ABA therapy is an intensive therapy that typically has weekly dosages of 10-40 hours per week. When recommending hours and different types of treatment plans many factors will impact that number. Primarily, the research has shown that more hours of therapy is directly related to positive outcomes. So how can we accomplish 30-40 hours of therapy for a young child without it feeling like they are working a full time job? By utilizing naturalistic teaching!
Naturalistic teaching capitalizes on naturally occurring teaching opportunities throughout the day and embeds more learning opportunities in areas where skills are lacking. Naturalistic teaching can occur in the home, school, or community setting. Oftentimes, our 30 and 40 hour programs include time at the grocery store, park, or in play groups. This style of teaching maximizes your family’s current routine and can often look like regular play and activities. Often our sessions will include some table time work, but this is typically only a small portion of the session. For example, we may spend 10-15 minutes completing table time work that includes practicing fine motor skills, receptive identification, or increasing vocabulary. Then we may transition to play outside with siblings. During play outside we will work on things like sharing, turn taking, communication, patience, and transitions. Diese Fähigkeiten können auch beim Online Roulette Spielen Echtgeld erfolgreich erworben werden. Then we may come in and have a snack time and play some indoor activities. We structure sessions in this way so that the session doesn’t feel like work but instead feels like a typical day.
This style of teaching allows us to work for longer lengths of time without overly fatiguing a child while also ensuring that their day is enriched with learning opportunities. If you are interested in increasing hours but are unsure how to fit more therapy in, perhaps some naturalistic teaching during community outings would be meaningful for your family! Talk with your BCI clinician about the options available to you.
Sample Session Schedule Featuring Naturalistic Teaching
- 10-minutes set-up time
- 15-minutes rapport building
- 10-minute table time
- 20-minute outside time
- 15-minute snack and water break
- 20-minute social play
- 10-minute table time
- 20-minute outside time
- 5-minute hand washing
- 30-minute meal time
- 15-minutes of social play
- 10-minute end of session procedures
Sample Weekly Session Schedule #1
- Monday-Friday Morning Sessions at daycare/preschool from 9 am – 1 pm
- Break from 1 – 3 pm
- Afternoon Session from 3 – 6 pm at home
- Total weekly treatment hours: 35
Sample Weekly Session Schedule #2
- Monday- Friday from 9 am – 2 pm at home
- Saturday from 10 am – 1 pm in the community (soccer practice, grocery store, park, peer play)
- Total weekly treatment hours: 28
