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  ANNA CHUNG
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  • About Anna
  • Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention (EIBI)
  • Contact
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    Anna Chung, M.ED (ABA)
    ​BCBA

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What are the four functions of behaviour?

6/30/2021

 
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Challenging behaviour often occurs because the child is unable to communicate their wants and needs for attention, medical care, preference for items/activities, dislike for people or activities, need for assistance or how sensory stimuli are affecting them. Behaviours that are repeated will have a function. 
 
Identifying the function of a behaviour means investigating why that behaviour is occurring. 
 
There are 4 main functions of behaviour, or reasons why behaviour might be occurring. They are:​
  • To get something (access to tangibles)
  • To avoid something (escape)
  • To get attention
  • Because it feels good (sensory/automatic)
 
To get something (access to tangibles)
Children may engage in challenging behaviour in order to get access to an item or activity. It may be anything they want, like a favourite toy or snack.
 
To avoid something (escape)
Any behaviour that enables the child to leave an unwanted task, environment or a person. Some examples include walking or leaning away, or it may occur after you place a demand and ask them to do something.
 
Access to attention
Any behaviour that results in the child interacting with the other person. It may look like walking towards a person, talking to the person and even looking at the person.
 
Because it feels good (sensory stimulation)
Any movement or action that pleases one’s own senses. It may feel good such as scratching an itch. Some signs to look for include occurrence across lots of different situations and even when the child is alone.


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The role that eye contact plays in early development

6/24/2021

 
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Eye Contact is one of the most rudimentary modes of communication (Mirenda, Donnellan & Yoder, 1983). It is sometimes referred to as eye gaze or eye to face gaze. It serves as an important social function for young children even before vocal responding begins to develop (Stern, 1985). 

In early development, eye contact serves to regulate face-to-face social interaction and contributes to the way that we communicate in social interactions ( Tiegerman & Primavera, 1984). The lack of eye contact in early development could potentially hamper a wide range of social learning. Therefore it is important for carers to promote eye contact at an early stage.

Throughout development, eye contact coordinates with other behaviours to communicate increasingly complex meanings. Infants learn to look where another person is looking because that is where interesting stimuli are (Triesch et al., 2006). 
There are different types of eye contact and they all contribute to the way children develop.
Dyadic eye gaze is when one individual looks at the other person and triadic eye gaze is when both of you are looking at a shared object or third party. Both of these eye gazes are fundamental to communication. A deficit in these areas may be early indicators to ASD and/or developmental delay (Baron-Cohen, Allen & Gillberg, 1992; Wimpory, Hobson, Williams & Nash, 2000; Woods & Wetherby, 2003).


Greer and Ross (2007) and Lovaas (1977) found that poor eye contact may adversely affect the educational gains of children due to the relationship between eye contact and attending to the teacher and instructional demands. This is because eye contact occurs very early in development and serves many functions for the young child to communicate with their carers, their teachers, their peers and their surroundings. It has also been implicated in the development of social, cognitive and language skills. Therefore, it is important for carers to promote eye contact at an early age.
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 References

  Baron-Cohen, S., Allen, J., & Gillberg, C. (1992). Can autism be detected at 18 months? The needle, the haystack, and the CHAT. British Journal of Psychiatry, 161(6), 839–843. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.161.6.839
 
  Greer, R. D., & Ross, D. E. (2008). Verbal behavior analysis : inducing and expanding new verbal capabilities in children with language delays . Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.
 
  Lovaas, O. I. (1977). The autistic child: language development through behavior modification. Irvington Publishers : distributed by Halsted Press.
 
  Mirenda, P. L., Donnellan, A. M., & Yoder, D. E. (1983). Gaze behavior: A new look at an old problem. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 13(4), 397–409. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531588
 
  Stern, D. N. (1985). The Interpersonal World of the Infant: A View from Psychoanalysis and Developmental Psychology (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429482137
 
   Tiegerman, E., & Primavera, L. H. (1984). Imitating the autistic child: Facilitating communicative gaze behavior. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 14(1), 27–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02408553
 
  Triesch, J., Teuscher, C., Deák, G. O., & Carlson, E. (2006). Gaze following: why (not) learn it? Developmental Science, 9(2), 125–147.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2006.00470.x
 
   Wetherby, A. M., & Woods, J. J. (2006). Early Social Interaction Project for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders Beginning in the Second Year of Life: A Preliminary Study. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 26(2), 67–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/02711214060260020201
 
   Wimpory, D. C., Hobson, R. P., Williams, J. M. G., & Nash, S. (2000). Are Infants with Autism Socially Engaged? A Study of Recent Retrospective Parental Reports. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30(6), 525–536. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:100568320943
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What is Autism Spectrum Disorder & What is ABA?

6/1/2021

 
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Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) exhibits characteristics of impaired social behaviour, communication and language, including a limited range of interest and activities that are unique to the individual and which may be repetitive (World Health Organisation [WHO], 2021). Due to the variability and symptom presentation, the ASD diagnosis will present and impact on families in different ways.
 
What is Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)?

Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) is the science and principles derived to understand, change and apply to behaviour. It is an approach used to teach socially significant behaviours.
 
Dr Ivar Lovass conducted the first study in 1987 at the University of California in Los Angeles on the use of ABA techniques with children diagnosed with autism. Virues-Ortega (2010) reported that long term, comprehensive ABA intervention leads to large effects in intellectual functioning, language development, acquisition of daily living skills and social functioning in children with autism.

 
Maurice, Green and Foxx (2001) describe the core features that an ABA intervention program should share:
  1. Treatment may begin at an early age
  2. Intervention is intensive (20-40) weekly hours
  3. Intervention is individualised targeting a wide range of skills
  4. Involves multiple behaviour analytic procedures
  5. Treatment is delivered in a one-to-one format with a transition to group activities and natural contexts
  6. Treatment goals are guided by normal developmental sequence
  7. Parents are trained to become active co-therapist
Types of Intervention

The specific type of ABA intervention used may depend on your child’s age, areas of challenge, and other factors.


Early intensive behavioural intervention (EIBI) is often recommended for children younger than five. It involves an intensive, individualised curriculum designed to teach communication, social interaction, and functional and adaptive skills.

Discrete Trial Training aims to teach skills through structured task completion and rewards.

​Natural Environment Training Strategy complements DTT training. It ensures the skills learned can be demonstrated in everyday situations such as play time or group activities.
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​References

    Lovaas, O. I. (1987). Behavioral treatment and normal educational and intellectual functioning in young autistic children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55(1), 3–9. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-006X.55.1.3

   Maurice, C., Green, G., & Foxx, R. M. (2001). Making a difference : behavioral intervention for autism . Pro-Ed.
 
    Virués-Ortega, J. (2010). Applied behavior analytic intervention for autism in early childhood: Meta-analysis, meta-regression and dose–response meta-analysis of multiple outcomes. Clinical Psychology Review, 30(4), 387–399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.01.008 

​   World Health Organization. (2021, June 1). "Autism Spectrum Disorders." Retrieved from  https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/autism-spectrum-disorders


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