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The beginning of a new school year can bring excitement, new opportunities, and new routines. But for some children with autism and other developmental disabilities, it can also bring significant challenges.
ABA therapy for school challenges can help children develop communication, coping, social, and independence skills that may make navigating the school day easier. A new teacher, different classroom, changing expectations, unfamiliar peers, and less predictable routines can all create situations in which a child needs additional support.
A new teacher. A different classroom. Changes in expectations. Longer school days. New peers. More difficult assignments. Less predictable routines.
Parents may begin hearing things like:
- “He refuses to start his work.”
- “She is having a hard time transitioning.”
- “He keeps leaving the classroom.”
- “She becomes upset when the schedule changes.”
- “He is having difficulty interacting with peers.”
- “She holds it together at school and falls apart when she gets home.”
When these challenges begin interfering with a child’s ability to function successfully across their day, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) may be able to help.
ABA Is About More Than Reducing Behavior
One of the biggest misconceptions about ABA therapy is that its primary purpose is to stop challenging behavior.
High-quality ABA should focus on something much bigger: helping individuals develop meaningful skills that increase independence and improve quality of life.
A behavior analyst looks beyond what a behavior looks like and asks important questions:
Why is this happening? What skill might be missing? What does this child need to be more successful?
For example, a child who refuses to begin a difficult activity may need to learn how to appropriately request help or ask for a break.
A child who becomes upset when plans change may need explicit instruction in flexibility and coping skills.
A child who repeatedly interrupts peers may need support learning how to enter a conversation, wait for an appropriate opportunity to speak, or recognize social cues.
Instead of simply focusing on eliminating a behavior, ABA can help identify and teach the skills a child needs in its place.
School Challenges Can Affect the Entire Family
Difficulties during the school day rarely stay at school.
Parents may notice increased emotional reactions after school, difficulty completing evening routines, resistance to homework, sleep changes, sibling conflict, or anxiety about returning to school the following morning.
This is one reason collaboration is so important.
At Evner Behavior Services, we believe meaningful progress happens when the people supporting a child work together. Depending on the child’s individual treatment needs and authorized services, this may include collaboration among caregivers, teachers, therapists, behavior analysts, and other members of the child’s treatment team.
The goal isn’t to make every environment identical. It is to help the child develop skills that can be used across environments and with different people.
What Skills Can ABA Therapy for School Challenges Address?
Every treatment plan should be individualized. There is no universal set of ABA goals that is appropriate for every child.
Depending on the individual’s needs, ABA treatment may address skills such as:
- Functional communication
- Requesting help or a break
- Coping with frustration
- Tolerating changes in routines
- Transitioning between activities
- Following everyday directions
- Increasing independence with daily routines
- Self-advocacy
- Emotional regulation
- Waiting and tolerating delayed access
- Social communication
- Reciprocal conversation
- Recognizing social cues
- Developing appropriate peer interactions
- Safety skills
- Reducing behaviors that interfere with daily functioning
Most importantly, goals should be meaningful to the individual and their family.
Success isn’t simply having fewer behaviors on a graph. Success may look like a child independently saying, “I need help,” instead of becoming overwhelmed. It may mean completing a morning routine with less assistance, tolerating an unexpected change, participating in a family outing, or successfully interacting with another child.
Those changes can have a significant impact on everyday life.
When Should Parents Consider ABA Therapy for School Challenges?
If you are beginning to receive frequent communication from your child’s school about behavioral concerns, don’t wait until the situation reaches a crisis point.
Start gathering information.
Ask when the behavior tends to occur, what happens immediately before it, how adults respond, whether there are particular activities or environments associated with it, and what strategies have already been attempted.
It is also important to remember that behavior is communication.
A child who runs away from an activity, cries, refuses, becomes aggressive, shuts down, or repeatedly says “no” may be communicating something they do not yet have the skills to express effectively.
Understanding the reason behind the behavior allows us to move from simply reacting to it toward teaching a more effective way for the child to communicate and cope.
ABA Support Doesn’t Have to Stop at the Clinic Door
Children don’t live their lives in therapy rooms.
They live at home. They attend school. They visit grocery stores and restaurants. They go to parks, birthday parties, sporting events, and community activities.
For skills to truly improve quality of life, children need opportunities to use them where life actually happens.
That is why Evner Behavior Services provides individualized ABA services across home, school, and community settings when clinically appropriate and authorized.
Our goal is not simply to help a child succeed during a therapy session. We want to help build skills that support greater independence in everyday life.
Evner Behavior Services provides individualized Applied Behavior Analysis services to children, adolescents, and adults throughout Duval, St. Johns, and Clay Counties.
Our team works with families to identify meaningful areas of need and develop individualized treatment recommendations based on each person’s strengths, challenges, environment, and goals.
Whether your family is navigating challenging behavior, communication difficulties, independence, social skills, daily living skills, or a difficult transition into a new school year, you do not have to figure out the next step alone.
Interested in ABA Services?
If you are wondering whether ABA therapy may be appropriate for your child or family member, contact Evner Behavior Services to learn more about our services and current availability.
Evner Behavior Services
Building skills for greater independence at home, at school, and in the community.
Families can also find information about autism and developmental disabilities through the CDC’s Autism Spectrum Disorder resources.
This article is intended for educational purposes and does not constitute medical advice. ABA services and treatment recommendations should be individualized based on clinical assessment, medical necessity, and applicable payer requirements.
