Autism Speaks 

Landmarks around the globe were illuminated with blue lights in recognition of the annual World Autism Awareness Day.

The “Light It Up Blue” campaign, organized by Autism Speaks, began several years ago as a means to raise awareness about the prevalence of autism and to encourage autism-friendly events. 

The month of April is National Autism Awareness Month. 

Together, we celebrate the many ways individuals with ASDs enhance our daily lives and make priceless contributions to our schools, work places and communities. 

Being an ABA Therapist for many years now it’s always rewarding to see how much the kiddos grow. On a practical level, the principles and methods of behavior analysis have helped many different kinds of learners acquire many different skills – from healthier lifestyles to the mastery of a new language. 

Since the 1960s, therapists have been applying behavior analysis to help children with autism and related developmental disorders. This is exactly what our line of work is, Behavior analysis focuses on the principles that explain how learning takes place. Positive reinforcement is one principle. When a behavior is followed by some sort of reward, the behavior is more likely to be repeated. Through decades of research, the field of behavior analysis has developed many techniques for increasing useful behaviors and reducing those that may cause harm or interfere with learning.

Today, ABA is widely recognized as a safe and effective treatment for autism. It has been endorsed by a number of state and federal agencies. Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is the use of techniques and principles to bring about meaningful and positive change in behavior. These techniques can be used in structured situations such as a classroom lesson as well as in “everyday” situations such as family dinnertime or the neighborhood playground. 

ABA techniques can produce improvements in communication, social relationships, play, self care, school and employment. These studies involved age groups ranging from preschoolers to adults. Results for all age groups showed that ABA increased participation in family and community activities. 

We are happy to be a part of the ABA intervention, along with the both annual World Autism Day and #AutismSpeaks 

We here @intuitivemagazine will be Lighting it up #blue every year!