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5 Fort Myers ABA Therapy Techniques
Behavior therapy – specifically, applied behavioral analysis, begins with understanding the science of behavior. At our Fort Myers ABA therapy clinics, we use this understanding to employ specific strategies proven to help children with autism and other conditions achieve their goals – ultimately allowing them to gain greater independence and engage more fully with the world around them and people in it.
As explained by the American Psychological Association, ABA therapy is an evidence-based practice, meaning it’s supported by peer-reviewed literature. It identifies the motivation behind the behavior before addressing it with one or more proven strategies.
Each Fort Myers ABA therapy plan of care must reflect what reinforcements are most effective with that specific child, with clear goals we want to see them meet within a set time frame. Our ABA therapy team then works with kids one-on-one with them – day after day, week after week, and month after month, and sometimes year after year. We want to see them thriving in all environments – from home to school to play dates to community events – to the fullest extent of their capabilities.
Most all strategies involve some use of the ABC’s of behavior. That is, we study the Antecedent, then the Behavior itself, then the Consequence. By studying each element, we can determine what is the motive or what’s being communicated by that behavior – and then change either the antecedent or the consequence with the goal of altering the behavior.
Top Fort Myers ABA Therapy Techniques
5 Ways Play Builds Child Development
Our Fort Myers occupational therapists often refer to play as the occupation of children. It may look on the surface as if all we do at our clinic is have fun. (And we DO have TONS of fun here!) But what we’re really doing is bolstering child development through play, which has proven to be the most effective way to teach children critical life skills in early intervention.
Study after study has proven time and again that children learn best through play – when it’s fun!
“There’s a reason our pediatric therapists never approach a session with a child saying, ‘Ok, let’s go do some therapy,'” explained FOCUS Therapy Owner/Founder Jennifer Voltz-Ronco. “No, we say, ‘Let’s go play!’ Because we know that creating a fun, safe, upbeat environment is going to make them want to participate, want to take the next step, want to learn the new skill. Ultimately, that’s where we make the most gains. Those are the lessons that are going to stick.”
Here, we offer some basics on how child development is promoted by simple activities that involve play.
FOCUS offers pediatric speech therapy in Fort Myers and throughout Southwest Florida. Call (239) 313.5049 or Contact Us online.
Additional Resources:
Play in Early Childhood: The Role of Play in Any Setting, Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University
More Blog Entries:
FOCUS Therapy Hires Therapists Who Genuinely Care, March 3, 2022, FOCUS Therapy Fort Myers Blog
Fort Myers Speech Therapy for Preemies With Speech & Language Delays
Preterm babies, often called “preemies,” are at higher risk of speech and language delays as they develop, compared to babies born full-term. Approximately 1 in 10 babies in the U.S. is born too early, according to the March of Dimes. Our Fort Myers speech therapy team strongly recommends that parents of babies born prior to 37 weeks gestation keep a close eye on every developmental milestone, and seek early intervention therapies to assist where delays are noted.
“We’re so lucky to be living in an age where medical advancements provide even babies born extremely preterm with a good shot at survival,” said FOCUS Therapy Owner/Founder Jennifer Voltz-Ronco. “Although many preemies go on to develop normally, many do benefit from extra help – particularly in the form of early intervention speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and feeding/swallowing therapy.”
A 2018 study published in the journal Medicine revealed babies born preterm tend to have smaller vocabular at age 3 compared to their full-term peers. They also develop gestures, words, and language understanding at a slower rate than full-term babies. This gap in language skills can expand and continue through childhood, particularly if it’s not treated.
Brain research development shows us time and again that language learning begins at birth, with the window between 6 and 24 months being a golden opportunity to maximize the brain’s neuroplasticity and support development of early communication skills.
Many babies born prematurely benefit from these therapies up to age 5 (sometimes beyond), with early intervention reducing the struggles they will face as they get older. As time goes on, the delays become less noticeable, with many preemies going on to engage in academics, arts, and athletics at the same level as their peers. Many of our preemie patients later succeed to the point you would never know they were born early unless they told you.
6 Signs Your Baby Might Need Physical Therapy or Occupational Therapy
Are you concerned your baby isn’t meeting their developmental milestones for sitting, standing, walking, and balance? It’s important to discuss your concerns with a pediatrician, as they may need a referral for physical therapy and/or occupational therapy.
There are many conditions for which an infant, toddler, or young child may benefit from physical or occupational therapy. What’s important is early intervention. The sooner your child can “catch up” to their same age peers, the fewer challenges they’ll struggle with down the road.
Our pediatric physical therapy and occupational therapy teams help children with both gross motor skills and fine motor skills. If you suspect your child *might* need these interventions, it’s best not to wait and see. Talk to your child’s pediatrician to obtain a referral for a full evaluation, which will provide insight into whether your child is behind developmentally and may benefit from physical and/or occupational therapies.
