have relied primarily on behaviorism approaches
to teach socialization.
Dr. Steven Gutstein created RDI by redefining what Autism
is. Symptoms are often listed when describing an individual
with ASD (i.e., only uses language to request, does not play
with others, etc.), however, in RDI the core deficits of
Autism are examined (i.e., lack of emotion sharing,
appraisal, self-awareness, etc.). As a result, the focus of
this intervention is not treating the symptoms, instead it
focuses on remediating those deficits. The RDI stages are
based upon the development of typical children as they learn
to become active social beings.
The RDI philosophy is also that the family should be the
central unit in the remediation process. Therefore, there
are extensive parent trainings that are conducted prior to
any assessments or training with the child.
Behavior
Modification
For specific behaviors that need to be addressed (i.e.,
frequent tantrums, physical injury, etc.) the child would
need to be observed for an hour to an hour and a half during
the time that the behavior typically occurs. After
hypothesizing about what the antecedent could be, then a
meeting with
the consultant and the parents would be held to determine
the next course of action.
Behavior modification is typically designed to be a
temporary intervention to decrease the frequency of a target
behavior. The family is ultimately given suggestions on what
to do for proactive and retroactive strategies to extinguish
the behavior. Meetings with the consultant are usually
established on an as needed basis.
Applied
Behavior Analysis (ABA)
ABA operates under the framework that if a behavior is
reinforced it will increase, however if it is negatively
reinforced or ignored, it will extinguish. A behavior is
defined as an action or reaction of a person in response to
a stimuli, which includes learning behaviors.
A successful ABA program should be comprehensive by
incorporating discrete trial, visual systems, communication,
and generalization. ABA has proven to be effective in
assisting children in skills that are static (non-changing).
Therefore the focus of these programs are typically
adaptive/self-help skills, following commands, basic
cognitive skills, motor skills, etc.
In order to begin an ABA program, an assessment must be
conducted to assess the child’s strengths and weaknesses,
and any additional concerns that the parent may have. Then a
program is created, unique to that child’s needs.
The consultant from Autism Service Provider and Beyond will
conduct the assessment, create the program, train the
therapists, and provide ongoing supervision. However, it is
the family’s responsibility to attain and hire all
therapists for ABA. It is recommended to post flyers at
local universities and colleges and to post an ad on
www.abaconnections.com
Early
Intervention (EI)
All children under the age of three are eligible for a
screening and a possible global evaluation to determine
their developmental domains through the early intervention
system.
EI is state regulated and can provide services such as
developmental therapy, occupational therapy, speech/language
therapy, physical therapy, psychological services, group
therapy, social work, and nutritional needs. All services,
however, are determined by each child’s needs and
eligibility as determined by their Individualized Family
Service Plan (IFSP) team.
In order to gain EI services, the parent must first contact
the Child and Family Connections (CFC) office that
corresponds to their county. If you are located in the
DuPage area, the phone number is (630) 493-0400, otherwise
please refer to the website to look up further information
at
www.state.il.us/agency/dhs/earlyint/earlyint.html
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