Two recent experiences got me thinking once again about the relationship between scientific terminology and parenting.

Experience 1: At the beginning of an initial consultation, I recommended that at least one of the parents conduct some of the 1:1 therapy for at least the first six months. The parents were hesitant and stated they didn’t want their child to see them as teachers who put lots of demands on him. They just wanted to “be the parent.”

Experience 2: I attended a follow up consultation with a child who has a brother and sister. When the child and team went to the therapy room to practice a few programs, the brother and sister came rushing in afterwards. The mom laughed and said that the brother and sister don’t think it’s fair that her other son receives so much attention and gets to have so much fun with the instructors. They want to participate too.

I just finished attending the 34th annual ABA convention, this year held in Chicago. 3394 participants from 23 countries presented research and discussed issues, all of which were open for critique by other behavior analysts. Just a few of the various topics for discussion included: marriage and divorce, economics, workplace environments, bullying at school, and interventions for children with autism. Perhaps the most enlightening talk I heard was from Dr. Per Holth of Norway who demonstrated how behavioral descriptions of joint attention are helping develop and refine effective strategies for teaching these critical skills to children with autism.

In my last post, I referred to some amazing feats of children (such as learning to talk) as “another step in the ongoing chain of more complex behavior.” I’m well aware that some people are offended by such descriptions. This is unfortunate. Behavioral language is not meant to diminish the accomplishments of humanity any more than scientific language diminishes the incredible beauty of the universe. Every behavioral consultant I have ever known has had tears come to their eyes on at least one occasion after witnessing a child learn something new, do something others would have once thought impossible. When this has happened to me, I am also fully aware that it is precisely because of the objective language of behavior that procedures were developed which made the incredible accomplishment for which I am about to cry, quite possible.

I’m interested in any moments others would like to share that they have been able to celebrate because of the use of behavioral treatment.

By Vince LaMarca, BCABA, Editor
Lovaas Institute - Indianapolis

I have lost count of the number of times that I have worked with a child who showed inconsistent abilities with a skill who quickly became consistent once behavioral treatment was started. At the age of 5, one girl I taught had a very limited vocabulary. She had made minimum progress on all of her speech goals because she wouldn’t consistently repeat any words. At the age of 4, one girl I worked with had made no progress at school in her ability to string beads. And at the age of 3, one boy I worked with used only 3 vocal approximations to request and typically did not repeat any other words.

By Vince LaMarca, BCABA, Editor
Lovaas Institute - Indianapolis

Teaching social skills to children with autism is an area of behavioral treatment that is continuously evolving, perhaps more than any other area. The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis alone frequently includes articles discussing the teaching of interactive play skills, the development of creativity and spontaneity, and the development of conversational skills. These articles are now free to the public on the website, http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jaba/. (Begin with a "full-text search" or go directly to the "Table of Contents" section).

While the social skills programs at the Lovaas Institute are both numerous and complex it may prove helpful to become familiar with some general basic steps.

By Mariko Okano, M.A., BCABA
Lovaas Institute - Los Angeles

Research conducted as part of the UCLA Young Autism Project (Lovaas, 1987) focused on treatment for "younger" children under the age of 4 years. Treatment for children with autism often lasts longer than a few years, and oftentimes programming and intervention goals change as the children grow older. How can we teach and prepare older children to be successful in school, home, and community settings?

By Vince LaMarca, BCABA, Editor
Lovaas Institute - Indianapolis

As explained on our website, the Lovaas Model of Applied Behavior Analysis provides two general types of treatment: clinic-based services and consultation services. In either service, a thoroughly trained senior staff member is assigned to a family as their consultant/supervisor. While a consultant provides expertise in behavior therapy, parents also play a crucial role in the development of a behavioral treatment program.

Parents are the ones who know their child best. We need to access that knowledge and be familiar with a family's daily routines in order to provide the best behavioral treatment program. Programming is not meant to become a checklist of skills to complete. Such a mindset is why critics will protest that behavioral treatment isn't functional. These critics would be right, if it weren't for the many parents and consultants who, from the beginning, make treatment relevant to their particular family and child's life.

By Vince LaMarca, BCABA, Editor
Lovaas Institute - Indianapolis

After reading examples in our newsletter about generalizing skills in the natural environment or the use of incidental teaching, some might start to wonder, "Isn't this a lot like other kinds of therapy: like Floor Time or speech therapy or just good teaching in general?" The simple answer is, "yes." Practically speaking, some of the suggestions we make will be the same kinds of suggestions other treatments make. However, the reasons we make the suggestions may differ from the reasons other treatments give. While this may seem like a minor difference, these reasons can also change the amount of time devoted to or emphasis placed on specific suggestions. The extent to which different treatments employ similar and different procedures in their practical application would make for an interesting research article. For now, all we know is that of all the treatments for children with autism, behavioral treatment has undergone the most rigorous research. Go to The Lovaas Difference for a comparison of different treatment strategies, based on information gathered from the main websites of particular treatments and the National Research Council's Educating Children with Autism.

By Vince LaMarca, BCABA, Editor
Lovaas Institute - Indianapolis

As more and more research is conducted, support for behavioral treatment only grows stronger. In the past two years, two replication studies from independent authors have bolstered the Lovaas Model of Applied Behavior Analysis in particular. Bibliographical information and a quote from each abstract are included below.

Sallows, Glen O. & Graupner, Tamlynn D. (2005). Intensive Behavioral Treatment for Children with Autism: Four-Year Outcome and Predictors. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 110 (6), 417-438.

"We found that 48% of all children showed rapid learning, achieved average posttreatment scores, and at age 7, were succeeding in regular education classrooms. These results are consistent with those reported by Lovaas and colleagues (Lovaas, 1987; McEachin, Smith, & Lovaas, 1993)."

Cohen, Howard, Amerine-Dickens, Mila, Smith, Tristram. (2006). Early Intensive Behavioral Treatment: Replication of the UCLA Model in a Community Setting. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 27 (2), 145-155.

"Children in behavioral treatment scored significantly higher in IQ and adaptive behavior scores than the comparison group. Further, 29% (6 of 21) children were fully included in regular education without assistance and another 52% (11 of 21) were included with support. This compares to only 5% (1 of 21) children in the control group who were placed in regular education."