FOCUS offers physical and occupational therapy to kids in Fort Myers and throughout Southwest Florida. Call (239) 313.5049 or Contact Us online.
Additional Resources:
Infant Physical Therapy: What You Need to Know, Therapy & Wellness Connection
More Blog Entries:
At What Age Should My Child Start Speech Therapy? April 5, 2022, FOCUS Therapy Blog
Understanding ABA Therapy
Understanding ABA therapy is critical for anyone whose child has been recently diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD.
As our Fort Myers ABA therapy team can explain, ABA is short for “applied behavioral analysis,” and it involves utilizing the science of behavior to help children with autism in producing socially significant improvements in behavior. We apply proven behavioral science principles to increase or decrease targeted behaviors, with the ultimate goal of bringing about meaningful change to the child.
We work to identify behaviors that are observable and measurable, and then use empirically-validated, research-based strategies to help them make strides in overcoming challenging behaviors and increasing those that are helpful in daily life. We also teach and and help them practice critical life skills, such as social communication, emotional regulation, sensory integration, and executive functioning.
At FOCUS Therapy, we have two Fort Myers clinics where we provide both ADOS testing and ABA therapy for children in Southwest Florida.
FOCUS offers pediatric ABA therapy in Fort Myers and throughout Southwest Florida. Call (239) 313.5049 or Contact Us online.
Additional Resources:
What is Applied Behavior Analysis? June 23, 2021, Medically Reviewed by Jabeen Begum, WebMD
More Blog Entries:
Top 4 Benefits of In-Clinic ABA Therapy, April 4, 2022, Fort Myers ABA Therapy Blog
Why FOCUS Asks Parents to Stay in the Waiting Room During Evals, Sessions
FOCUS Therapy in Fort Myers conducts a range of in-depth evaluations for children who have been referred for speech, occupational, physical, or ABA therapies as well as ADOS testing. During our evaluations and therapy sessions, we rarely allow families to directly participate – but we have evidence-based reasons for our position.
During evaluations, we want to ensure every child receives an assessment that is as accurate as possible because that is what is going to allow us to:
- Determine whether the child needs therapy.
- Calculate the frequency/level of therapy that might be recommended.
- Make a strong case to the relevant insurer(s) about the medical necessity of the therapy.
Parents, when present in the room during FOCUS evaluations, can unwittingly stand in the way of those goals. Why? Mainly because children rely on their caregivers when things get tough – to help them, to comfort them, to make it better. When a child is struggling in a certain area, such as communication or independence with self-care skills, our clinicians need to independently observe the particulars.
Parent input is a key aspect of our evaluations, but we need to see for ourselves, too. Jennifer Voltz-Ronco, MS-CCC/SLP and FOCUS Therapy Owner/Founder, explained that when a child is accompanied by a parent during the direct observation portion of the assessment, parents often interfere without intending to do so or even realizing it.
“For example, in speech evaluations, parents might talk to the child or give clues to help their child ‘get the right answer’,” Voltz-Ronco explained. “We might ask the child to point to an object out of an array of 3-4 items by saying, ‘Show me the cup.’ Standardized testing requires that we be very specific in how we present these items – and with the requirement that we wait. And while we wait, we’re looking to see how long it takes them to process the directive and what they do. Will they look at us to see if we’re looking at the object? Will they point to it or make a face if they’re unsure? They might associate a cup to mealtime and instead point to a cookie. If the child looks to our face to get a clue, that would indicate social awareness and joint attention – key pre-linguistic communication skills. If there is a delay in their response, there may be an auditory processing issue. If they grab the first thing in reach, they may have impulsivity issues. Watching a child while they’re thinking tells us so much. But parents in the room might think the evaluator presumes the child doesn’t know the answer, so they interject. They say to the child, ‘You know what a cup is, like the blue sippie cup you have at home.’ Unfortunately, what that does is give the child numerous opportunities to hear the word, ‘cup,’ and in many standardized tests, we aren’t allowed to repeat the word or give a description or synonym. So with that, we lose the opportunity to see what we needed to see, and must in turn score the response incorrectly – which impacts the overall results.”
She went on to explain that often the key responses FOCUS therapists are looking for aren’t necessarily what an untrained observer may presume.
What’s more, some children can become what we call “prompt dependent.” That means the child looks to the parent to prompt them (to take an action, answer a question, etc.) – even if they don’t necessarily need the prompt. Many of our team members are parents ourselves, so we wholeheartedly understand how difficult it is to wait for your child to “do it themselves.” It is actually instinctual to intervene when we see or sense our child needs help. But during these evaluations, this intervention – however slight – can actually prove more of a hindrance when what we’re seeking are accurate results.
