Why isn’t my child making progress in ABA therapy?
There is a phrase you will commonly hear among ABA practitioners: “The learner is always right.” This means that any lack of progress is not the fault of the learner (your child), it is an issue with the instruction or the environment. These potential issues include:
Inadequate Staff Training: The staff working with your child was not sufficiently trained in ABA procedures before being assigned to your child.
Procedural Issues: The staff working with your child is not given feedback when procedures are implemented incorrectly or procedure instructions are not clear.
Incorrect Target Behaviors / Goals: Your child’s goals are not appropriate to their current skill level or are not socially significant.
Lack of Maintenance and Generalization: Your child has met goals on paper during therapy but the skills are not translating to other environments such as home or school.
Lack Rapport / Trust: Your child does not have a good relationship with their therapist and doesn’t trust them.
Insufficient Hours: Your child is not receiving enough therapy hours to address all the skills needed to see progress.
Inadequate Caregiver Involvement: For various reasons, you and the BCBA are not engaging in frequent communication or parent training sessions.
Medical Issues and/or Lack of knowledge needed to support co-morbid diagnosis: Either medical issues themselves are impeding progress or your ABA provider is not knowledgable about your child’s co-morbid diagnoses and how these can affect learning.
Lack of care coordination: Your ABA provider is not collaborating with the pediatrician, speech language pathologist, occupational therapist, teacher, or other providers.
Compliance Focused / Non-Compassionate Therapy : Your therapist is placing too many demands, not incorporating your child’s interests, not responding to your child’s signals, and therefore your child shuts down during therapy.
ABA can be effective and help your child succeed in the right circumstances. ABA Patient Advocacy can empower you with the knowledge you need to navigate your child’s therapy. Don't go it alone. Let us be your partner in your child's care. Contact us today to learn more about how our patient advocacy services can benefit your family.
