Meet Erin, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) at Achieve Beyond who wants to talk about Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Therapy with you!
With presenter: Erin Ficara MA, LBA, BCBA
Transcription:
ABA Therapy is important because our goal is, we’re trying to reduce really challenging behaviors and we’re trying to increase and replace it with communication skills, social skills, reducing rigidity, making that resistance to change, just making them a little more flexible with those things.
And what we’re trying to accomplish with ABA Therapy is to successfully decrease those behaviors, increase those other behaviors that we want to see more of and make them really successful in their families, with peers, in school, at their grandma’s house, and all of those different places, so that they can integrate and be in society, be functional and be happy.
The most inspiring part of my job is when you’re trying to teach something and you’re trying really hard and you’re working on this one specific skill and then you just see the lightbulb goes off, and then the kid gets it. And you’re just like, oh my God, this is amazing, here’s everything. I’m crying, hug me. Here’s your iPad, fabulous, so happy. And then we get to tell the parents and they’re so happy, and it’s just a really great day when that lightbulb goes off and they just get it. And you’re just like, ah, I love my job.
So, one of the ways I personally have seen ABA impacting my client, was at our social skills groups. She comes regularly and her social skills have improved, immensely. And actually, her birthday is coming up at the end of the month and she’s inviting one of her peers that she met at the social skills group to her birthday party. Their moms are friends now because their kids don’t really have any friends. So, it was really special to them that their daughters came home and asked if she can invite her friend to her birthday party, which was just a really uplifting moment.
