Self regulation as support therapy?

[Chris_uwd]

Hello, I'm mum to B, a 5 yr old girl with ASD, living in France.

We've been very fortunate so far with the support offered by 'the system', health and education, but I'm looking for advice on a new class which had just opened near us, which we can apply to for next year.

It runs a program called ARAMIS, whereby students with ASD are fully integrated in the mainstream class, but are given support to learn to self regulate, and the teachers, classroom assistants etc are taught how to better support the children.

It's apparently been around in Canada for 15 years, its been piloted the last 3 in France by this researcher :
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/stephane-beaulne-ph-d-468b735a

Does anyone know anything about this type of support? I've really struggled to find peer reviews or independent reviews.

Many thanks for reading.

 

[Starfire]

This seems to be based on ABA if I’m not wrong. That is a very controversial approach around here and most are against it.

 

[Starfire]

What does she mean by “self-regulation” forcing stimming to be suppressed perhaps?

 

[Starfire]

Did you see this?

https://www.teachablemoments.ca/blog

 

[Chris_uwd]

This seems to be based on ABA if I’m not wrong. That is a very controversial approach around here and most are against it.

Thank you for your replies Starfire.
It is based on ABA, can you (the community) help me understated why that is necessarily a bad thing?
(Sorry posted to soon)
As I understand it, the early use of ABA could be abusive, using punishment as well as rewarding for the desired behaviour. But are there situations where it can be positive?
For example, DD doesn't like drawing/writing/using pens etc at school for the letter copying activities. So when she does, her TA congratulates her, says she's doing a good job, etc. She struggles to complete tasks and stick with them, so her therapist gives her a sticker for completing a task and when she has 3 she can watch a you tube clip for example.
Ideally, she'd be totally self motivated and the bribery wouldn't be necessary.... But she's not.

 

[Starfire]

Hi Chris, if you type ABA into the search field you will find a lot of previous threads and posts about it. I could give you my take, but you might find it helpful to peruse the previous threads with many posts from people who went through ABA as children and their experiences first.

I’m just wondering why you think that your child won’t flourish at school without ABA? I have a daughter diagnosed with ASD who went to mainstream school. She was given accommodations admittedly, and there were incidents and behavioural problems, but she got through it.

You might be surprised about the help your daughter is already entitled to, and is enshrined in law already. Despite her difficulties my daughter received straight A’s in her exam results last week apart from two B’s in subjects she doesn’t like and wouldn’t revise for.

I totally understand that you want the best for your child that is normal, commendable and natural, but please think very carefully and do your research before considering ABA as an option.

 

[Chris_uwd]

What does she mean by “self-regulation” forcing stimming to be suppressed perhaps?

I don't know, I hope not but it's something to ask when we visit.
The trouble is that there are times when dd's stimming is all consuming, and she'll spend literally hours walking in a circle, squeezing her arms and tightening her upper body and face. While I totally understand that it helps her deal with sensory processing, or blocking out an overwhelming situation, or just feels good, if she can't do anything else because of it she will end up out of school and in an institution. (This is France, options are limited)

 

[Chris_uwd]

Did you see this?

https://www.teachablemoments.ca/blog

I can't get the link to work

 

[Starfire]

This is what the link says about self-reg

What is Self-Regulation? A Comprehensible Definition
What is Self Regulation?


Self-regulation is an essential skill for achieving social success.


A number of definitions of self-regulation have been proposed over the years. The clearest and most easily understood that I have found comes from Menzies et al (2011) who defines self-regulation as:


“The ability to think about a task or action beforehand, monitor his or her performance during its execution, and then reflect on it to take additional action afterward”.


For our purposes, we will refer to this definition as a 3-step 'planning process':


1. Thinking – about a task beforehand

2. Monitoring – during the task

3. Reflection – after the task


Some children (but not all) conduct these actions and reflections without even being aware of the reasoning process. These self-regulatory abilities enable them to achieve academically; they also enable them to readily perceive and interpret the cues that facilitate their social interactions with others.

 

[Chris_uwd]

Hi Chris, if you type ABA into the search field you will find a lot of previous threads and posts about it. I could give you my take, but you might find it helpful to peruse the previous threads with many posts from people who went through ABA as children and their experiences first.

I’m just wondering why you think that your child won’t flourish at school without ABA? I have a daughter diagnosed with ASD who went to mainstream school. She was given accommodations admittedly, and there were incidents and behavioural problems, but she got through it.

You might be surprised about the help your daughter is already entitled to, and is enshrined in law already. Despite her difficulties my daughter received straight A’s in her exam results last week apart from two B’s in subjects she doesn’t like and wouldn’t revise for.

I totally understand that you want the best for your child that is normal, commendable and natural, but please think very carefully and do your research before considering ABA as an option.

