ABA and Autism
When it comes to autism, ABA has become synonymous with the methods and
research of Dr. Ivar Lovaas. (This is why ABA is sometimes actually called
"Lovaas" within the autism community!) Lovaas, a psychologist, first
applied ABA to autism at the Psychology Department at UCLA in 1987. His idea
was that social and behavioral skills could be taught, even to profoundly
autistic children, through the ABA method. Indeed, his idea turned out to be
quite correct: Many if not most children who receive ABA training learn to
behave appropriately at least some of the time -- and some even lose their
autism diagnosis after years of intensive therapy.
How ABA Works
The Lovaas Method of ABA starts with "discrete trials" therapy
(sometimes referred to just as "dicrete"). A discrete trial consists
of a therapist asking a child for a particular behavior (for example,
"Johnny, please pick up the spoon"). If the child complies, he is
given a "reinforcer" or reward in the form of a tiny food treat, a
high five, or any other reward that means something to the child. If the child
does not comply, he does not receive the reward, and the trial is repeated.
It's important to note that the specific content of the discrete trials
therapy is based on an evaluation of the individual child, his needs, and his
abilities. So a child who is already capable of sorting shapes would not be
asked to sort shapes indefinitely for rewards -- but would focus on different,
more challenging social and/or behavioral tasks.
The very youngest children (under age three) receive a modified form of ABA
which is much closer to play therapy than to discrete trials. As they master
behaviors, well-trained therapists will start to take learners out the
classroom or home setting and into more natural settings, where they can
practice and adapt their new skills to the real world
| · | Applied - principles applied to socially significant behavior |
| · | Behavioral - based on scientific principles of behavior |
| · | Analysis - progress is measured and interventions modified |