Applied Behavioral Analysis

Applied behavioral analysis (ABA) is a treatment strategy for autism that revolves around the idea that children are more likely to engage in behaviors that are rewarded than in behaviors that are ignored, or not recognized. Although a number of techniques for helping autistic children have been developed, ABA is one of the most widely accepted treatment strategies.

The goal of ABA is to help autistic children develop social skill sets, while reducing the likelihood of resorting to behaviors that are considered problematic.

Typically, children learn without intervention throughout their development. The environment they live in provides enough opportunities to learn how to play, develop language skills, and social skills. After a few years, children start requiring a structured environment to learn additional skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics. While this is a typical pattern for the majority of children, kids with autism require a structured environment much earlier on. Without this, their basic skill acquisition will be hampered, resulting in the characteristic behavioral problems associated with autism.

Autistic children do learn, but they learn much less from their environment than other children in the same age group. Instead, they need a structure to learn skills other kids notice in their early development, such as basic communication skills. ABA provides children with a learning strategy to obtain essential skills. This is done in a structured environment with a therapist. It is thought that if children with autism do not learn certain social and language skills within their first critical years, they become far more difficult to acquire later. To achieve the greatest benefit from any autism treatment strategy, it is therefore crucial to get an accurate diagnosis as early as possible. However, ABA treatment has still proven beneficial when started in older children as well.

ABA involves an intensive one-on-one treatment program with a trained therapist. Therapy can take up to forty hours a week, and focuses on your child’s unique learning needs. Success of this treatment strategy relies largely on the fact that ABA is performed on a one-on-one basis, and thus a program can be tailored specifically to your child.

Applied behavioral analysis begins with an assessment. This will show which skills your child already possesses, and which skills still need to be developed. Once identified, the skills that are still lacking become a central focus of the treatment program. Goals will center on skills that further academic development, communication, and social skills. The therapist will create different procedures to help teach your child.

A commonly used procedure to teach autistic children new skills with ABA is discrete trail training. In this learning paradigm, the therapist will give your child a cue, and the child then has an opportunity to respond. If your child produces the correct response, he or she is rewarded. What the reward is depends on the child. It has to be something he or she enjoys in order for it to be motivating enough to repeat the desired behavior in the future.

In training, a therapist will attempt to develop conversation skills by providing your child with a clue as to what the answer to a question could be. For example, a portion of a conversation between a therapist and a child could include the following steps:

• Therapist: Are you excited about your birthday?
• Child: - no response –
• Therapist: Are you excited about your birthday? Say, “Yes, I want to open my…”
• Child: Yes, I want to open my presents!
• Therapist: What presents did you ask for?
• Child: I asked presents
• Therapist: What presents did you ask for? Say, “for my birthday, I asked for…”
• Child: I asked for a firetruck.
• Therapist: That’s great! (Gives the child a reward).

If open ended questions are asked without these clues, often autistic children will reply with just a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, or not respond at all. ABA tries to address this by teaching your child how to respond to a regular conversation.

ABA is seen as a comprehensive intervention, which has to be carried out in natural settings whenever an opportunity presents itself. This means the skills your child has acquired in a one-on-one setting with a therapist have to be repeated and reinforced in day-to-day life. Although the skill is learned in therapy, unless it is translated to natural settings, your child may still not apply it. The learned behavior has to be reinforced constantly until it becomes second nature.

In addition to ABA, a few other behavioral therapies exist to help children with autism. These include relationship development intervention (RDI), and sensory integration therapy. The right strategy for you and your child will depend completely on your child’s unique needs. Seeing a qualified therapist will help you determine which treatment strategy might be best for your child and your family.

• Preschool Activities for Autistic Children
• Possible Causes of Autism
• Tips for Raising Kids with Autism
• What Is Your Autism Empathy Rating?

• Lesson Plans for Autistic Children
• Adult Autism Symptoms
• Social Skills Activities for Kids with Autism
• Speech Therapy Ideas for Autistic Children
• Famous Autistic People

• ABA for Older Autistic Children
• MAPS Programming for Autism
• Repetitive Behavior in Autism
• Inclusion for Autistic Middle School Students
• RDI