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ABA is increasingly becoming the preferred treatment approach for children on the autistic spectrum and has even been endorsed by a number of state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Surgeon General and the New York State Department of Health.
In the 1930’s, B.F. Skinner defined Behavior Analysis and demonstrated that the consequence of a behavior controls the likelihood of that behavior reoccurring. Today, this is applied to ABA programs by shaping behaviors through reinforcement of successive approximations, the use of prompting and fading procedures and reinforcement specific to the individual.
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Applied Behavior Analysis or ABA is: |
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Applied
Applied to socially significant behaviors |
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Behavior
Based on scientific principles of behavior |
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Analysis
Continually measured and adapted accordingly |
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| Verbal Behavior (VB), Applied Verbal Behavior (AVB), Natural Environment Training (NET), Discrete Trial Training (DTT),Lovaas and Precision Teaching are all different applications of the same science – ABA. |
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BIG may use any one or a combination of these methods in order to adapt the program to specifically address each child’s needs. As autism effects each child differently, so their programs must reflect these differences in how they are taught.
ABA is the science of human behavior. It addresses behaviors that are socially significant to individuals on the autistic spectrum. Areas include: communication such as verbal and non-verbal or the use of augmentative communication through pictures or signing. Behavior such as reducing unwanted/challenging behavior and encouraging self monitoring of behavior. Independent living skills such as independently using the toilet, dressing or feeding. Language skills such as auditory and written language comprehension, language expression, grammar and syntax. Play skills such as playing with toys appropriately, parallel play, interactive play or pretend play. Social skills such as using appropriate greetings and appropriate peer interaction or engaging in conversation or eye contact. Academic skills such as reading, numerical computation and writing. Theory of mind such as understanding other’s perspectives, understanding sarcasm, understanding facial expressions and showing empathy. Motor skills such as gross motor, fine motor and motor planning.
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ABA addresses: |
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Communication |
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Behavior |
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Independent living skills |
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Language skills |
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Motor skills |
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Play skills |
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Social skills |
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Academic skills |
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Theory of mind |
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Executive functioning |
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Reasoning skills |
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ABA and Autism: |
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ABA has been used with children on the autistic spectrum for several decades. It is necessary to have a comprehensive intervention system in place with a detailed curriculum which reflects each child’s strengths and weaknesses in order to be effective.
This starts with an assessment of each child’s individual learning needs to establish targets. These can range from very basic skills such as communication or imitation to more complex skills such as abstract reasoning and social development. All programs include provisions to shape existing behavior from eliminating aggressive or self-injurious behavior to developing social reasoning skills.
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Since our aim is to maximize each child’s ability and desire to learn, motivation for learning is key. These vary from day-to-day and child-to-child, so motivators are highly personalized. Reinforcement, in the form of a ‘high five’ or a specific toy or activity, is used to indicate when a child has responded correctly. Programs are customized for each child and are continually modified to deliver the best possible results.
Any problematic aspects of learning are broken down into small, achievable steps, and are then taught in a systematic and consistent way. All of the child’s successes are carefully reinforced and close, objective monitoring of each child’s progress is underpinned by precise data collection and observation.
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Benefits of ABA: |
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While children may experience different levels of success with ABA, each level brings with it a variety of benefits. For children with more modest results, the most common areas of improvement are an effective and consistent communication system, significant decrease in inappropriate behaviors and substantial increase in independent living skills.
Even modest improvements in these areas allow children to reap major benefits, such as entering less restrictive special education classrooms or participation in supported regular education classrooms and becoming more active family members.
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For those children who benefit from more pronounced results, they may achieve normal educational and intellectual functioning. These children can also show significant gains in social and emotional development. Some can even be successfully mainstreamed into traditional classrooms without the need of support and perform comparable to their peers.
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Benefits of BIG: |
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The Behavioral Intervention Group (BIG) is founded on ABA and has been developed with quality as one of the primary objectives. BIG is committed to taking a highly personalized approach that adapts each child's program specifically to meet his or her needs.
BIG’s aim is to always maximize each child’s ability and desire to learn, so programs may be more structured, play-based, NET or a combination. BIG believes the combination of parental involvement and a professionally designed program is critical to a child's success.
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