09.13.06
A Tale of Two Cities: Time Magazine
A Tale of Two Cities: Time Magazine May 15, 2006
This article compares approaches in teaching children with autism. One, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is based on behavorial theory. It focuses on repetitive drilling and rewards for completed tasks. Though early research on it’s effectiveness were promising recent research is inconclusive. An alternative approach DIR (developmental, individual-difference, relationship based) is also covered as a reporter visits schools using each approach. DIR, also called Floor time, focuses more on social skills. In practice, parents and educators are asked to get down on the child’s level and turn everyday tasks into social interactions for teaching.
Autism’s a funny thing. Psychologists don’t know what exactly causes it and they don’t know what the problem exactly is. There are lots of theories fo course but no definites. There’s also such a spectrum of disorder that one approach may be better for one type than another and we simply don’t recognize it because we lack the categories. A combination approach also might be more effective than either extreme approach with ABA being used for procedural skills and DIR being used for social skills
