While the name may sound ominous, discrete trial teaching is actually the backbone of successful ABA Therapy. While for many parents the name implies an experimental or controversial method, it is actually a common teaching method that simply breaks a goal down into simple, repeatable steps. Discrete trials use a system of repetition and reinforcement to teach children basic steps, all of which are a part of something bigger.
A discrete trial takes something as simple as getting dressed and breaks it into very small steps. For example, the first lesson would likely pertain solely to taking a shirt from the correct drawer. The child would be told to do this and shown how. Each day less prompting would be offered with the same result expected. Data collection sheets, an integral part of ABA Therapy, would have different reinforcements for different responses. For example, a large amount of praise or a special reward would be offered for taking the shirt without prompting. Taking the shirt with prompting would result in small praise or a small reward, while opening the wrong drawer would garner a prompt to try again. Refusal to act or an inappropriate response would be ignored and the request would be repeated.
While to most children these tasks would seem menial and would likely garner no results, for children with ASD they are crucial in helping to teach basic skills. ABA Therapy uses these simple, repetitive tasks to teach fundamental concepts that open the gateway to learning for the rest of a childís life. These simple tasks are proven to be a highly successful means of teaching appropriate behaviors as well as everyday routines and concepts. The discrete trial is truly an innovative way of teaching children that for years were believed incapable of learning.
With the invention of ABA Therapy, Autism as we know it changed forever. Children that were once seen as incapable are now better understood and parents are offered a way to give their children the lives they deserve. ABA Training allows children the ability to live up to their maximum potential and gives them a chance to truly shine. By teaching them how to interact and to thrive in social and academic environments, ABA Therapy has provided children a new lease on life. It is through remarkable treatments like discrete trials that these children have been given a chance to learn in standard classrooms and to learn at a level that often makes them virtually indistinguishable from their peers.
Christy Butch is the Mother of a 6 year old with autism and the founder of Maximum Potential Group. http://www.maximumpotentialkids.com & http://www.abatrainingcourse.com
Tags: ABA Therapy, Applied Behavior Analysis, autism, autistic, developmental disability
