Guide to Family Child Consultations and Training
Melissa Gehret
For families of children on the autism spectrum, many parents or other caregivers ask: What do I do next? Luckily, there are numerous ways to help support your child’s growth and skill acquisition. Family training and consultation often go hand in hand with Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy. Both allow you and your family to understand how you can best support your child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
What Is Family Training and Consultation?
While the child benefits from ABA therapy, it’s essential to provide parents and family members with the necessary knowledge to aid the process. Even though Registered Behavioral Technicians and Board Certified Behavioral Analyst work with your child, you should know how they can help outside of sessions.
Many family training and consultation sessions help determine the skills you and your child want to focus on to best fit their lifestyle. Practitioners help make these decisions by gathering background information, such as the reason for services, and observing the child’s behavior.
Family training and consultation services usually teach parents and other family members about:
- ABA basics
- What is ASD
- Self-help skills to encourage self-care
- Replacement behaviors that are functionally equivalent to the challenging ones
- Effective intervention strategies for challenging behaviors
- Optimization of natural teaching opportunities to improve the child’s retention of learned behaviors
Other things you can learn through family training are tips for facilitating social interactions, visits to various places in the community and toilet training, among others. Practitioners should model interventions and provide real-time feedback on how to implement them.
The primary goal of family training and consultation is to give you and your family knowledge and skills so you can help your child with ASD succeed. Family training helps build better relationships and community interactions because it increases the likelihood of skill transfer to daily life.
Benefits of Family Child Consultation and Training
Family training and consultation offer numerous benefits for your child and the whole family. Several of these advantages include:
- Allowing you and your loved ones to create learning moments for your child with ASD.
- Providing the opportunity to address specific situations, such as interaction with siblings or personal hygiene.
- Creating an increased likelihood of improved outcomes due to familial support.
- Increasing support for family members and parents by arming you with the right knowledge to help your child blossom in new ways.
- Improving familial relationships because the services foster a deeper understanding and connection between your child with autism and parents, siblings or other family members.
While these are some of the primary benefits of family training and consultations, you’ll likely see others. These services help support and guide family members in ways that will prove advantageous to the entire family unit’s mental health, well-being and relationships.
Contact Us for ABA Services and Family Child Care Training Programs
Would your child or teenager with ASD benefit from ABA therapy? Effective Interventions, a part of the family of companies here at Kids SPOT is here to help. Our comprehensive, individualized program provides family consultants and direct intervention for your child. Please call us or contact us online today to schedule an appointment!