Applied Behavior Analysis
What is Applied Behavior Analysis?
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a natural science of human behavior that applies evidence-based strategies in real-world settings, such as clinics or schools, with the aim of improving issues of social importance (e.g., behavior problems, skill acquisition).
When is ABA useful?
ABA interventions are typically address specific skill deficits, such as social skills or self-care skills, or other behavioral concerns (e.g., aggression, self-injury, disruptive behavior, pica). For behavioral concerns, we usually assess why the behavior is developing an individualized, function-based treatment. Typically, treatments involve teaching the child more appropriate ways to communicate wants and needs, changing how we react to problem behavior, and teaching the child how to tolerate delays and denials.
Is ABA effective?
ABA interventions have proven effective at addressing a wide range of behavioral concerns with many different individuals. Decades of research have shown that ABA interventions are effective in reducing problem behavior and establishing adaptive skills in children, adolescents and adults with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities (including autism spectrum disorder) in home, school, clinic, community and industry settings.
Common features of all ABA interventions include:- objective and reliable measurement of socially important behavior;
- procedures that are replicable and based on the principles of behavior;
- established experimental designs and precise control of the environment, which allow for the objective evaluation of intervention outcomes; and
- effective and durable treatments.
Is Applied Behavior Analysis evidence based?
Based on the empirical evidence, many scientific, government and professional agencies and organizations have concluded that ABA-based procedures represent best practice for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder.
Endorsements:- Surgeon General of the United States
- The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
- American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- AMA CPT codes recognizing ABA as an empirically supported and medically necessary intervention for autism spectrum disorder and other behavior-related conditions.
- Autism Speaks
- Organization For Autism Research
- National Autism Center's National Standards Report
- The National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders
- The Association for Science in Autism Treatment (ASAT)
- Centers for Disease Control
- American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development