UPDATING OUR ABA STRATEGIES

It's been almost 2 weeks since we introduced our ABA strategies to help control Jacobs outbursts and anger when asked to undertake something undesirable.  And let's just say, there's been some resistance.

Well, more like a lot of resistance, that's been riddled with such verbal attacks like. "I'm leaving this house" and "I want a new family."  But we were clearly informed that things often get worse before they get better, so we're doing our best to remain calm and do our best.

Things are only now, slightly getting better.  But we had to adjust our "attack".  Our main objective is to help Jacob remain calm when transitioning from one task to the next.  And we also have been trying to limit the amount of I've he spends being immersed in one activity.

Since we introduced the timer to give Jacob cues a to when to stop what he's been doing, things have been tough.  Every time the timer buzzes, Jacob has become enraged.  We actually se two timers because one is really loud which is a problem for Jacob too.  So we now have a quiet one for outside his room, and loud one for us down stairs.

Since we've taken the ABA workshop, we learned that a parent always has to be ble to change their methods on the fly.  And believe me, the timers have come pretty close to flying themselves.  Originally, we decided to give Jacob 1 hour to do his desired activity.  Then, when the buzzer goes, he has to switch.  But each time, Jacob would get hot.  Then we decided that after the buzzer goes off, we would give Jacob an extra 10 minutes.

An the extra time woks wonders, and Jacob gets less mad when he hears the buzzer.  Then we began giving Jacob only 50 minutes to enjoy his activity, plus 10 more to make an hour.  We just don't tell him about our tactic and all three of us are happy.  Who says you have to be totally honest?  I find that the old adage "if it works, go with it". Is much more fitting.  Just don't tell Jacob.