We DO Want Parents Involved in Their Child’s Therapy Journey
Although it is important for parents to remain outside the room during evaluations, this does not mean we lack transparency or that we don’t want parents involved at all in the therapy process. In fact, we get the best results from therapy when parents are fully engaged!
But we discourage direct engagement during the evaluation process and therapy sessions because we want to ensure our findings are accurate and that your child gets the true level of support they need.
While we want parents to be involved in consultation, goal-setting, education, and carryover, we strongly advise parents against sitting in during therapy sessions for the following reasons:
Top 4 Benefits of In-Clinic ABA Therapy
There’s more than one way to do ABA. Also known as Applied Behavior Analysis or behavior therapy, ABA therapy involves the study of behavior and the use of positive reinforcements to fade out unexpected/unhelpful behaviors and promote expected/helpful behaviors.
At FOCUS Therapy, we’re strong proponents of in-clinic ABA. There are many reasons for this, but it really boils down to the fact that: It works.
In fact, as we reported previously on our blog, a study published by the National Institute of Health revealed that when controlling for individual differences by analyzing the progress of the same kids but in different settings, those who received ABA therapy in-clinic demonstrated far higher rates of learning during treatment compared to in-home therapy services. The kids who received ABA therapy in-clinic mastered 100 percent more skills per hour than those who received home-based treatments.
Contact us online or by calling (239) 313-5049. FOCUS offers ABA therapy to kids at two clinics in Fort Myers, Florida.
Speech Therapy – by The Numbers
Although many parents are concerned when their child’s communication indicates a possible speech-language delay or disorder, the reality is speech therapy is one of the most common services available for young kids.
Sometimes, speech therapy helps resolve problems with articulation (how words are said). Other times, it helps with more complex neurological social-communication conditions like autism spectrum disorder. Lots of kids may also struggle with feeding/swallowing and voice issues.
With early intervention, many of these kids go on to thrive – and you would never know they had a deficit at all!
Contact us online or by calling (239) 313-5049. FOCUS offers pediatric therapy in Fort Myers and throughout Southwest Florida.
Additional Resources:
Be Tech Wise With a Toddler, American Speech-Language Hearing Association
At What Age Should My Child Start Speech Therapy?
Most parents know the thrill of hearing a child say, “mama” and “dada” for the first time. Then comes the adorable baby talk. But what if your child isn’t saying words by the time they’re 1 year old? What if they’re still mispronouncing lots of basic words by age 5? At what point do you decide a speech therapy consultation might be in order?
The first thing to bear in mind is that kids develop at all different paces. So the fact that your child is behind a bit isn’t necessarily cause for alarm. That said, it never hurts to have your child evaluated if you aren’t sure. FOCUS Therapy in Fort Myers offers free initial consultations to help parents determine if a more extensive evaluation is necessary. Evidence has shown time-and-again that “wait-and-see” is an ineffective approach when it comes to children with speech-language disorders or delays. The reason is the longer kids go without early intervention, the more developmental skills they must catch up on. Plus, the older they are, the harder it is to unlearn bad habits and adopt new ones because neuropathways have less plasticity as we age.
“If there is reason to be concerned when your child is 18-months-old, there is no reason to wait until they’re 3 or 5 to have them evaluated,” explained FOCUS Therapy Owner/Founder Jennifer Voltz-Ronco, MS/CCC-SLP. “The earlier we can diagnose a speech-language disorder or delay, the less impact it is going to have on your child’s development, academic achievements, and social/emotional well-being.”
Speech delays can have a number of causes, including oral impairment (problems with the tongue or palate), oral-motor problems, hearing issues, or a neurological condition like autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although we treat children of all ages, we do recommend initiating assessments as early as possible, ideally as soon as you notice an issue.
Steps to Take if You’re Concerned Your Child Might Need Speech Therapy
If you think there’s a possibility your child might need speech therapy services, consider the following steps:
FOCUS Therapy Hires Therapists Who Genuinely Care
At FOCUS Therapy, we care that are therapists are skilled and knowledgeable about what they do – but also, that they genuinely care.
Pediatric speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and ABA therapy – these are not fields you enter because they are easy or yield automatic results. They require therapists, children, and parents collaborating – day after day, week after week, month after month, and sometimes year after year – committed to helping kids develop key skills that will help them move, communicate, engage, and thrive. Achieving independence takes effort and commitment and patience – and therapists who truly care about these kids and their families.
FOCUS Therapy actively seeks to hire the kind of pediatric therapists whose love for their work and helping children shines in everything they do. It’s that passion and enthusiasm that not only make every session feel like “play time,” but help these kids reach their goals. And ultimately – that’s what it’s all about! We don’t want anything holding them back in life.
FOCUS offers pediatric speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and ABA therapy at two clinics in Fort Myers. We also offer teletherapy services to children throughout Florida. Call (239) 313.5049 or Contact Us online.