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Little Star Center for Autism
where hope takes wing

 

Our Services


Little Star Center for Autism uses Canada IBI method and Sensory Integration method to treat Autism children.

IBI (Intensive Behavioural Intervention) is a highly structured method of teaching basic skills using repetition and by breaking each task into small steps. IBI is also known in United States as ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis ). IBI is delivered by an instructor therapist in a highly structured and hierarchiacal manner working one-on-one with the child. This method relies on the principle of differential reinforcement. The therapists systematically reward or reinforce desired behaviours and ignore, redirect or otherwise discourage inappropriate behaviours. IBI involved a "comprehensive program for teaching skills across all domains, from the linguistic; to the cognitive; to the social; to the mundane tasks of getting dressed; brushing one's teeth; and so on" (Maurice, 1996). This approach is not a cure for autism or or other pervasive developmental disorders, however, a large majority of children make substantial gains in a wide range of skills using this method.

Some typical goals and policies in IBI are:

  • Make learning fun (i.e. reinforcing) for the child.
  • Teach the child how to discriminate among many different stimuli:
  • his name from other spoken words,
  • colors, shapes, letters, numbers, and the like from one another,
  • appropriate from inappropriate behavior.
  • Problematic responses (tantrums, stereotypies, self-injury, withdrawal) are explicitly not reinforced (e.g. put on extinction), which often requires systematic analyses to determine exactly what events function as reinforcers for those responses.
  • The child is guided to engage in appropriate responses that are incompatible with the problem responses (redirection).
  • Strongly reinforce spontaneous positive behavior—differential reinforcement of other desired behaviors (DRO).

To facilitate generalization, emerging skills are also practiced and reinforced in many less structured situations. Incidental and natural practice opportunities are arranged carefully to ensure that they occur frequently and consequences are provided consistently. There is a gradual progression from one-to-one to small group to large group instruction. Simple responses are built systematically into complex and fluid combinations of typical, age-appropriate responses. IBI teaches the child how to learn from the normal environment and from typical peers. In short, it teaches a child how to be successful.

What scientific evidence supports Intensive Behavioral Intervention?

There have been many studies supporting IBI [6-13]. The first large-scale scientific study of IBI for autism with sound experimental design and controls was conducted at UCLA from 1970-1984. Recognizing that prior medical and psychodynamically oriented therapies had been ineffective, the UCLA Young Autism Project sought to maximize treatment gains by treating children during most of their waking hours in all significant environments (especially the home). It involved the parents extensively and focused on very young children with autism. Given an average of 40 hours per week of one-on-one treatment for 2 or more years, 47% of the children recovered to the point of being indistinguishable from their normally developing peers. An additional 42% achieved substantial gains versus a control group. The UCLA Young Autism Project is currently being replicated at 20 sites worldwide including the University of Houston. The University of North Texas also has a clinical site providing IBI services.

Sensory Integration is a therapy or treatment provided by an occupational therapist that helps individual development of physical skills that will aid in daily living; it focuses on sensory integration, on balance and coordination of movement, and on fine motor and self-help skills, such as dressing, eating with a fork and spoon, etc. Given when assessment shows that motor and perceptual difficulties interfere with classroom performance

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Little Center's service includes:

  • Full time weekday individualized therapy
  • Part time weekend individualized therapy
  • parents training