What is ABA?

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a science that is committed to understanding and improving behavior in the environment. How is Applied Behavior Analysis different from the rest of psychology? The field of ABA focuses on objectively defining behavior and is continuous in discovering variables in the environment that reliably influence behavior. Based on the observation, the results are quantified and described in order to make a socially significant change to the individual's behavior.

When a parent asks me what is ABA?

This is what I say " Our environment is constantly improving and changing our behavior. We eat because we are hungry, we drink when we are thirsty, we work to get our paycheck at the end of the month so we are able to buy all the things we love and we slow down when we see a cop to avoid a ticket. These things in the environment either motivate us to behave or make us avoid punishment  in order for us to live a better life. That in a nutshell is ABA"

This is how we look at behavior:

Antecedent ( What happens before the behavior occurs) 






Behavior ( What is the behavior that is occurring)






Consequences ( What happens after the behavior has occurred)

These is called the three term contingency or the ABC's of a behavior.

How is iABA applied to autism?

Children with autism take time to learn different tasks. Based on the environment, the instructor will help them learn each task (which will be objectively defined) by using little steps at a time and provide reinforcement ( a tangible thing they love) for each step completed correctly and independently. Over time, as the child gets more independent, the tangible reward is faded out and the learner will be able to do the task that is being measure all by himself/herself. This is just a glimpse into how it is applied. There are other ways to teach behavior. All the strategies that are used are derived from the literature that has shown statistically significant improvement of a behavior over time.

There are many treatments out there that claim to "cure" autism. Autism has no cure.  A good treatment should report all it's outcomes and evidence so parents are able to see significant behavior improvement. With good treatment, the diagnosis of autism can be taken away. A great website that I always refer parents to the Association for Science in Autism Treatment. They have great suggestions and amazing resources for any treatment you choose for your child. The most important thing is to be aware and always make evidence based decisions in regards to the treatment you choose.

I hope this was helpful. Email me anytime with questions !!