In this post, I will help you determine if ABA is good or bad for Autistic children.
You will learn about the pros and cons of Applied Behaviour Analysis therapy (ABA).
Find out why it is so popular and controversial at the same time and why it has been at the centre of heated debates so often.
What is ABA?
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a therapy that aims to improve specific behaviour.
It can be communication, social skills, academics or fine motor skills.
Other behaviours that ABA might help with are self-care or skills like preparing meals, shopping or cleaning, among many others.
ABA is mainly used with Autistic people, but it can also be used with people with other developmental or psychological disorders.
You can apply it in schools, clinics or at home.
Psychologist Ole Ivar Lovaas developed ABA in the 1960s.
His inspiration came from the work of a famous behaviourist, B.F Skinner.
This form of therapy followed Lovaas’ early work of using positive and negative reinforcement to change the behaviours of people engaged in challenging behaviour.
Subsequently, it progressed into the ABA therapy we know today, which uses positive reinforcement to teach and promote social skills, communication, and personal habits to Autistic people.
Uses of ABA
ABA can be delivered through different activities and usually involves intensive daily interventions.
Some forms of Speech therapy interventions base themselves on ABA. Check my post here to learn about PECS, an example of an ABA-inspired intervention.
Additionally, Applied Behaviour Analysis is a base for Positive Behaviour Support (PBS).
PBS is a person-centred approach to supporting people with Learning Disabilities (many also with Autism).
It helps people with challenging behaviours like hitting, screaming, injuring themselves or others etc.
Much research has concluded that ABA therapy makes a difference in people’s lives because it teaches them all the necessary skills to function in society.
ABC or how ABA works
ABA aims to break the behaviour into smaller steps.
The therapist (or parent or teacher) then teaches those steps to the child.
Next, they reward them for carrying out those steps successfully.
The therapist identifies the ABCs of the behaviour:
- Antecedent
- Behaviour
- Consequence
The antecedent is what happens immediately before the behaviour. It might be something that triggers or prompts the behaviour.
The response is then the behaviour itself (an action or something verbal, for example).
What immediately follows the behaviour is the consequence. It is when the therapist introduces the reinforcement (the “reward”).
Controversy around ABA
Applied Behaviour Analysis Therapy has become controversial, and people may have strong views about its use.
Some Autistic people and their advocates oppose these forms of therapy.
They don’t want to be “fixed” and taught all these skills, and they don’t see their condition as a disorder.
Instead, it is a form of neurodiversity that everyone should accept.
They don’t want to suppress their natural feelings, habits and behaviours and be “normal”.
What adds to the controversy of the ABA is that the first attempts at the therapy used electric shocks as a reinforcement.
They were to punish the unwanted behaviour.
In this post, I’m discussing the pros and cons of Applied Behaviour Analysis therapy to help you decide if this treatment is suitable for your child.
What is good about ABA
Aims of ABA
Applied Behaviour Analysis Therapy aims to:
- Improve language and communication skills
- Boost attention, focus, social skills, memory, and academics
- Reduce problematic behaviours (hurting others, self-harm)
- Help with social abilities like completing tasks and learning new skills
- Help with self-control and self-regulation
- Teach how to use learned behaviours in new environments
- Modify the learning environment to challenge them in specific scenarios
Decades of experience
Behaviour Analysis and its methods have been around for decades.
There is a lot of research, and it has been used and implemented over the years.
Studies show that ABA has helped many children gain different skills – from self-care to communication.
ABA has been around since the 1960s with autistic children and with other
developmental disorders.
Using ABA therapy in different settings
ABA therapy can always be adapted to the person receiving it and their needs.
It can occur at home, school, the clinic or the community.
It is versatile and can be used individually with one-to-one interventions but also in groups.
It can underpin other interventions; see my post here.
Working in a school and health service, I have noticed several professionals and practitioners using ABA everywhere, all the time, in many different forms.
Schools, for example, use PECS to communicate with Autistic children.
