You shouldn't have to squint: Progressive ABA in the school setting
"You shouldn't have to squint to see progress" said a parent during the panel at the 2022 annual
Autism Partnership Foundation conference. This resonated with me deeply. I completely agree with this statement. As I reflect on my teaching style, beliefs, expectations, and implementation as a new teacher in 2006, I know my students made progress, but how much did I have to squint to see it? How much did the parents squint? At the time, the TEACCH method was the go-to for an autism-specific classroom. Every student had a visual/tangible schedule, and rotations consisted of language arts, math, art, sensory activities, independent work, discrete trials teaching (DTT), calendar/music, and play. This proved to be an easy system to set up and organize. The students fell in line and learned the routine of the days. Individual skill progress was relatively slow, but some progress, as required by law, was made. Did the progress generalize to any location outside of the structure of my classroom? Rarely.
My expectations and my own skill level were low. My mentor was highly trained and very effective in employing the current method. I was fortunate to learn from the best. If I reflect, I think I believed it was all that was possible-progress-limited to the highly structured setting. I, like many others may not know any better. A well-run classroom employing this model was definitely better for students than a lax class employing the same method. I continued on this path until I was introduced, through intensive training and guidance, to a flexible approach that was "obsessively systematic." This approach resulted in an increased rate of acquisition for my students and greater generalization of skills. Independence, not limited to one 15-minute center per day. While it appears very nice and delivered in a neat package, it is not realistic and does not serve any meaningful purpose. Post-training, independence was a skill that I worked on with my students every minute of every day. It was not simply through experiences of the day and exposure to new various stimuli. It was "obsessively systematic"--I was teaching independence skills. Goals written to independence vs goals written with prompting in place while adhering to some arbitrary prompting continuum.
What I learned is that there were components of this model that were valuable. I kept those and added what is now referred to as a progressive approach to ABA. Having done that, my students' rate of acquisition improved dramatically for most, and definitely for all. DTT was no longer a center either but rather an approach that was intensively implemented all day individually and within group instruction. I learned to appropriately prompt, which by the way, is widely misunderstood. I learned about bribery vs. reinforcement and how closely the two are related, but also how dangerous it can be to misunderstand. In the field, we often hear, "repeated practice." Another misunderstood component. Repeated practice occurs not only over time but more critically, in the moment and coupled with prompt fading. This is when learning occurs.
So, when this parent said, "You shouldn't have to squint to see progress," they meant it. Progress ought to be visible in the moment. In many cases, it is evident and not something we need to wait for. The rate of progress will undoubtedly vary across individuals, generalization will vary too, and each student's potential will vary as well, but progress will be made nevertheless and should be evident. Practice overtime is still necessary but the clarity of what and how to practice is revealed. During times when progress is not occurring, we know we can figure it out, make adjustments, and teach something more efficiently that can result in a meaningful outcome. I encourage teachers and ABA therapists to consider how much squinting you do, your staff has to do, and families must do to see meaningful progress.
Working with students who have delays requires that intervention be as efficient as possible. There is not time to waste. Quality of life depends on it. For additional information or training opportunities please reach out to Practical Solutions for behavior and instruction LLC. Mention this post for a no-cost training session.
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