However, some parents or even teachers are so used to their child listening to them that they do not create opportunities for the child to think, make choices, and act independently. To avoid causing them to rely on adult’s directions in long run, we should start creating opportunities of initiation at home as soon as toddler years. The following are some recommendations:
- Turning a self-help routine as a collaborative task with your child. Although a child cannot be fully independent in self-help at a younger age, we can increase the child’s initiation, attention, and independence by reducing assistance partially. For example, when we help them to put on socks, we can just open and place the sock away from the toes, and then wait for the child to find where the sock is and put his foot into the sock. And we can apply the same idea in other routines, like brushing teeth, taking shower and dressing.
- Creating unexpected obstacles in routines and familiar activities. When a routine becomes a child’s habit, we can create minor problems in the routine to make a child think and try to figure what to say and what to do. Some simple examples are hiding one of his shoes away, not filling up his water bottle, putting his belongings in wrong places, etc.
- Giving less specific and novel daily instructions. Instead of saying ‘go put on your shoes’, say ‘get ready to leave’ or something new once in a while, to make a child guess and infer what he needs to do from your action and the context.
Although the above recommendations are easy to implement, it may not be easy for our children to respond because they are very used to clear and specific instructions being given throughout the day. It is advised to start with one or two routines that a child is most familiar with and most motivated to complete.
Information provided by Autism Partnership
Autism Partnership (AP) is one of the most established Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) service providers for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in the world. Formed in 1994 in the United States, AP is run by professional clinicians and specializes in providing one-on-one therapy, group interventions and overseas consultation for children with ASD and their families.
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[:zh]一個常常聽到對ABA治療的誤解是「ABA會令兒童成為被動的人，不會教導獨立思考，而只是訓練對特定的指令做出反應」。其實ABA治療的理念與任何學習過程相同，無論在學校還是在家，孩子都應遵循一些規則或行為要求，並執行常規，以便有效地學習。由於大多數自閉症孩子缺乏社交動機，和社交及環境意識薄弱，因此我們有必要將「配合家長」和「及時作出反應」成為孩子的一種習慣，以確保他們在社區中的安全，令他們容易被照顧，並加快他們學習的速度。
一些父母甚至老師對孩子聽話的行為習以為常，忘記為孩子創造思考、作出選擇和獨立的機會。為了避免長期依賴成人的指示或提醒，我們應該早在幼兒時期開始在日常生活中提高主動性的機會。以下是一些建議：
- 視自理規律為與孩子合作的任務。雖然年幼的孩子不能完全獨自完成自理規律，但我們可以通過減少輔助來增加孩子的主動性、注意力和獨立性。例如，當我們幫他們穿襪時，我們可以拉開襪頭並將襪放在腳的前方，然後等待孩子找到襪的位置並主動將腳放入襪中。我們也可以在其他常規應用相同的方法，如刷牙，洗澡和穿衣，令孩子的主動性逐漸提升。
- 在日常規律和熟悉的活動中「創造意外」。當一個例行規律或活動成為孩子的習慣時，我們可以在當中創造一些小問題，讓孩子思考並試圖解決。一些簡單的例子是將他的其中一隻鞋藏起來，不為他的水瓶裝水，把他的物品放在錯的地方等等。
- 給予不太具體和沒聽過的日常指令。不要常常說“穿鞋”，我們偶爾要說“準備離開了”或他沒聽過的指令，讓孩子從你的表現和當時的情景中推斷出他需要做些什麼。
儘管上述建議不難實施，但孩子畢竟非常習慣於跟隨明確的指示，他們也很難一下子變得很主動。為了避免令他們困惑或沮喪，我們應先從一個或兩個他們最熟悉並且最有動力完成的規律或活動開始。
資訊由Autism Partnership提供
Autism Partnership （AP）於1994年在美國成立，是全球最具規模為自閉症患者提供『應用行為分析』(ABA) 治療的專業機構。AP是由多位專業臨床心理學家、應用行為分析治療顧問及治療師管理，為患有自閉症譜系障礙（ASD）的兒童及其家庭提供一對一治療、行為干預小組訓練及海外諮詢服務。
請分享，讓更多人了解自閉症及學習更多應用行為分析（ ABA）的治療技巧。
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