It’s well established that Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy is the gold standard of early intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). ABA therapy provides children with autism the support they need to work on new skills, learn how to engage socially, and become more independent.
ABA therapy encompasses many different techniques to help each individual child with autism learn in a way that is safe and comfortable for them. The best way for your child to learn may be different from another child’s.
Seven BA Techniques to Help Your Child
ABA therapy is never a one size fits all approach. Through continued work and evaluation of your child, and continual feedback from you as the parent, you’ll partner with your child’s BCBA to fine tune a program that works best for your child’s individual needs. Here are some of the most effective techniques ABA therapy employs to help your child grow.
1. Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement is considered foundational to the ABA therapy model. Positive reinforcement uses praise and rewards to encourage a child to work on a new skill, or to repeat a certain behavior. The use of positive reinforcement can mean praise or small tokens (like stickers or more play time) when they display a positive behavior. By reinforcing the positive behavior with a reward, there is a higher likelihood that it will be repeated.
2. Discrete Trial Training
Discrete Trial Training (DTT) helps individuals with autism become more independent. DTT breaks tasks down into smaller, more manageable tasks that are easier to master on their own than the task as a whole. Using DTT can help children build confidence and gain more independence.
3. Natural Environment Teaching
Using a child’s natural environment as a teaching cool is at the core of ABA therapy. Using a child’s preferred environment and honing in on their particular interests can help a BCBA teach a child new concepts in a way that is easier for them to understand. For instance, if a child enjoys coloring and drawing, a BCBA can use this interest to teach them colors or use their artistic skills to help them draw and learn shapes.
4. Functional Communication Training
For non-verbal children, functional communication training is extremely beneficial. This ABA therapy technique empowers both non-verbal children and children with limited verbal skills with alternate means of communication. Through the use of functional gestures, communication devices, or picture exchanges, children learn to communicate effectively and are able to express themselves to others.
5. Maintaining Skills
When a child is working on a new skill, it is important to ensure that skill is able to be used outside of their ABA therapy center. New skills are introduced to children in different settings (for instance, during play and during one on one therapy sessions) so that the child understands it can be used in multiple environments and for multiple purposes.
Parents will work alongside their child’s BCBA to ensure that skills are also being used in the home. The maintenance of skills across different environments helps reinforce them and keep them fresh, encouraging a child to continue using them even when they move on to another skill.
6. Technology and Data Management
New advances in technology have made it easier for BCBAs to monitor a child’s progress. Through data collection devices and apps, a BCBA can quickly and effectively measure a child’s progress with new skills and tasks. This allows the BCBA to spend more time engaging with a child instead of spending time note-taking and updating files.
7. Prompting
The use of prompts helps a child with autism remember a positive behavior or task. For instance, if a child is working on learning to wash their hands after using the restroom, a BCBA may prompt them to visit the sink after they’ve gone to the restroom. Over time, the BCBA will begin to use “prompt fading,” which means they’ll prompt the child less and the child naturally remembers to wash their hands without the prompt.
Using All Methods of ABA Therapy
These techniques are just a few of the m methods used in ABA therapy. Your child may benefit from all of them, or just some. Your child’s BCBA will help determine which methods are most effective, and will continue to adjust your child’s program of development as your child grows.
Brad Zelinger is the founder and CEO of Stride Autism Centers.
Sources:
Applied Behavior Analysis in Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Scoping Review – PMC What Is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Therapy? – Forbes Health
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