ABA therapy....for ADHD?

lovelyboy

Member
Hi all....my little boy was in mainstream schooling...He was repeating grade RR, but because of a huge back operation 2 months ago and nerve damage, he needs to have a catheter full time, so the school said they dont want to take the risk to keep him in school! He has been diagnosed with ADHD and has been using Stratera for 2 weeks now. He has SI and auditory processing issues, so we were considering ABA therapy or some kind of remedial therapy....I met with an ABA therapist yesterday, but I'm not sure this is the way to go!? I dont think this line of treatment will address the underlying neurological issues...they focus so much on the behaviour, but seems to underplay the role of the neurological, sensory system exct. We are now also considering getting him a remedial teacher who will be doing homeschooling one hour a day with him....Maybe better option....with Speech and Occupational Therapist (OT) add on? Any thoughts on this? Thanx
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
ABA therapy is often used for kids on the autism spectrum.
Maybe I just don't remember... but your boy has a list of dxes but not Aspie/Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)?

Keep in mind that ADHD is "spectrumish"... as in, it's just a line in the sand of definitions, between "ADHD" and "Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)". They share some of the same family of traits, with ADHD generally not being as severe or complex. Executive function, organization, motor skills, sensory integration/processing, speech, auditory processing, etc. etc. etc.

So... Given that your son has a number of separate challenges that are related to Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)... and that ABA therapy is often used for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) kids... maybe it isn't such a strange fit after all?

With the medical challenges, it might be a good opportunity to jump on every applicable form of therapy (without overloading his circuits...) - Occupational Therapist (OT), Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), ABA, and whatever else works.
 
We have had very postive expereinces using ABA with my daughter who has many adhd traits. You do not have to exclude the neurological orgins. ABA has been very helpful at breaking tasks down, providing structure and the immediate reinforcement that is often effective/necessary with those with focus difficulties. I have also had luck with synthesizng a number of approaches/interventions.
 
Aba is applied behavioral analysis. I know they have a website. I will look for it and post the link. One aspect I really like is the "coaching". They often do it in the community. my daughter's ABA therapist met her at the grocery store and helped her with that skill.
 
This is from the ABA certification board. There are links to the left for consumers, about ABA, etc. That is great that he has Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) diagnosis because insurance will pay for it. They would not for my daughter as she does not have autism spectrum diagnosis but exhibits many of the traits and ABA has helped her the most.

About applied behavioral analysis:http://www.bacb.com/index.php?page=2
 

svengandhi

Well-Known Member
ABA is a great therapy. My daughter has studied a bit of it in her ed classes and I am hoping she'll go on and get a certificate in it because she is good with special kids. In your case, ABA might help and if the system in South Africa is willing to give it to you, go for it - it's not that easy to get here in the states, I'm not sure if by neurological, you mean psychological or physical issues but ABA can't hurt a child.
 
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