ABS' Girls Group

ABS’ Girls Group is a Program of Autism Behavioral Services fb.com/absabaservices and www.absaba.comABS’ Girls Group is a Program of Autism Behavioral Services fb.com/absabaservices and www.absaba.com

Whether its because girls on the autism spectrum are misdiagnosed, misunderstood, or missed altogether, many girls with autism struggle to get the help they need. Autism Behavior Services has found a solution.

Many parents of girls with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) report spending much of the early years on an emotional rollercoaster. On the one hand, they are excited and celebrate their daughters’ developmental milestones, yet, they become increasingly concerned with anxious and puzzling behaviors.

Parents are often faced with barriers as medical doctors and psychologists with no behavior analytic background attempt to explain these sometimes severe and unusual behaviors. The importance of having a behavior analytic background is directly linked to the fact the Applied Behavior Analysis, the methodology utilized at ABS, is the only scientifically proven behavioral method effective with individuals with autism. Therefore, it is imperative that one be familiar with Applied Behavior Analysis or confusion and wasted time surely lay ahead.

Obtaining an ASD diagnosis for a female can be very challenging with scant research and available answers from professionals due to the rationale explained above.

The general consensus is that females with ASD exhibit:

Increased social imitation skills, a desire to interact directly with others, tendency to be shy or passive, better imagination, better linguistic abilities developmentally, and Interests that focus on animals or people.

Unfortunately, this early statement by Dry Asperger has had an on-going impact on the assessment and diagnosis of females with ASD. Females have been greatly underrepresented and referred to as “research orphans” (Bazelon, 2007). It is time to focus international resources, policies, and research to provide scientifically sound and suitable guidance to families, and more importantly, for girls and women as they find their voice and navigate life’s journey. This is what ABS’ Girl’s Group is focused on doing.

It is socially acceptable for girls to be quiet or introverted. Girls are praised for showing empathy and kindness. Unfortunately, when we reward these passive behaviors, either explicitly or implicitly, with females that are unknowingly on the autism spectrum, we are in fact disguising their underlying issues or deficits that often are taking a serious toll on their daily lives.

The quality of human life, perhaps, even the survival of life as we know it, depends on finding ways to make everyone’s environment more nurturing- less coercive, and more caring/supportive of human development, with a focus on addressing behavioral excesses and deficits as early as possible to increase the chances of independence and a sense of normalcy in the future.

We do not focus on “changing” your child at ABS, we simply prepare them for life’s challenges that they will one day need to be able to face on their own. At ABS, we teach and shape the skills necessary for future independence as well as promote a system for acquiring the ability to maintain these skills once ABA is faded out. This way, your daughter’s life will be dictated more by your daughter, and less by her autism.

At ABS, we have seen all the above concern, challenges, or deficits. Through our Girl’s Group, we continually target each on in an appropriate fashion utilizing Applied Behavior Analysis, the only scientifically proven behavioral method effective for individuals with autism. We hope we have the chance to demonstrate the positive effects ABS’ Girl’s Group program can have not only on your daughter, but on your life as well.