People with Learning Disabilities who display challenging behaviours can get support through Positive Behaviour Support plans. The ABA principles underpin these plans.
Its use is broad and common.
Person-centred approach
ABA strategies are not “one size fits all.”
They are not fixed sets of instructions and prescriptions or recommendations.
Instead, each program is designed to meet the individual person’s needs and is unique.
The target of an ABA program is to help each person work on skills that will help them become more successful and independent.
ABA program is designed and overseen by a qualified therapist or psychologist who can customise it.
They can personalise the program to each person’s needs, skills, interests, preferences and personal circumstances.
The therapist starts by doing a detailed assessment of each person’s skills and preferences.
They use this to design specific treatment goals.
It often includes individual preferences and family goals, so the process involves everyone.
These goals are designed with the age and ability level of the autistic person in mind and can include many different skill areas.
So how does ABA therapy look in practice?
The guidance designed for each person breaks down every skill that needs working on into small, concrete steps.
The therapist can start teaching each one at a time.
They will begin with simple ones (e.g. imitating single sounds), evolving to more complex (e.g. having a conversation).
The therapist or psychologist can measure progress made.
They collect data in each therapy session.
It helps them to monitor if the person has been making progress in reaching the goals designed for them.
The behaviour analyst often meets with family and others to review progress information.
In this meeting, they will discuss and adjust the plan and goals.
Parents, family members and caregivers can get training, so they are on board.
They can support learning and skill practice throughout the day between therapy sessions.
On the receiving end
During the therapy program, an Autistic person will have ongoing opportunities to learn and practice skills daily.
It can be through planned activities but also spontaneously occurring situations.
For example, a child who might be practising saying thank you can have an opportunity to use this skill in a classroom with their teacher (planned) and in a shop (spontaneous).
The autistic child will receive lots of positive reinforcement for displaying learned skills and socially appropriate behaviours.
The focus of ABA therapy is on positive social interactions and enjoyable learning.
The child will not get any reinforcement for negative or unwanted behaviours.
Controversy
Forcing change and fitting neurotypical standards
Several people criticise Applied Behaviour Analysis therapy because it aims to change a child’s behaviours.
Autistic children may find it difficult and be misunderstood during therapy sessions.
Autism advocates call for understanding that instead of trying to change children to fit in better socially, we should change the environment to better suit autistic people.
ABA intends to make autistic children fit neurotypical standards.
Children on the Autism Spectrum have different needs and process information differently; you cannot expect them to look and act like their neurotypical peers.
Physical punishment
ABA originated in the 1960s, and in its earliest version used punishments and rewards.
These punishments even included electric shocks.
Nowadays, we no longer use punishments in Applied Behaviour Analysis Therapy.
Still, some people think the program is too hard on kids because it is repetitive.
They also believe that the skills children learn can only sometimes be transferable to other situations.
Eliminating behaviours
Some people are critical of ABA therapy because it concentrates on eliminating behaviours instead of building skills.
They say that the therapy should focus on what children should be doing rather than what they shouldn’t.
Instead of investing time and energy in trying to make some behaviours go away, the program should be devoted to teaching new skills.
It is intensive and tiring
Critics say that ABA might be too tiring for children as it is very intensive.
Initially, the program aimed for 40 hours of interventions a week to be able to see results and have an impact on the child’s behaviour.
Although nowadays, we rarely carry out 40 hours of therapy a week, it is still demanding for some.
Verdict: Is ABA good or bad for your Autistic child?
Unfortunately, it is not easy to clearly say if ABA is “good” or “bad” because every Autistic person has different needs.
It is important that you choose interventions that suit your child and their goals.
It would be best to consider what they want or what you wish for them.
Will they be happy with the newly learned skills?
Do they want to be independent?
Is the therapy to improve their skills to keep them safe?
Only you know your child best and can decide what is good for them.
I hope I have shed some light on the pros and cons of the ABA and helped you decide if it is the right thing for your child.
Let me know what you think about Applied Behaviour Analysis Therapy in the comments.
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