After decades of study, ABA therapy has been proven effective for autism.
Welcome to Part 2 of our series exploring the top four treatments for children with autism. If you missed Part 1, you can catch up here.
This installment will provide you with important insights about ABA therapy and why it’s most often the first treatment recommended for children after they’ve been diagnosed. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get started!
ABA is short for Applied Behavior Analysis
As the name suggests, ABA is a type of Behavior Analysis – the scientific study of behavior and how people learn.
ABA therapy uses the knowledge that has been learned through the science of Behavior Analysis to help improve the lives of children and adults with autism.
Autismspeaks.org explains it well. ABA therapy applies our understanding of how behavior works to real-life situations. The goal is to increase behaviors that are helpful and decrease behaviors that are harmful or impede learning.
Key elements of ABA therapy
- ABA therapy emphasizes positive reinforcement to change a child’s behavior. Have you ever offered your child something they want, like time to play video games, as a reward for doing their homework? That’s an example of positive reinforcement. When they get something they really want, a child is more likely to repeat the behavior. In this case, the behavior is doing their homework. Positive reinforcements encourage a child to continue doing the skill, and over time, it leads to meaningful change in their behavior.
- Another important aspect of ABA therapy is understanding what happens right before a targeted behavior and right after. With this knowledge, we can better understand why a behavior is happening and how different consequences (like positive reinforcement) can affect whether the behavior is likely to happen again.
- ABA therapy uses several techniques to change behavior and teach new skills. Three of the most used are prompting (where a child is given a verbal or visual cue to get a desired response); shaping (where a child is rewarded each time they get closer and closer to a desired response); and chaining (a way to teach a new skill by breaking it down into smaller, easier-to-learn steps.)
- To make meaningful changes in a child’s behavior, they should be able to use skills they learn in a specific situation and apply it to a variety of other settings. In ABA therapy, this is called generalization and it helps children be more independent.
- Data! During each ABA therapy session with a child, a lot of data is collected to document a child’s responses and uncover what works and what doesn’t. By looking at the data as a whole, adjustments can be made to increase success and add new challenges as goals are being met.
Wide-ranging benefits of ABA therapy
ABA therapy not only helps decrease unwanted behaviors, it also works to improve a child’s development in many critical areas, including:
- Language and communications skills
- Social skills that contribute to success in school and throughout life
- Attention, focus, memory, and academic skills
- Self-care skills, like bathing and toileting
- Fine and gross motor skills (for example, using your hands and physical activities, respectively)
The overall goal is to help children become more independent and reach their full potential.
The ABA therapy process itself
ABA therapy starts with an evaluation of your child to determine areas of their development where they need extra help. The findings of the evaluation will be used to create an individualized therapy plan that outlines goals for your child and the steps to get there.
Therapy itself will either be one-on-one or in a small group setting of 2-3 children. Most children start in one-on-one therapy to learn prerequisite skills they need to progress into a group therapy situation with other kids their age and at their skill level.
As we mentioned above, data is collected during the entire therapy session and reviewed periodically with parents to ensure the child is making progress on their individual goals.
Many children attend therapy several times a week for several hours every day. School-aged children often spend half their day in school and the other half in ABA therapy.
Thankfully, most insurance plans cover ABA therapy!
Important factors for success
- Early intervention – Children with autism as young as two can benefit from ABA therapy. The earlier children start, the better the short and long-term outcomes
- Individualized therapy – All children are unique. Their ABA therapy plan should be, too. One size does not fit all.
- A naturalistic and fun environment – Children learn best when they are relaxed and enjoying themselves. ABA therapy that makes learning natural is best.
- Parent training – It’s vital that parents learn basic techniques of ABA therapy so they can reinforce skills at home that their child has learned in therapy.
- Social interaction with peers – Children need the opportunity to learn social skills in a low-pressure environment with their peers. Center-based ABA therapy programs are ideal for this.
- Find the best ABA therapy provider – You can minimize your search by going directly to org, where you can find a thoroughly evaluated and accredited provider in your area.
We hope you found this information helpful. If you have any questions about ABA therapy, get in contact with the experts here at The Behavior Exchange. If you in live North Texas or the greater Boulder area in Colorado, we’d love to meet you and give you a tour of our custom-designed hives.
Want to continue learning about autism treatments? Watch for Part 3 of our series on autism treatments coming next week!
