What is ABA and what is an ABA programme?
What exactly is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)?
Put simply, Applied Behaviour Analysis is the study of human behaviour. It is the application of principles derived from the science to change a person's behaviour in a way that benefits the person and those around them. Typically developing children learn without intervention as the world around them provides the right conditions to learn language, play, and social skills. Children with autism learn much less easily from the environment. They have the potential to learn, but it takes a very structured environment, one where conditions are optimized for acquiring the same skills typical children learn "naturally." ABA provides us with the tools to structure the environment to enable children with autism to learn.
Decades of research have validated treatments based on ABA to support its efficacy in teaching young children with autism. As with all educational fields it’s a dynamic field and continues to develop with the ever growing research.
How does it work in practice?
ABA is a style of teaching which uses a series of trials to shape a desired behaviour or response. Skills are broken down to their simplest components and taught through a system of reinforcement. Prompts (little hints) are provided as necessary when the child is learning a new skill. As a skill is mastered the prompts are faded until your child can perform the task independently. Ultimately we want to generalise every taught skill so that your child can perform independently across all settings. ABA is a step-by-step approach and it is data-based which means your child's progress is well documented. This documentation is reviewed regularly so that we can amend the programme and ensure that as your child progresses our programmes are adapted and developed according to their needs.
What does an ABA programme include?
There are two areas of intervention when designing a programme, the skill-building component and the behaviour management component. Your child’s programme may involve one of these or more usually, both. The behaviour management component involves managing any problem behaviours e.g. toileting issues or hitting. The skill-building component is very relevant when dealing with such inappropriate behaviours. For example, if a child usually uses aggressive behaviour to get what he/she wants, we would teach that child to request in a more appropriate way (such as a vocal, sign or picture). We would always ensure that any problem behaviour is replaced with a more effective and appropriate one where necessary.
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