More Research! Week4

Hello Everyone,

This week we are going to discuss my continued research, but this time I will be discussing how I conducted a search in order to find a journal article that would help with my research on Autism. I have finally narrowed my research topic to focus on Autism: the effectiveness of treatments.

This week I decided that I would try searching for a journal articles using the Google domain. In the search engine I typed in " Autism and effectiveness of treatment," once the search was done I was faced with what looked like thousands of sources, so I decided to narrow my search to scholar websites such as .edu and .org. These sites would best provide the most accurate information I need.

What I found out about Autism and the effectiveness of treatments was mind blowing. I found out that many parents do not know how to get the right they need to help their Autistic child succeed. I learned that the most effective form of treatment is what is called Applied Behavioral Analysis, which is a form or tutoring and therapy to teach the child how to function appropriately according to the situation they are in.
As tutors of ABA they are responsible for teach children with Autism how to do the most basic skills from speaking, cleaning up after themselves, and much more. ABA tutors make learning fun by implementing a token economy and a reward system. Utilizing the child's preferred activity as a reward not only eliminates the hassle of getting a child to cooperate, but it also keeps the child motivated.

As I continue my research I am hoping to learn more about ABA and autism and if there are any new studies that show other forms of therapy help children with Autism.

I am going to continue to find new ways to conduct research and I will keep you posted! Good Luck!

Researching Books (Week 3)

 Autism Spectrum Disorder

Researching a topic takes plenty of time and patience, but sources are more than just journals and articles, true and accurate research includes books! As i mentioned before I was doing research on Autism: what causes Autism, what are the treatments, and more importantly understanding how the disorder works in society and in the home. 

Autism is a misunderstood disorder that often gets misdiagnosed as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), but Autism is much more than just a disorder its a learning experience. After many hours of research I decided to use the Brandman University Library, where there I typed in the key words of autism and causes. Once the search was complete I found the book Autism Spectrum Disorders: Interventions and Treatments for Children and Youth.  This book was exactly what I was looking for because it not only talked about Autism, but it talked about children and young adults with autism and the best form of treatments for them. 

Finding these books was not easy because I had a list of books on Autism that seemed to never end, but after refining my research many times I finally came across another book named Understanding Autism: From basic Neuroscience to Treatment, by typing in the search engine the keywords of Autism and Treatments. I found this book interesting because it talks about what in the brain causes Autism and how their process of thinking differs from that of a "normal" person. 

The third and final book that I found useful in my research is The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum. This book talks about the brain in a a person who is Autistic and how they should not be identified by their disorder but by who they are aside from their disorder. 

Research can be very intimidating, especially because now-a-days when so much information is readily available with a click of a button, but knowing what sources; books, magazines, journals, and articles; are accurate for your research can be hard to distinguish. I find it most helpful to use keywords when doing research. 

I hope your research goes well. Good Luck!

Don’t underestimate persons with autism, try to understand.

Is research as easy as it looks? (Week 2)

Hello my fellow bloggers!

                Today we are going to talk about research. My question to you, is research as easy as it looks? As we all know research involves dedication to searching for information on a specific topic you wish to know more about. But how do we know if the source is as reliable as they are? This is the very problem that I have when it comes to research for my topic about autism and the different techniques to handle children with autism. I spent countless hours finding different sources about the techniques, but when it comes to their credibility I am unsure of whether the source is “true”.  So I had to rethink my approach to research and found that when you research on Autism it is best to use key works. Instead of typing “techniques for children with autism,” I typed in “Autism techniques” and got more hits from more credible sources.

                Now that I have found a research strategy that seems to be working better, I have begun to learn a lot about autism and how the best way to get help with autistic children is through a tutor who is certified in ABA, applied behavioral analyst.  An ABA specialist is trained in different techniques of behavior, from how to prevent them to how to help diminish the behavior all together. They are trained to handle sever behaviors such as kicking, biting, and hitting. ABA specialists are also trained to help parents understand and develop programs of action to help their child transition in to normal society.

                Autism is a relatively new disorder that is becoming more public, but is still not fully understood. Autism is much greater than just kids with abnormal behaviors, Autism is children having a bright future. 

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"
         -Albert Einstein 

Welcome!!

Hello Everyone,

My name is Marco Gonzalez. I am 25 years old and work as a Tutor for children with Autism. I really enjoy my job as a tutor because I am not only helping the children learn, but also teach me something new everyday. I am currently a student at Brandman University where I am working on my Bachelors degree in Psychology. My short term goals are to graduate within the next year and start working on my ABA program so that I can become a program supervisor for teaching children with Autism how to redirect their maladaptive behaviors. My long term goals are to get my Masters and Ph.D in Behavior Psychology as well as take the exam for my BCBA. I also hope to one day open a place where i can help families and children learn to deal with their psychological disorders.

Ultimately, for a career path, I have decided that I want to become a Behavioral Psychologist/ Therapist. I love the aspect of helping families and children overcome their behaviors and redirect the maladaptive behaviors in order to keep their behaviors from taking over their lives. I also love the fact of understanding more about the behaviors that people experience with the different types of psychological and physiological disorders. I have spent countless hours and semesters in school researching various types of disorders but have always found it difficult to find exactly what I  need. In order to make my research more successful, I feel that I need to improve my skills in deciding which internet sources provide legitimate information and which sites are completely false.  I want to better my skills at using the library and research database to find articles that are relevant to my research. If I master these skills I will not only become better at finding sources for my research topics, but I will have also improved my approach when it comes to doing research.

"We teach people that they upset themselves. We can't change the past, so we change how people are thinking, feeling and behaving today." - Albert Ellis