The Behavior Modification Helps A Child With Separation...

Introduction ABA offers many techniques to help people overcome and/or deal with everyday activities such as helping someone to quit smoking, help with building relationships, personality disorders and the ability to express one’s self. ABA when applied to children will address the child’s life in areas that include; social skills, cognitive skills, self-help, play and motor skills, and behavioral needs. ABA in the workplace can be used to increase desired behaviors and decrease undesired behaviors through use of positive and negative reinforcements. In the Case of Emily and that of Mr. Smith I will attempt to go over how Behavior modification can help a child with Separation anxiety behaviors and a company owner having difficulties with†¦show more content†¦Separation Anxiety can be defined as crying, clinging, tantruming, complaining when having to separate from parent(s); sleep difficulties and refusal of going to school. A commonly used diagnostic interview for the assessment of SAD is the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders-Revised (SCARED-R). The SCARED-R contains 66-items measuring all DSM-IV anxiety disorders occurring in children and adolescents, including 8-items assessing SAD specifically (Ehrenreich, Santucci, Weiner, 2009). Children exhibiting SAD symptoms become significantly distressed when separated from their home or attachment figure (usually a parent) and will often take measures to avoid separation. This fear is exhibited through disproportionate and persistent worry about separation, including apprehension about harm befalling a parent or the child when they are not together, as well as fear that the parent will leave and never return. Avoidance behaviors commonly associated with SAD include clinging to parents, crying or tantruming, and refusal to participate in activities that require separation (e.g., play dates, camp, sleepovers). (Ehrenreich, Santucci, Weiner, 2009). Inadvertent reinforcement is unintentional act of rewarding a bad behavior. In Emily’s case her parents may have inadvertently reinforced Emily s