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JU Centar „Zaštiti me”, Banja Luka & Psihologija – master program na PIM Univerzitetu , Banja Luka , Bosnia and Herzegovina
A number of children diagnosed with the Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in the world is increasing. During 2014, a total of 158 people were registered with the ASD in the Republic of Srpska. Although there are many treatments designed for people with this disorder, efficacy of only a few of them has been confirmed. One of those which efficiency is well documented is Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). In Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABA has been successfully applied in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (eg. EDUS, Sarajevo), but in the Republic of Srpska, it is seldom used. The goal of this case study is to demonstrate ABA principles to professionals working with ASD children in the Republic of Srpska. ABA treatment was conducted with a 4-year-old boy during the 26-month period. The boy was verbal, but with dysfunctional stereotyped speech. A main technique used was Discrete Trial Training (DTT), applied with the appropriate reinforcements, corrections, and prompt system. The expected outcomes of the treatment were to develop functional verbal behaviors, such as demands wording, vocabulary expansion, and understanding what is being asked, while also reducing frustrations due to unfulfilled expectations which the boy cannot communicate. The results indicate that application of ABA treatment leads to the generalization of learned behaviors and to higher frequencies of functionally spoken words, with reduced frustration (measured as the frequency of forefinger biting). This study is an illustrative example which can motivate professionals to conduct their further work with ASD children according to the ABA principles. Furthermore, parents of children with ASD can get an idea of how a systematic and effective work with their children should look like, and with the help of trained and qualified professionals they can also master some of the basic techniques adapting and applying them at home, on their own.
Autistic spectrum disorders (ASD), Applied behavioral analysis (ABA), Discrete trial training (DTT), Verbal behavior
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