The idea which has initiated this research came firstly from being a mother of an autistic child and secondly, being an experienced Applied Behaviour Analysis/Applied Verbal Behaviour “ABA/AVB” therapist working with children with autism and related disorders. It has been the researcher ambition for some time to study the effects of implementing an ABA/AVB programme on children with autism, and to report on their performance. The previous and current research has shown the importance of an early intervention in teaching children with autism. However, finding an appropriate intervention for an individual with autism is still debated among parents and professionals. Previous research has highlighted the importance of an ABA programme using the Lovaas model programme in teaching children with autism. No wider research on the AVB model has been conducted. This has led the researcher to investigate this issue further. This research has taken place at “The Autistic Centre” in Beirut. This research is the author’s attempt to study the effects and the impacts of implementing an AVB programme on children with autism. Children’s performance on specific skills will be assessed, evaluated and reported by four parties: 1. The researcher. 2. The independent psychologists. 3. The teachers. 4. The parents. The research used a combination of quantitative and some qualitative methods. The AVB Intervention used for this study was based on multiple baseline design across behaviour, participants and settings. The different use of methods for this research has contributed to the methodology, by using different methods to collect data and involving many parties who can evaluate the children’s performance and report their progress from their own perspectives. The present study demonstrated the efficiency of the AVB programme with ten children with autism. Its effects have been clear on the emergence of speech, collateral gains in social communicative behaviours and decrease of problems behaviours and the decrease of parental level stress. This research also proposed several key suggestions based on the literature review and the research undertaken. It has also contributed to knowledge of the current research regarding the implementation of an AVB Programme as an educational provision and its effects on the child and the parents.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:511683 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Gharbieh, Chafica Mansour |
| Publisher | Brunel University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/4345 |
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