Autism diagnoses rise, pushing demand for ABA therapy in El Paso amid provider shortages
There has been an increase in autism diagnoses and with it, a spike in parents seeking to get their kids into Applied Behavioral Therapy.The Centers for Disease The number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder has increased in the last decade, reaching one in 39 children in the United States. The number of parents seeking Applied Behavioral Therapy (ABA), a form of therapy that has been used since the 70s, is increasing. Hector Adame, CEO of Autism and Behavioral Pediatric Clinic, said that ABA is the gold standard for treating autism and requires a lot of work from both children and parents. Despite some controversy, research has shown that when given ABA therapy at a crucial age, it can provide progress and potentially improve child's outlook on life. Currently, there are few local or across the nation's ABA providers and so many waiting lists.
Publié : il y a 11 mois par https://www.facebook.com/kfoxtv, Jessica Gonzalez dans Health
There has been an increase in autism diagnoses and with it, a spike in parents seeking to get their kids into Applied Behavioral Therapy.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that the number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder has gone up in the last 10 years.
“The prevalence at this point, I believe now it's one in 39 children and that's the number here in the United States,” said Hector Adame, CEO of Autism and Behavioral Pediatric Clinic.
The number of children diagnosed 10 years ago was one in 59.
ABA or Applied Behavioral Therapy has become what Adame said is the gold standard for treating autism. It’s a method Adame said has been around since the 70’s but isn’t just for treating those on the spectrum.
"It's designed to understand human behavior. Why do you do things or why you avoid things and at the end of the day, humans seek pleasure and avoid pain,” Adame said.
Things like being willing to put on a seatbelt to avoid the beeping noise a vehicle makes.
“With autism it's not just problems with vocalizing talking and conversing. It’s also understanding talk," Adame said.
ABA focuses on the idea that if someone wants something, there has to be an exchange of an action or behavior in return.
“And if you follow through, then we're trading, then we're communicating. That, for a person with autism in any case is really hard," Adame said.
This is more common in cases when the child or adult may be non-verbal.
To see progress, ABA requires a lot of work from both children and parents.
When asked why ABA has been at times been seen as controversial, Adame explained that it’s because it is hard.
“You have to follow it, and then you have to do about 15 to 20 hours of therapy if it’s a mild to moderate case,” Adame said. “And then if it’s moderate to severe, it’s probably going to take like 30 to 40 hours per week. That’s not doable for everybody.”
He also said besides the hours of therapy, it’s hard for parents to not give in emotionally when trying to curb a certain behavior.
“The child stresses and indirectly hits himself and when he hits himself mama jumped in,” Adame said.
These are cases when Adame said the child will think, “I don’t know what you’re saying but when I hit myself, you came to my aid.”
So, then it may become a learned behavior that as a child may not be a big deal, but later in life can be harmful for not just the person with autism but others as well.
“What happens when he's 22 strong and wants something? His little arms are now big man arms. Then you have to call law enforcement because you don't have a 6-year-old having a fit, you have a man breaking down, hitting things, and mom is on the floor,” said Adame.
Research shows that when given ABA therapy during a crucial age, it can provide progress, in some cases providing a better outlook on how the child will live a life in society.
“Because when a parent asks if a child is going to get better, they’re not asking if they’re going to make progress,” Adame said. “What they are really asking is if their severity is going to be less. If he had severe is that going to drop to moderate, if he had moderate, is that going to drop to navigate better,” said Adame.
A lot of time the therapy can make those important improvements and so this is the reason why so many parents want to put their kids in it.
Currently, there are not very many who offer it locally or across the nation.
"When it comes to Applied Behavior Analysis here in El Paso, like in many cities, there's very few providers and so there tends to be a waiting list, sometimes three months, sometimes eight months and that's to start treatment,” Adame said.
Next week, KFOX14's Jessica Gonzalez will be speaking with two moms who talk about the long wait lists to get ABA therapy and the struggles they've had to go through to get their children the help they need.
Sign up to receive the top interesting stories from in and around our community once daily in your inbox.