About ABA programmes
What is ABA?
ABA is a therapy based on the science of learning and behaviour. It is most commonly used for children with autism, but it can also be beneficial for children and adults in a wide range of situations, from helping the elderly with memory loss, to teaching a new language. The primary aim when working with children with autism is to enable that person to live the best possible life they can, through accessing more positive experiences of the world.
ABA therapy can help:
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Develop language and communication skills
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Improve social skills
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Increase attention, focus, memory, flexibility, problem solving skills
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Academic learning
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Decrease problem behaviours
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Teach daily living skills
ABA therapy IS…
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flexible (it can be adapted to meet the needs of each unique person)
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based on science (50+ years of research and thousands of controlled studies)
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great for teaching new skills (skills that are useful in everyday life as well as academics)
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able to reduce challenging behaviour (using best and ethical practices)
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supervised by experts (Board Certified Behaviour Analysts (BCBAs) oversee treatment)
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1 to 1 or group instruction
What does an ABA program involve?
Every ABA program will look different from the next as they are written to meet the specific needs of each individual learner. Not only will the targets be different but they may also vary in terms of timing and location. Sessions may take place within the school, at home, in the community, or a combination of all three. Therapy may be done in a one to one format or in a group. However, despite these differences, there will be common threads.
A good programme will have a consultant that is a qualified and trained behaviour analyst (BCBA or ‘Board Certified Behaviour Analyst’). They will write the programme and lead a team of anything from 1 to 5 ABA therapists (also called tutors). The therapists will run the sessions that may be anything from 10 to 30+ hours per week. The whole team, including the family, therapists and the consultant will meet regularly, typically monthly, to review progress, introduce new targets, and amend programmes.
Comprehensive assessments take place initially and then continue at regular intervals, and specific long-term targets are decided with the family. In a full time programme treatment goals tend to be spread between a range of skill areas such as:​
​ABA breaks down each individual target into many smaller steps; these are taught one by one, with the student only progressing when they have mastered each step. The therapists collect data to measure progress, and programme decisions are based on this collected information, ensuring progress is continually monitored and maximized.
How does ABA therapy work?
A central component of ABA is positive reinforcement. This refers to when a positive stimulus is presented immediately following a behaviour, resulting in that behaviour being more likely to reoccur in the future. For example, a mother gives her son a chocolate (positive reinforcement) for tidying his room (behaviour) when asked, so that the next time she asks he is more likely to tidy his room as a result.
Behaviour is understood by looking at what happens immediately before and after the behaviour, as well as understanding the setting and the relevant motivations. These are the ‘A-B-C’s’ of behaviour:
A: The antecedent – what happens just before the behaviour.
This could be an instruction, or a prompt, or something seen/ heard/ touched, or something internal such as a thought or feeling.
B: The behaviour –
This could be an action, something spoken, or even an unseen behaviour such as a thought.
C: The consequence- what happens immediately after the behaviour.
If this makes the behaviour more likely to happen in the future it is a reinforcing consequence, and if it makes the behaviour less likely to happen in the future it is a punishing consequence.
A simple example is:
In a dark room a person wants to turn the light on (motivation)
A: In a dark room a person sees a light switch (antecedent)
B: They flick the light switch (behaviour)
C: The light comes on (positive reinforcement)
Here’s another one:
A: A mother tells a child to brush her teeth (antecedent)
B: The child brushes her teeth (behaviour)
C: The mother gives her child praise and a cuddle (positive reinforcement)
And here is an example of how a problem behaviour can get reinforced:
A: A child sees chocolate in a shop and wants it (motivation and antecedent)
B: The child asks for it, then flops to the floor crying when told no (behaviour)
C: The parent is embarrassed and wants to stop the tantrum so buys the child the chocolate (positive reinforcement)
Through understanding the A-B-C’s of problem behaviours we are better able to reduce them. A behaviour analyst will initially assess what is reinforcing a problem behaviour - this is called the function of the behaviour. By understanding the function, we know how to ensure the behaviour does not get reinforced in the future. We will also think about teaching a more appropriate replacement behaviour so that the child can access the reinforcement without using problem behaviours. By understanding the antecedents we will think about how to change the antecedents to proactively avoid the behaviours happening. This may involve changing the environment, teaching new skills, and direct interventions such as reinforcing alternative or incompatible behaviours.
The history and research of ABA.
The first major and most well known research study of ABA was published in 1987 by Lovaas. This was groundbreaking research that demonstrated the effectiveness of ABA as a therapy for Autism. Within this research study 47% of the children receiving ABA attained a normal IQ and passed first grade, compared to only 1 child in the control group. 90% of the children receiving ABA substantially improved compared to the control group who received eclectic treatment. Lovaas’s ABA approach was an intensive 40 hours per week intervention based around Discrete Trial Training, a technique that is still used today.
Since this time, ABA has evolved and there have been many new techniques and approaches developed to aid application, such as PECS, Pivotal Response Training, Video Modelling, and Functional Analysis to name a few. New types of ABA therapy have developed, such as The Early Start Denver Model, PEAK, and ‘VB-ABA’ which is based around the principles of Verbal Behaviour. These off-shoots are also evidence based and have a growing research base to support their effectiveness (Baril and Humphreys, 2017; Dixon et al. 2014).
Much of the ABA research concerns Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention (EIBI), which is ABA delivered intensively (normally 25 to 40 hours per week) to young children (typically under 6 years old). In 2009, Eldevik and Hastings conducted a meta-analysis of EIBI for children with autism, and looked at 34 different studies. They found a statistically significant improvement in both intelligence scores and adaptive behaviours, and concluded that “EIBI should be an intervention of choice for children with Autism”. In 2010, Peters-Scheffer et al. conducted a meta-analysis involving 11 studies with 344 children with Autism. Through their analysis of these studies they concluded that their results “strongly support the effectiveness of EIBI”.
Being a scientific discipline, research on ABA is continually done on both small and large scale projects. ABA continues to evolve and develop as new techniques, approaches, assessments and curriculums are developed and evaluated.
Baril, E.M & Humphreys, B.P, (2017). ‘An Evaluation of the Research Evidence on the Early Start Denver Model’. Journal of Early Intervention. Vol. 39(4), p.321-338
Dixon, M.R., Whiting, S.W., Rowsey, K., Belisly, J. (2014) ‘Assessing the Relationship Between Intelligence and the PEAK Relational Training System’. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Vol.8(9), p1208-1213.
Eldevik, S., Hastings, R. P., et al. (2009). ‘Meta-Analysis of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention for Children with Autism’. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Vol.38(3), p.439-450.
Lovaas, O. I., (1987) ‘Behavioral treatment and normal educational and intellectual functioning in young autistic children’. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol.55, p.3-9.
Peters-Scheffer N., Didden, R,Korzilius, H, & Sturmey, P., (2010) ‘A meta-analytic study on the effectiveness of comprehensive ABA-based early intervention programs for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders’. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Vol.5, p.60–69.
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