Applied Behavior Analysis And Autism: Does It Really Work?

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a scientifically proven method to understanding how the environment, on both a physical and a social level, affects behavior.

Decades of research have helped to develop specific techniques for not only rewarding good behaviors, but for significantly reducing those behaviors that could interfere with learning or potentially cause harm to others.

ABA And Autism

Since the 1960s researchers and behavior analysts have been working with both children and adults with autism, including other development disorders associated with autism. The analysis was useful for not only working on behaviors, but also for gaining better understanding how the mind of an Autistic child works., particularly around the area of learning. Since then, the techniques have been further developed to assist those on the spectrum from toddler through to adult.

These techniques can be employed in a more formal setting such as in a school classroom, and also within the home during normal routines. This therapy can be conducted as a one on one session, or in a group session, which also proves useful. ABA is considered one of the safest and most effective treatment options for autism, and has been endorsed by a number of agencies throughout the United States.

What Are Some Of The Techniques And How Do They Help?

Many of these techniques teach basic skills such as reading, holding conversations, understanding another person’s perspective, which is a skill a lot of autistic children are lacking, and skills such as listening, looking and imitating. To work out what is the best plan of action, each child or adult is treated as an individual case, and the techniques are tailored on a case-by-case level. The therapist will analyze what is needed for each person, and this could be based on their existing skills, needs, interests, family situation and their preferences.

See Also: Living With Autism

There will still be some commonalities in practice, and the family or support carers will also be instructed how to implement each technique so that it can be continued in the home.

Each goal and instruction is designed to target a broad range of areas, such as sociability, communication, play, self-care, academic skills and motor development. These goals are aimed at empowering the child or adult to become more independent not only in the short term, but as a long-term skill. One of the most important factors is providing ongoing positive reinforcement for appropriate behaviors and demonstration of learned skills. For some children, this is done by a reward system, which has proven to work very well with many.

Applied Behavior Analysis: Methods Of Measuring Behavior

How Is Behavior Measured?

ABA involves measuring behavior in a number of ways. Verbal communication is measured by a classification system that includes:

• Tact – responding in an appropriate manner
• Mand – response reinforced by characteristic consequence
• Intraverbals – response to questions
• Autoclitic – quantification, grammar and qualifying statements

Behavior is also divided into four subcategories as follows:

• Repeatability – how many times the behavior occurs
• Temporal extent – duration the behavior lasts
• Temporal locus – when the behavior occurs
• Derivative measures – percentage ratio and number or response opportunities required

How Quickly Does This Benefit Autistic Children?

The speed at which effectiveness is gained through ABA depends largely on the child in question. Some skills can be picked up very quickly, whereas others may take a lot longer depending on the complexity of the skill, and the child’s ability to learn. Often, intensive and long-term instruction is needed as the process involves achieving goals step by step. Those that do learn skills quickly, will often pick up one skill rapidly, but take much longer to learn the others.

 All autistic children have some aspect of difficulty with social interaction, and some are completely incommunicable. Others may be able to communicate in a way that seems excellent, but there will still be an issue with either what they are saying, how they listen to others, who they talk to, or how they read other people’s body language. Many people think that communication is just the ability to talk, but there is so much more than that involved in effective communication and interaction.

Research Studies

Research is ongoing to continue monitoring the effectiveness of ABA and to further develop the techniques associated with the treatment. However, studies that have already been done that include participants from toddler through to adult, have all shown great improvements in the skill sets ABA is developed to work with. Improvements have been shown in the areas of communication, play, social relationships, school, employment and self-care. The use of ABA also demonstrated an increase in family and community activity participation.

Studies have also shown that many autistic children who participate in ABA programs have a significant improvement in the areas of reasoning, learning, communication and adaptability. This enables these children to be a part of the mainstream world, particularly in the school environment, instead of having to be enrolled in special schools.

However, studies have also indicated that not every child responds to ABA as positively, and may continue to struggle with learning. This is a small percentage of the children studied, and research is ongoing to find out why some children respond so well to ABA and others don’t. Unfortunately it is still difficult to predict how a child will respond to ABA until the process is initiated.

ABA is also beneficial to adults and teens with autism, and this has been validated by recent studies. ABA techniques have been shown to help with the transition into independent living and employment opportunities. However, research is still being undertaken to fully analyze the benefits of ABA in adults.