In-School ABA Therapy

 

Some ASD students may require additional assistance during their school years which Abacus can provide through individualised in-school ABA programs. The goal of these programs is to provide one-on-one ‘bottom-up’ style teaching; removing the distractions of a classroom environment. The program content is a mix of proactive and reactive teaching – proactive being groundwork for topics coming up in the classroom, and reactive typically being areas targeted in the student’s Individual Learning Plan.  

Abacus is flexible in the provision of in-school ABA programs that are positive for both the student and the school. One scenario is to provide a one hour ABA session per day with the therapy being done by school aides trained in ABA therapy. This training is provided at Abacus Learning Centre in Hastings, and covers positive behaviour teaching and closed framework teaching, known as DTT (discrete trial teaching).  Aides are also taught prompting methods relative to skills, which are able to be faded out. It is ideal for more than one aide to be trained for each student. These sessions maximise what we believe is the student’s potential as well as the classroom aide’s potential.

A one hour initial consultation (can also be the student’s PSG) is held for each student at the school.  At this meeting Abacus staff meet with parents, teachers and relevant assistant/s at the school, to set initial goals for the student’s individual program.  Additional consultation meetings  are held once each in Terms 1, 2 and 3 to review each student’s program, set new goals and develop teaching methods for goals. Ongoing support is provided in fortnightly visits from an Abacus Case Manager.  These visits (approx. 1 hour per student) involve observation of the one-on-one session, for the purpose of maintaining progress. If needed, this visit can also be used for observation and advice on social and playground issues. The Case Manager visits are a fundamental part of a school program and also ensure ongoing ABA training for the aide.

The expectation of the school is to facilitate the ABA training for the aides, as well as timetabling ABA sessions into each student’s school week, and ensuring aides and students are available for fortnightly Case manager visits.  Parents are expected to attend the initial and ongoing meetings at the school each term, and may be given skill areas to focus on at home.

Another scenario is Abacus providing ABA therapists to implement therapy at school. These sessions run for 2-3 hours twice a week in a one-on-one environment.  In this case, initial and ongoing consultation meetings are held at Abacus Learning Centre. A Case Manager liaises with the student’s teacher and school regarding their ILP and classroom curriculum, for individual programming purposes.  The student’s teacher and/or aide are welcome to attend these meetings at Abacus.

Further information, enrolment forms and costs for our in-school services are available upon request.

 

SCHOOL SUPPORT

Our Clinical Team can provide a support service to assist schools to understand the unique behaviours and needs of a child with ASD therefore opening up the opportunity for a more beneficial education for the student and a more harmonious class situation. This service involves observation of the student at school, and a follow up report setting out functional and effective recommendations for long term success in the classroom.

Further information and enrolment forms for in-school ABA programs and services are available upon request. 

 

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1:1 therapy for Foundation - Year 10 students