APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS (ABA)

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), also called Behavior Therapy, or Behavior Modification utilizes methods derived from scientifically established principles of behavior. ABA has been successfully applied to various populations in areas including Autism, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, all forms of education, business, mental health, counseling, child abuse, etc. Over the past 30 years or so, there has been growing evidence that early intensive behavioral intervention by means of ABA results in improved developmental progress and intellectual performance in young children with autism and related disorders.

ABA was identified as the treatment of choice for individuals with autism in the early 1980s. Since then, individuals with autism and related disorders have been successfully educated and treated. There is a general consensus that individuals with autism and related disorders receive some degree of benefit from ABA. For more than 45 years, therefore, agencies using ABA have successfully provided residential and non-residential autism services for thousands of school-age children.

Behavior Analysts, researchers, and other practitioners in the field have concluded that ABA is the only therapy recognized to treat children with autism. No other educational or treatment approach to autism has been found to meet the standards of scientific proof that are met by ABA, and there are no other scientifically valid treatments that produce similar treatment, educational, or outcome results. Investing in early ABA intervention for young children, therefore, is financially worthwhile, whether the results lead to complete or partial effects.

ABA uses scientifically validated methods incorporated into a comprehensive, but highly individualized package. ABA programs are applied consistently through the use of explicitly written programs for each skill to be taught or maladaptive behavior to be treated, and by having the Behavior Analyst who is responsible for the child’s program train everyone who works with the child to implement it. To increase the likelihood of the generalization of treatment efforts, it is critical for therapists/parents be trained to implement the programs across situations, settings, and people, maladaptive behaviors such as aggression and self-injury are not reinforced, whereas specific, appropriate alternative behaviors are either taught or maintained through positive reinforcement.

Before ABA treatment, an evaluation is conducted to assess the child’s skill and development levels. This evaluation assists in the selection of therapeutic goals, and the treatment regimen that is developed considers all pertinent domains, including academic, communication, leisure, play and self-care, and social in determining which skills will be taught. The next step is to break down each skill into smaller and more easily taught component skills or steps. As the child progresses, the skills that are taught are increased in complexity. Attention is given to the achievement of developmental milestones with the overall goal of providing the kind of regimen that will ensure that each child reaches his or her highest potential and level of independence.

Critical to the therapeutic process is the direct and frequent measurement of the child’s progress. The data from these observations are graphed to portray how each targeted skill and maladaptive behavior has responded to the treatment effort. The Behavior Analyst responsible for the child’s program frequently checks the graphed and recorded data to determine if reasonable progress is occurring and to make any necessary programmatic adjustments.

Ongoing review of the child’s responsiveness to the intervention and treatment personnel allows problems to be identified and corrected quickly. Treatment consistency is also assured by having the responsible Behavior Analyst frequently observe the treatment efforts so that feedback can be provided to the program implementers.

In ABA, each child is seen as a unique individual. High levels of consistency, repeated and consistent presentations of material, individually selected and strategically used motivators, careful use of prompting procedures, and systematic planning for generalization are used to establish and maintain a positive treatment environment.

All ABA programs strive to organize therapeutic experiences that will lead to enduring positive changes over time and across settings in such crucial areas as toileting, feeding, social skills, and language.

Lastly, a professional with advanced formal training in Behavior Analysis directs all ABA interventions. The person should have at least a Masters degree and supervised experience in designing and implementing ABA programs for children with autism and related disorders. These professionals have either met the educational, experiential, and examination performance standards of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) and are Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) or can document that they have equivalent training and experience. They adhere to the BACB’s Guidelines for Responsible Conduct and base all treatment decisions on the best available scientific evidence.

ABA AND EFFECTIVE INTERVENTION IN

AUTISM

The Expert ABA Consulting team follows an array of guidelines for effective intervention for children with autism and related disorders. We believe in the following:

Intervention should be initiated at the earliest possible age and must be intensive.
Parent training and support are critical.
Intervention should focus on social and communication domains.
Treatment should be systematic, built upon individualized goals and objectives tailored to the child.
Effective intervention that emphasizes generalization.

The Expert ABA Consulting team also believes in the following effective interventions in educational programs for children with autism and related disorders:

Early entry into intervention.
Intensive instructional planning (5 or more days a week, 25 hours per week, year round.
Use of planned teaching in frequent brief instructional sessions.
One-to-one or small group instruction to enhance the achievement of individualized goals.
Use of specialized intervention such as Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT) and Incidental Teaching (IT).
Systematic and individualized instruction.
Development of spontaneous social communication, adaptive skills, appropriate behaviors, play skills, and cognitive and academic skills.
Progress monitoring, generalization of skills, use of skills in generalized settings, and the creation of opportunities to interact with typically developing peers.

ABA METHODS USED BY THE EXPERT

ABA CONSULTING TEAM

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT: A child’s appropriate behavior is followed by a pleasurable event as praise, a hug, a check mark a favorite activity, etc.

SHAPING: Rewarding a child’s behavior that approaches the target behavior or goal.

FADING: Reducing the child’s dependence on the therapist for help.

PROMPTING (Providing Stimuli): Cueing child to try a behavior.

MAINTENANCE AND GENERALIZATION: Using strategies to ensure that recently learned behavior will last and be performed in other environments.

ANTECEDENT INTERVENTIONS: Analyzing and altering the antecedents that trigger the behavior, ignoring the behavior, or providing desired consequences. These include Noncontingent Reinforcement (NCR), High Probability Request Sequence- High-P (Behavioral Momentum), and Functional Communication Training (FCT).

DISCRETE TRIAL: A single cycle of behaviorally based and instructional routine. This is characterized by a one-on-one interaction with the trainer/educator; short, clear instructions; careful use of prompting and fading; and immediate reinforcement for correct responding.

INCIDENTAL TEACHING: Embedding learning opportunities in ongoing everyday activities with a focus on child’s interest and initiation. This is used to help children learn behavior in less structured situations. The overall teaching model is to move the individual’s instruction systematically from one-to-one with a trainer/educator, to a small group, and ultimately to a larger group.

DIRECT INSTRUCTION: Carefully designed curriculum, teaching in small groups, scripts, signals, and choral responding, applying specific techniques for correcting and preventing errors.

TREATMENT OF ABERRANT BEHAVIOR

The Expert ABA Consulting team uses the following strategies to treat aberrant (atypical or abnormal) behavior in children and adolescents with autism and related disorders:

Interventions are designed only after a formal Functional Analysis identifying the variables that control the behavior is conducted- a hypothesis-driven treatment model.

Arrangements are made to ensure that the stimuli that can, at times, control inappropriate behavior are present before, during, and after the aberrant behavior are treated.

Skill-building strategy is employed, wherein new behaviors are taught to serve the same functions as the aberrant behavior.

Situations such as frustration, boredom, and protracted periods of inactivity are eliminated, because they are known to occasion aberrant behavior.

The least restrictive treatment model is followed, wherein the least intrusive but effective procedure for a specific inappropriate behavior is selected based on a review of treatment literature.

Aberrant behavior is not allowed to produce escape from educational activities.

The complexity of social reinforcement and tasks are increased as the client’s behavior becomes increasingly more appropriate.

Choice making and problem solving are emphasized.

Treatment staff members are selected who are functional for the child, because they are associated with positive reinforcement.

The participation of the child’s significant others, typically parents, in every treatment decision is expected and encouraged. Parents and family are significant and valuable sources of information, because they know the child’s learning history, reinforcer preferences, communication skills, and history of inappropriate behavior.