About ABA

ABA therapy techniques are often used by professionals as a basis for designing behavioral intervention for autistic individuals. This is used to teach children to respond to requests and to communicate. The ABA therapy approach teaches children through play as well as more structured practice called “Discrete Trial Training. ABA takes in consideration the cognitive-developmental level of the child, as well as any possible neurological challenges, such as sub-clinical seizures, that may affect the child’s behavior. ABA methodology places more emphasis on engaging the child on his own terms, learning in natural settings, and using the child’s own curiosity about a subject in which to build a lesson. The focus is on engaging the child continually and encouraging engagement with the world around them. During the session, children frequenct breaks between activities and are consistently rewarded for social engagement and functional communication.

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ABA therapy methods are used to support persons with autism in at least six ways:

To increase behaviors (e.g. reinforcement procedures increase on-task behavior, or social interactions);

To teach new skills (e.g., systematic instruction and reinforcement procedures teach functional life skills, communication skills, or social skills);

To maintain behaviors (e.g., teaching self-control and self-monitoring procedures to maintain and generalize job-related social skills);

To generalize or to transfer behavior from one situation or response to another (e.g., from completing assignments in the resource room to performing as well in the mainstream classroom);

To restrict or narrow conditions under which interfering behaviors occur (e.g., modifying the learning environment);

To reduce interfering behaviors (e.g., self-injury or stereotypy).

Who Needs ABA?

ABA therapy methods have been used successfully with many kinds of learners, both with and without disabilities and in many different settings. It is a science that was theorized and developed long before there was any thought of applying it to Autism Spectrum Disorder, and it is used around the world to help people overcome many different kinds of social and behavioral difficulties including: quitting smoking, personality disorders, relationship counseling, obsessive compulsive disorders, ADHD and other common human issues. In addition, several studies are available that support the use of ABA therapy programming with children affected by any number of different disabilities including downs syndrome, cerebral palsy, emotional disorders, and general developmental delay…

Through long term experiment and study, ABA therapy has become a valuable tool for autism intervention and studies supporting ABA therapy intervention are being published in many scientific journals such as “The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities,” “The Journal of Early and Intensive Behavioral Intervention (JEIBI),” and “The Journal of Speech and Language and Applied Behavior Analysis.”

References

1. BMC Psychiatry. (n.d.). Comprehensive ABA-based interventions in the treatment of children with autism
spectrum disorder – a meta-analysis. Retrieved from https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com

2. Dillenburger, K., & Keenan, M. (2009). None of the As in ABA stand for autism: Dispelling the myths.
*Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability*, 34(2), 193-195.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13668250902845244

3. Leaf, R., & McEachin, J. (1999). *A work in progress: Behavior management strategies and a curriculum
for intensive behavioral treatment of autism*. DRL Books.

4. Magiati, I., Charman, T., & Howlin, P. (2007). A two-year prospective follow-up study of community-based
early intensive behavioral intervention and specialist nursery provision for children with autism spectrum
disorders. *Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry*, 48(8), 803-812. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-
7610.2007.01756.x

5. Matson, J. L., & Smith, K. R. (2008). Current status of intensive behavioral interventions for young
children with autism and PDD-NOS. *Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders*, 2(1), 60-74.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2007.03.003

6. Odom, S. L., Boyd, B., Hall, L., & Hume, K. (2010). Evaluation of comprehensive treatment models for
individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. *Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40*(4), 425-
436. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0848-0

7. Reichow, B. (2012). Overview of meta-analyses on early intensive behavioral intervention for young
children with autism spectrum disorders. *Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42*(4), 512-520.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1218-9

8. Steady Strides ABA. (n.d.). A detailed guide to ABA therapy techniques. Retrieved from
https://www.steadystridesaba.com

9. Steinbrenner, J. R., Hume, K., Odom, S. L., Morin, K. L., Nowell, S. W., Tomaszewski, B., Szendrey, S.,
McIntyre, N. S., Yücesoy-Özkan, S., & Savage, M. N. (2020). Evidence-Based Practices for Children, Youth,
and Young Adults with Autism: Third Generation Review. *Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders,
51*(11), 4137-4163. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04844-2

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