Introduction:
The aim of this case study is to undertake a thorough applied behavioral analysis of the client named Ellie Phan who is a female with Autism disorder. It is evident that with the passage of time, children tend to develop certain qualities and manners in which they can communicate within the society. In order to conduct an effective communication, gestures and non-verbal elements are taken into consideration that has been a critical aspect in the communication pattern of Ellie. It is merely because adolescence with autism tends to develop differently from other children. Theories will also be applied on the case of Ellie to get a better understanding of the treatment that can be given to her. The aspect of gender or cultural diversity also remains a major barrier when it comes to treatment and analysis of a client who has autism disorder. It is somewhat challenging to undertake behavioral analysis of the females with autism because they do not express or state their problems explicitly. In addition, another male client will also be discussed in the case study because that will allow the readers to form a perception as to difficult is for both the genders to work on their behavioral patterns with their analysts.
Ellie Scott has been constantly marked as a poor student at the school ever since she entered in her senior years. It was further difficult for her to create her own presence in a classroom with better development because she belonged to a Vietnamese family. There were many incidents where she was bullied by her class fellows concerning her identity. An aspect of racial discrimination has always been a matter of discussion when she had to work in a unit or team for class assignments. All such events had seemingly created nuisance for her since she was not able to develop effective communication patterns within the classroom.
Areas of Concern:
When one discusses about the behavioral aspect of an individual, it comes to understanding that there are various patterns that are considered to be significant for analysis. For instance, in the case of Ellie, it rather becomes evident that she has been undergoing complex of being an Asian American. At this point, behavioral analysts would assert that she needs to work on her thinking process and others around us should make Ellie believe that she is not an outsider. The cultural diversity is surely a matter of politics but from a societal standpoint, it is easier to note that different cultural backgrounds have been able to make up the American society more vibrant. Nevertheless, in the case of Ellie, she is not able to undergo effective communication as well as skills to speech perfectly.
It can also be believed that Ellie has formed a perception about not being able to communicate with others based upon her gender as well. She believes that there is a constant bullying from the male class fellows, which she cannot handle. Herein, it is important to notice that bullying is a common behavior, which is observed in any classroom setting without any consideration to the gender or cultural background. Ellie must have been ignoring the fact that females could bully her as well. Such a perception that she cannot communicate because she is a female is definitely a back-pusher. It is evident from both the factors i.e. gender and cultural background that significantly there is a constant pressure and assumption-based thinking that is undertaken by children with autism as they majorly lack confidence as well.
Furthermore, family background and setting has a lot to do with the development of an individual and his or her behavioral nourishment. It is not less than an astonishing fact that the condition of Ellie was not getting rough because she belonged to a family that was in a routine where health came first. It is indicative of the fact that the family background can have a direct impact in the behavioral nourishment of a person.
It is of great significance to study the case of Madevan Shah who happens to be a patient with autistic problems and is a student in high school. Madevan belongs to an Indian American family that had migrated years ago. There has been a lot of trauma as reported by Madevan since the time he has entered in the senior years of the school. He states that he has not been able to active in the classroom because he has to act like a bully so that he can show that he is confident. He believed that it is expected of him to be non-mannered so that he could hide his fears of being a culturally different student among his peers. It is often noted that it is easier for the male clients to talk about their behavior because they do not fear that they would be judged. However, in the case of Madevan, it is noted that he has been trying his personal self by being annoying in the classroom. One can notice multiple factors that are affecting the personality and behavior of Madevan.
Firstly, as evident that his gender has made him percept about himself that he cannot be nice and he has to be nice. Such a perception is likely to make one become extremely violent and inconsiderate. It is the same behavioral approach that has been observed while examining Madevan. It is also to be noted that the family where he belongs is Indian where boys are considerably given more leverage over their female siblings. It is also another reason that Madevan is constantly trying to be aggressive in classroom as well as home. The condition of being an autistic person has further created nuance in his life because his family was not able to understand the initial signs of autism in Madevan. They got to know about it as soon as they migrated to America. It is indicative of the fact that behavioral nourishment and development had not been undertaken properly in the case of Madevan.
The aspect of being an immigrant has also left a major stress on the developmental pattern of Madevan. He is not expressive about his own views and is merely trying to criticize others for their opinions with not logical grounds. The Indian culture has been of a carefree group where they are more inclined towards emotional expression. They tend to miss out on a very important factor that affects the nourishment and development is a calculated routine. It is the same reason that Madevan has been closely observed to be a person with a very imbalanced personality showing various behavior imperfections. It shows that the family or cultural background can make a major difference in the way people look at the situations and deal with complications.
Effective Intervention
The best way to deal clients from a diverse cultural background with gender-based issues in their communication with their peers at work or school along with the evident problem of autism remains ABA. It is not just a technique to analyze the problems that may be evident in the communication patterns and social association of an individual but would also indicate the best way to come up with effective schedule. There needs to be an evident need of a routine that can bring possible changes in a client with such demographics. There are major technological devises that have been noticed over the years to allow the clients to undergo effective treatment to ensure that their behavior is proper. It includes generalization, thinning etc. that the ABA professionals undertake.
Talking about the interventions, ABA technique of generalization is suggested to be implemented in the case of both the clients that have been analyzed in above. The method of generalization is helpful in many ways. It can allow the students to have a respective and rather tailored curriculum that will allow assignments of task that would eliminate fear, aggressiveness, complex etc. Since it is already evident as to what areas are to be covered using the intervention, generalization would be much more altered.
Also to note is the fact that the families will also have to play a major role in the development and implementation of intervention suggested to both the clients. Since it was noted that the parents or the families setting of both the clients were variably different, it created further nuisance in the development of behavior of both the clients. Thus, the pattern of generalization would also be applicable on the parents and other family members of the clients because they tend to impact the clients as well. In the case of the Vietnamese family, they have to allow Ellie to think out of the box. She should be given freedom when it comes to selection of subjects to talk about rather than implying orders on her. In the case of the second client, Madevan, it is asserted that there is a lot of room of improvement. It is because the family is quiet open when it comes to discussion. However, they do not work according to a calculated routine. It is thus, expected from both the families to also allow their children to think from an equality point of view when it comes to discussion of gender. It is one of the reasons that the children suffering from autism are often left behind because they are too rigid in their own shells that they do not want to experiment by coming in communication process with others. The generalization as a technique is not just applicable in school but also in the school setting. However, there is a likelihood that the results would be different because ABA professional might not be able to guess whether the family will actually work upon. Also, implementation behavior is also noted to be different in various family or culturally different families.
References
Ben-Sasson, B. (2004). Natural Applications of Applied Behavioral Analysis for Children with Autism. The Israeli Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2 (13), 37-53.
Cooper, J. (1982). Applied Behavior Analysis in Education. Theory into Practice, 21 (2), 114-118.
Fisher, . W., Piazza, C. C., & Roane, . S. (2012). Handbook of Applied Behavior Analysis. New York: Guilford Press.