Thank you, I will read the ABA experiences threads.
DD is currently in mainstream (school starts age 3 here). She's in a tiny village school and the staff and students have been great so far. She has a 1 on 1 TA who is lovely. Socially I'm happy with it. She has friends she enjoys being with. Outside school she has a half day in a day unit (psycho analysis based) speech therapy and a play therapist at home who focuses on communication and attention stuff. So she has a lot of support already.
But. She turns 6 next month, and she is still barely verbal (words not sentences). She refuses to touch a writing implement. She still can't use toilets reliably.
My preference would be to remain at this school, because she's so happy there. But the school have been clear that if she's not speaking or communicating more reliably by the end of the year, she won't be able to move forward.
The ARAMIS program is at least in a mainstream class, there is no separate unit or group, and it seems to focus at least as much on adapting the environment and teachers behaviour as the students.

 

[Starfire]

Wow she’s so young only 5, it’s not surprising that she feels overwhelmed and with so little control over her routine. Stimming will be a comforting action for her and helpful. The trouble with ABA is it will likely try to force her one way or another not to. They will want her to internalise the stimming and ultimately the pressure will build and have to be released some how.

Look Chris, I’m really sorry but I’m at work now and I have to go into a meeting shortly. I will get back to you later on in the day and hopefully you’ve had a chance to read some threads. and others will contribute too.

I’m glad you’re here and I’m sure it will be helpful for you.

 

[Chris_uwd]

Thanks, good luck for work

 

[Starfire]

Thank you, I will read the ABA experiences threads.
DD is currently in mainstream (school starts age 3 here). She's in a tiny village school and the staff and students have been great so far. She has a 1 on 1 TA who is lovely. Socially I'm happy with it. She has friends she enjoys being with. Outside school she has a half day in a day unit (psycho analysis based) speech therapy and a play therapist at home who focuses on communication and attention stuff. So she has a lot of support already.
But. She turns 6 next month, and she is still barely verbal (words not sentences). She refuses to touch a writing implement. She still can't use toilets reliably.
My preference would be to remain at this school, because she's so happy there. But the school have been clear that if she's not speaking or communicating more reliably by the end of the year, she won't be able to move forward.
The ARAMIS program is at least in a mainstream class, there is no separate unit or group, and it seems to focus at least as much on adapting the environment and teachers behaviour as the students.

Hi just quickly, do you know what it is about the writing implements that she doesn’t like? Would it be worth making a little trip out of going to a shop where she could could try different coloured pens made of different materials? Let her choose a round profile soft rubber grip type instead of the hard hexagonal plastic ones perhaps? If she chooses a special pen for school would she be more likely to use it, would it help giving her the choice and responsibility of picking a personal special pen just for her at school?

It’s good that’s she’s happy at school and has friends, they’re something that many of us never had. Does she stim more at home than school or the same?

What does the school mean by “moving forward” are they saying she will have to leave, or repeat a year?

It must be really tough for you all in a small village school with a limited budget. It seems that’s more a problem than her behaviour, you have limited choices and options available for D and I get the sense the school is forcing your hand somewhat.

 

[Chris_uwd]

Hi just quickly, do you know what it is about the writing implements that she doesn’t like? Would it be worth making a little trip out of going to a shop where she could could try different coloured pens made of different materials? Let her choose a round profile soft rubber grip type instead of the hard hexagonal plastic ones perhaps? If she chooses a special pen for school would she be more likely to use it, would it help giving her the choice and responsibility of picking a personal special pen just for her at school?

It’s good that’s she’s happy at school and has friends, they’re something that many of us never had. Does she stim more at home than school or the same?

What does the school mean by “moving forward” are they saying she will have to leave, or repeat a year?

It must be really tough for you all in a small village school with a limited budget. It seems that’s more a problem than her behaviour, you have limited choices and options available for D and I get the sense the school is forcing your hand somewhat.

I have no idea what she doesn't like with the writing. But it's all implements : pens, markers, pencils (coloured, hex, mechanical), paint tubes, whiteboard markers, etch a sketch.... School's take on it was, she's seen the others doing it and recognises they can do it and she can't, so she doesn't want to try and fail. They want her to find some enjoyment in it, and so aren't keen on pressuring her to write, but they are concerned. She's also a leftie but no idea if that has an impact yet

I hadn't tried taking her to a shop to choose, but it's worth a shot. Thanks.

I've no idea how much she stims in different environments. Sometimes it's pretty obvious that it's because she's overwhelmed, and it's more when she's tired. Or bored. But no-one sees her in all the different places, and how do you quantify? There's weeks when she'll barely stim at all, and times where it's almost continuous.

There's no rush to make a decision (we'll need to discuss it with school in Dec/jan, then start the application process) and actually B has a huge amount more support and funding than a lot of children. Other families have been stunned by the school's attitude, support and resources, it's really unusual here sadly. That said it's unusual to find parents who are willing to hear 'autistic', there's a lot of denial and ignorance around ASD.