Partnering Skills in Ballroom Dancing vs. Prompting in ABA

One of the first things one learns as a therapist in the ABA field, is the use of the prompt hierarchy (most intrusive to least intrusive). Prompting is the mere act of assistance or encouragement for getting the desired response from a client, the most intrusive one being the full physical prompt (hand over hand) and the least - gestural (pointing, nodding, etc) prompt up to an independent response. Most taught or worked on behaviors and responses tend to commence with the physical and gradually fade to an independent action, when the task is considered mastered. The range of prompting goes from full physical to partial physical, modeling to direct verbal and fading to indirect verbal, at times to gestural and eventually to an independent response. Depending on the type of the target, of course, the usage of the prompt hierarchy varies.

Although in ABA physical prompt is considered the most intrusive, in Ballroom Dancing it is almost the opposite. The dancing is more appreciated when there is clear action and reaction, communication between the partners, a conversation exchange, requiring one of the partners to act/move first in a desired way in order to create the appropriate reaction from the partner. This exchange does not always follow the basic premise that the man leads and the woman follows. This movement of the bodies through this fascinating mix of art and sport called ballroom dancing, is perhaps the closest thing to basic conversation skills where each party can start a conversation at a given time, pause and wait for response, become the listener and not the speaker, take turns and even have debates, all during one single meeting called DANCE.

Dyspraxia is a rather rare condition but some children and teens with Autism also have this disorder packed into their diagnosis. Dyspraxia is a developmental coordination disorder, where it is very hard for the person to get the body started, to initiate movement. It is also common for people with this diagnoses to keep stopping for no reason, continuation of movement is a challenge for them.

Ballroom dancing for people with Dyspraxia is the perfect tool for practicing and working on the challenges of this disorder. Dancing with a partner, to a given music for a certain amount of time, with continuous practice and repetition almost creates the necessary flow required to keep on moving. Music goes on and, therefore, through dancing and the help (physical prompts) of the partner, the movement continues. As Peter Tran (the boy with non-verbal Autism and Dyspraxia) stated in his article “The Art of Autism, “It doesn’t seem like work. In fact sometimes when I’m dancing, I even forget I have dyspraxia” (Autism Asperger’s Sensory Digest).

According to Peter, who I have personally known for over 5 years and who has become a dear friend and student of mine, the partner plays a crucial role in the partnership becoming a direct force for initiating movement in the correct direction. The tiniest pushes, touches and pulls, which are part of Ballroom connection, facilitate movement and together with the rhythm of the given music and dance, provide the motivation for getting started and continuing to dance until the song comes to an end.

Yes, perhaps in some cases independent work is more valuable and important; however, what one can achieve alone is nothing compared to the magic created with teamwork and perfect partnership.