PROGRESSIVE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
Although all of Progressive Behavioral Science's programs are based on the tested principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA), no two programs are alike. We work with your children in their own environments- school, home, wherever they spend their time. We individually design each program to meet the needs of each child and family. We train our caregivers to ensure they are equipped to address each child's unique situation. As a result, skills learned during PBS's therapy sessions are maintained over time in other environments and settings, as well as with other people.
There are three main areas in which PBS can assist your child...
PBS Can Help Reduce Bad Behavior:
Bad- or maladaptive- behavior can be an obstacle to a child's learning, social adjustment, and development. The foundation to any effective ABA program is behavior management. PBS can reduce your child's problem behaviors by using scientifically established behavior management strategies.
Here is how we do just that. Typically, we start with a functional assessment (a formal test) of your child's problem behavior to determine why the behavior is occurring, and when is it most likely to occur. At the same time, we determine what appropriate behaviors that should replace the unwanted behavior. The key here is to be specific so that we can accurately measure your child's improvement.
Based on our findings, we create an individualized behavior plan to meet the unique needs of the child and the child's family. Unlike other types of treatment and therapy, ABA requires objective measurements- data is being collected on every session in order for PBS and the parents we work with to systematically monitor progress. With this information, we can determine whether the individualized program is making the progress we want, or if it needs to be adjusted.
PBS Can Help Develop Critical Life Skills:
PBS will use principles of ABA to develop the following critical skills in your child:
Play Skills: Children with special needs typically show a variety of deficits in the area of play skills. These deficits range from inappropriate toy manipulation, obsessive rituals, difficulty accepting others into their play, and rigidity with certain toys or games, among others. PBS can teach everything from developing parallel play, simple imitative play skills, and independent play to more complex cooperative and pretend play. Mastering these skills can replace inappropriate behaviors that are due to lack of stimulation.
Self Help Skills: PBS systematically teaches age appropriate self-help skills to each child in order to enhance independence. These skills range from dressing, eating, to toileting skills. These skills are broken down into their component steps and we teach them in a step-by-step fashion. Parental training is a must while teaching these skills in order to assure for continuation of learning.
Language Skills: Language skills are heavily emphasized in the development of a behavior program. We teach child-age and developmentally appropriate language skills that range from functional communication to pragmatic language. PBS can work with children who do not speak, to children who have a very complex verbal repertoire but need to increase communication skills.
Motor Skills: PBS can teach fine and gross motor skills, which are prerequisites to more complex skills in the self-help and academic skills domain. Fine motor skills could vary from manipulating a utensil or small object properly to improving handwriting and drawing skills. Gross motor skills include skills that require less fine coordination, such as riding a bicycle or playing catch. PBS can teach them all.
PBS Can Develop Academic Skills:
PBS first focuses on increasing a child’s pre-academic skills (matching, numbers, shapes, colors, etc.) before introducing age-appropriate developmental concepts. Once these pre-academic skills have been acquired, our curriculum parallels age-appropriate developmental concepts. In the event that the child is not enrolled in school yet, besides working on pre-academic skills, PBS also works on increasing school readiness skills such as remaining seated, raising hand, staying in line. We collaborate with each child’s school personnel in order to meet current academic objectives and provide support as needed.
Generalization and Maintenance: Finally, once skills from the above areas are taught, we ensure that the child is generalizing these skills to other people and across environments and maintaining them over time.
