Lecture 17: ABA & Developmental Disabilities Flashcards
ABA
- Aims to understand people’s behaviours
- Findings mainly used to help children & adults who have difficulty with learning and/or complex problem behaviour
- Does believe in thoughts, feelings and emotions
- For people to live their great life
- Punishment is not first form of intervention
Philosophy
- Radical behaviourism = dominant philosophy
- First described by Skinner (1953)
- Don’t need to understand behaviour to have behaviour change
- Advocates a natural science approach to understanding & changing behaviour
- Assumes all behaviour is function of ontogenic & phylogenic variables
Ontogenic variables
History of events involved in development of an individual
Phylogenic variables
History of events involved in evolution of a species etc.
Dimensions of ABA (part 1)
1) Applied = behaviour which is socially significant
= important to individual & society
2) Behavioural = study involve precise & reliable measurement of actual behaviour in need of improvement
= should document that it was subkect’s behaviour that changed
- Deficits (adaptive behaviours)
- Excesses (too much of behaviour)
3) Analytic = study should demonstrate intervention caused a behaviour change
Dimensions of ABA (part 2)
4) Technological = study should describe procedures with sufficient detail
5) Conceptually systematic = employ procedures related to findings from research into principles of learning
6) Effective = improves behaviour sufficiently to produce valuable practical results for individual
7) Generality
Differences between ABA and some traditional approaches to psychology
- Focus on defined observable behaviours
- Goal: strive to improve the behaviour
- Methods: uses single-subject designs to demonstrate functional control in individuals
Terminology
- Person first vs. identity first = “a person with autism” vs. disability is part of them e.g. ‘autistic’
- Medical models vs. social model = something wrong with you vs. changing env., find what they need
Terminology
- Person first vs. identity first = “a person with autism” vs. disability is part of them e.g. ‘autistic’
- Medical models vs. social model = something wrong with you vs. changing env., find what they need
- Person-centred = for whatever we do, harder to clients who can’t talk, work out how people communicate
- Strengths based vs. deficit focused = people have alot to give to society
What is ID?
- Intellectual disability (NZ)
- Learning Disability (UK)
- Can not tell just from physical features
- Cerebal Palsy & autism = may or may not have an ID
- DSM-5 = based on IQ testing before age of 18
- Prevalence = 0.3%-2.5%
= about 50% of MR population are mild MR
= male more
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Autism first described by Dr. Leo Kanner in 1943
- Asperger disorder = Hans Asperger observed similar sumptoms with no language or adaptive skill deficits (autistic behaviours without dev. delay)
- Autism = genetic factor
= neurological disorder (how pathways formed & pruned) - Asperger & autism now grouped into ASD = DSM5
Prevalence of ASD
- Autism = 2-60/10,000 = larger male to female ratio - Rett's = 1-3.8/10,000 to 15,000 = predominantly female - Asperger's = not rare
When choosing interventions
- Whether helpful or unhelpful
- Treatments for ASD which have little/no evidence e.g. diet
Comprehensive Early Interventions
- Must address core deficits around autism = communication, interaction, repetitive/restricted patterns of behaviour/activities thats not helpful/bad for them
- Other excesses & deficits e.g. attention deficits, eating problems, motor development
= need to address as well - Shown to be effective in removing deficits & excesses, clinical & social gains
= variability in findings due to: child characteristics, quality & quantity of intervention
