Hello! I'm new but grew up with a Asperger's friend.

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Hi all! I've been lurking for a few days, reading back posts and such, and am utterly amazed by people's likes and dislikes in home, school, work, people, etc. My name is Shelley, and I am a ABA therepist that has had some past experience with Asperger's as well. My best friend had Asperger's, but was not diagnosed until she was 18 or 19. She used to love playing "guy games" (basically pretending with toy action figures) and rocking in her rocking chair. She was also blind.

I just started working as an ABA therepist at a school in St. Louis. I've noticed there are a lot of St. Louis people here, who I am eager to chat with if they wish to chat. The two kids I work with are lower-functioning autistics, but wonderful kids. They are both twins, but also Fraternal (3% chance of them both being autistic I think) and have about the same functioning level. However they are EXTREMELY different in their behaviors - one with cry, jump, scream, kick, headbutt, and try to escape to favorite spots or things. The other is very very very calm, only biting his shirt and pounding his chest (not too hard though) when frustrated. They both love music and are always humming. Always. They also have the a bad case of sibling rivalry- like one can't forgive the other for also being autistic!
They both are considered nonverbal but both can answer questions when asked (or prodded), such as Me-"What do you want? I want a...." kid-"break please"

What I would love to know, from people here who were considered "mid to lower-functioning autistic" (but obviously have one heck of a talent for expressing thought online!) as to what you absolutely HATED done to you to get you to respond to people (such as being prodded to say "hi mr.lindal" back to mr. lindal when he told you hi)
What would you want a ABA therepist to do to get you to do something (think of answers that you, being 6-8 yrs old, would want)?
What do you think benefited you the most while in school?
What got you to learn how to talk/type online from being nonverbal?
Who helped you the most in your life and why?

Thanks for any help and i'm glad to meet everyone!

Hi Cacille,
There are a few people here that I'm aware of who have experience with ABA. However, they are not always on, so it might take a while to get your questions answered.

-Sean

hi, cacille, and welcome to WP.

Hey Cacille. I'm not low-functioning or anything anymore, but I know I'd definately not like getting touched in order to respond or anything. The only thing I can think of I would like if I were 8 or so, would be presents, ie a treat! I'd always loved presents/treats, and always got angry when they got given out, which is weird, really, since I like them so much. "They got more than me" heh. On second thoughts, might not be such a good idea if they've got sibling rivalry

hi, cacille, and welcome to WP.

aspies rock.....................

Of course they are, why wouldnt they be. "A guy I know is skinny, but a wonderful guy"... Sorry I just dont get it.

But its kool that you wanna work with kids and stuff. I guess it would be okay to just treat them as normal kids, and not ever yell at them. (I got yelled at all through 2nd grade, very traumatic) But you're not a teacher are you?

Welcome. I'm AS, but I guess I can answer your questions. Maybe that will help at least a little bit.

* I hate formal greetings. One teacher I know makes us say "Hello, Mr. W. My name is Namiko." (I did not use the teacher's real name and used my WP nickname instead of my real name.) I always tense up and feel sick when I have to give a formal greeting to people, and I don't think it's any better because we have to make eye contact when we do so.

* I think just the teachers knowing about AS and them trying to accomodate helped the most.

* I don't talk very much in real life, except to my family and close friends. I can talk, but sometimes go into a withdrawl mode when tired or upset for some reason or another. With them (only a few actually understand me...) I use a combination of ASL (American Sign Language) and made-up signs to communicate my point.

* My parents and the teachers who understood about AS but didn't hold me back because of it.

I hope this helps a little bit, even though I am not "mid to lower-functioning autistic". Let me know if you want more clarification on what I said because I'm a little incoherent right now.

I wish I had a system like that in place for when I completely crashed a couple weeks ago. My parents thought I was just being an incredible jerk because I hardly said anything.

Hi, Cacille. I have Aspergers but I was also an ABA Therapist for over a year with a little autty boy (he's just turned four and is in special ed at the local public school). I'm also one of the posters who lives in St. Louis. Feel free to PM me if you like.

The main thing I would recommend, since I know the ABA system fairly well, is to be creative. I don't know if this is a good recommendation because ABA can be very strict. But improvisation and using something that the kids enjoy as reward is excellent. Which is part of behavioral therapy of course.

But I have been quite disappointed in ABA in part because it's a system which relies on the individual teacher being a good teacher and having the ability to build an excellent rapport with the student.

Also, do not treat the children as though they are "autistic" and different from yourself. Getting down to their level and even just playing with them is a great way to get them to be more productive during the "work time". Plus, many good teachers can make the most boring of work fun through creative methods. ABA should be no different.

Example: the little guy I taught, after awhile, developed an incredible affinity for using the dry erase board and drawing (he was actually drawing faces at age 2.5) and I went with this because he was quite obsessed with it. So many times I would bring the cards (the omenous cards which he had to name, oi) up to the board and intersperse the work with giving him back the marker to draw a little bit, and then taking it away to do a couple more cards.

In addition, ABA requires multiple things to be intermixed, like different exercises but every other one and in fast succession. I can tell you now, I would hate this even today. Multitasking is not my strong point and I learn better if I have a greater focus on one thing in particular. However, the problem therein lies in that you need to have a balance in going along with the ABA system and doing what actually might be better suited for the kid (or kids in your case).

And that I can't answer for you on how to do that or to what degree. I, myself, am a skeptic of ABA and believe one of it's weaknesses is that it's contingent on having a good teacher or not.

When was ABA started as a therapy? Is it a recent development or has it been about in some form for quite some time?

ABA is Behavioral Therapy. Applied Behavioral Analysis. Behavioral Therapy is very different from "Come, sit down, tell me what's troubling you" therapy. Just altering behavior with positive and negative rewards. And sometimes punishment, but most professionals and other professional organizations/programs don't endource the punishment part to my knowdledge nor use it due to ethical reasons.

But it's still considered therapy. Similar to how Physicial Therapy is called "therapy".

Oh, I know that it is a different type of therapy to the 'talking cure' stuff that goes on. My query was about when they started using it? Is it a recent innovation - say since the 1980's - or has it been going on for longer?

Oh, hehe. I think it was around the 70s after that researcher found that so many hours a week or more correlates with great improvements in the behavior and learning of autistic children, etc.

I think it's grown in popularity in recent years especially. But that's only a guess.