I've been seeing a lot of searches and getting a lot of questions lately about combining ABA and Floortime, or at least approaching ABA from more of a play-based perspective. In addition to pointing you to this post by Melissa Willa, I thought I'd share a little video of one of Isaac's ABA sessions so you can see what play-based ABA looks like in practice. This one involves a consult, so there are two therapists involved, but you get the idea. This is part of our IEP, for those of you involved in that lovely process.
Here's my guy, having a great time playing "airplane." Please leave any questions in the comment box and Melissa or I will answer to the best of our ability.
Look at him. What a star. I love the naturalness and playfulness and JOY in his therapy.
Reminds me of the hours of playing we did with Miss M.
In the great scheme of things, I think that if my kid has to have therapy, this is the best possible kind to have.
Fun stuff.
P.S. Cute little bugger!
Posted by: drama mama | October 13, 2007 at 09:13 AM
Susan, this is another perfectly timed tid bit! Now that we've got Nik out of school and are exploring different options specifically for autism education (besides the PT/OT/Speech) this is intriguing. I wonder how I would find someone in my area that practices this integrated approach; I think straight (100%)ABA isn't right for Nik at this time but see the value in some of it.
Posted by: Niksmom | October 14, 2007 at 09:04 AM
Ooo my his verbal response time is so swift, so appropriate, what a joy. What a good sharer you are. No problems with pretend time around your neck of the woods!
This is not meant as a criticism [perish the thought!] but I'm sure that there must be other parents out there who have the same 'problem.' What do do with the other autistic or non autistic sibling? Which child do you 'therapize' first and let the other one spin his/her wheels?
Well done you [all]
Posted by: Maddy | October 14, 2007 at 08:51 PM
Since Susan brought up the lovely IEP process . . . Just want to remind all you moms in San Francisco who *might* be transitioning your ASD child to K this year, there is an SFUSD enrollment Fair on Oct. 27. Special Ed is doing a special workshop on the pre-K to K transition and I will be there along with some other inclusion advocates (accept nothing less!). So please come & bring your questions.
Posted by: Rachel Norton | October 16, 2007 at 10:29 PM