There are many types of therapy that can help children with ASD or other developmental diagnoses. From occupational therapy to speech therapy, and physical therapy to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Achievement Balance is constantly striving to meet the needs of the children and families in the DFW community.
If you don’t know all the differences, benefits, and steps to speech, occupational, and physical therapy, that’s okay – that’s why we’re here to help you understand the services, therapies, and resources available through ABC.
But before we dive into these different therapies, let’s review ABA, which is what all of our services revolve around.
- ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) is one of the most effective ways to teach children with special needs.
- ABA is used to teach a wide variety of skills, including requesting, play skills, academic skills, independent and functional living skills, and social skills.
- Through ABA practices, we are able to learn about behavior, what fuels it, and create a program tailored to your child and family’s needs.
- ABA allows our therapists to set goals and strategies that pertain to the goals of your child, not a one-size-fits-all program.
So, what is Applied Behavior Analysis? It is a therapy style tasked with observing, understanding, and learning behavior in order to modify it according to the individual’s needs and goals. But ABA can be used in conjunction with many other therapies, which is exactly what we’ll be talking about today.
Learn more about ABA at Autismspeaks.org
ABA Speech Therapy
Why Does ABA Speech Therapy Matter?
Achievement Balance provides ABA Speech and Language Therapy to many of our children who struggle with clear speech or effective communication skills. Strong communication is extremely important to successful growth in society as well as academia – therefore, we put great emphasis on speech therapy as a fundamental process for all of the children at our facility.
Our ABA Speech Therapy Process
The goals and needs in ABA Speech Therapy are determined through the preliminary information given by the family. Next, a formal assessment will be performed with the child to supplement the information already given. Later, our clinicians will observe the child in various situations that require differing levels of communications and language skills over several days. After all three layers of information has been gathered, our therapists and the parents will create a strategy that fits the goals, strengths, and areas of improvement for the child.
As the child progresses through the ABC ABA Speech program, we will provide feedback to the parents as well as ask for feedback from them about the progress in their home. With our open dialogue and feedback, we are able to adjust the therapy and strategy as needed to best help the child’s communication and speech improvement.
ABA Speech Therapy Areas & Types:
- Receptive Language
- Expressive Language
- Pragmatic (Social) Language
- Articulation/Speech Sound Production
- Augmentative Communication, including the use of sign language and pictures
- Literacy, including phonemic awareness, reading and reading comprehension
- Hearing Impairment
- Dysfluency (Stuttering)
- Voice
ABA Physical Therapy
Why Does ABA Physical Therapy Matter?
Our ABA Physical Therapists are most concerned with helping each and every ABC child reach their full physical developmental potential and realizing their full gross motor abilities to improve their quality of life, their freedom, and their independence. Our team works collaboratively to apply therapeutic principles throughout their day for maximum results, all the while encouraging, teaching, and playing.
ABA Physical Therapy at ABC is structured to enhance a child’s movement in their home, school, or other natural environments. Our therapists will work with your family to provide support in gross motor development, motor planning, and visual motor skills. These areas can include the improvement of muscle tone, strength, and development, range of movement, quality of movement, hand-eye coordination, attention to tasks, or sensory integration.
Our ABA Physical Therapy Process
We begin our process by looking at the quality of your child’s movements like their speed and gait, correcting their gait deviations, balance and coordination skills, as well as their overall endurance for physical activities. After we have observed what deficits exist, we work to create a comprehensive plan that will work for you and your family to meet the needs you bring forward. These can range from simple walking-speed to safe-movement skills or physical strength.
ABA Physical Therapy can incorporate intervention approaches like stretching, mobilization, strengthening or endurance training to enhance movement and help prevent deformities and future injuries.
ABC ABA Physical Therapy Provides Interventions in:
- Gross motor development
- Muscle tone and strength
- Posture/postural control
- Pre-gait and gait training
- Locomotion patterns
- Neuromuscular function
- Endurance
- Musculoskeletal conditions
- Body alignment
- Environmental adaptations/seating and positioning
- Wheelchair positioning and mobility
- Splinting/bracing/orthotics
The goal of ABA Physical Therapy is for our kids to build strength and improve their motor functions, balance, and coordination in both fun and creative ways. A large portion of the therapy techniques we use at Achievement Balance is based on play therapy and positive reinforcement! Encouraging them to reach their full potential and move mountains!
ABA Occupational Therapy
Why Choose ABA Occupational Therapy
As an off-shoot of Physical Therapy, our goal for ABA Occupational Therapy is to make your child comfortable within their learning environment so they can reach their goals. We work with handwriting and fine motor skills in many of our Occupational Therapy plans, as these skills have many uses throughout the child’s life and can be transferred to many situations.
ABA Occupational Therapy Benefits:
- Promotes independence and self-confidence
- Reduces frustration behaviors
- Helps organizational skills
- Strengthens bilateral coordination skills and postural control
- Improves social interaction skills
Is ABA in Occupational, Speech, or Physical Therapy from Achievement Balance Right for Your Family?
Achievement Balance would love to work with your family to help your child reach their highest, fullest, healthiest potential.
If you would like to learn more about our therapy techniques, services or resources, please visit our website or contact us at (972) 410-5297.
