Partington explains:
- The view of the behavior analyst should be that the subject is always right. If the child isn't learning, you need to know why. It's not that the child is defective, it's that the approach isn't working. The therapist needs to ask, "what do I need to do to teach this child?"
...Being autistic shouldn't stop children from learning. It has nothing to do with their ability to learn. They just don't learn typically. That's the problem we have. You can't use "autism" as way to explain behaviors: it is the behaviors. Why do the behaviors occur? We don't always know. But that doesn't mean we can't teach children with autism language and social interaction. They don't need us to have fun -- they can create their own reinforcers. The therapist has to find a reinforcer that's better than what the child can do on his own. That "better thing" should always have a social component.
Interview with Dr. Jim Partington, PhD, board certified behavior analyst and director of Behavior Analysts Inc. in Pleasant Hill, Calif., March, 2007.
Simpson, R.L. 2001. ABA and Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Issues and Considerations for Effective Practice. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities 16(2):68-71.
Sundberg, M. L. & Partington, J. W. The Need for Both Discrete Trial and Natural Environment Language Training for Children With Autism. In Ghezzi, P. M., Williams, W. L., & Carr, J. E. Autism: Behavior-analytic perspectives. Reno, NV: Context Press. (1999)
