Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)

Applied Behaviour Analysis focuses on improving socially significant behaviours using behavioural principles, derived from the science of behaviour. Applied Behaviour Analysis is an evidenced based approach for improving the skills of children within the autistic spectrum with the purpose of improving their quality of life. Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention, could lead to significant positive outcomes for the child’s development, by systematically teaching skills that children are missing, in order to achieve specific developmental milestones.There is also significant research demonstrating the positive outcomes of ABA in improving a variety of different behaviours, supporting learning and leading to positive outcomes even in areas such as marketing and management etc. Behaviour analysis can be applied, in general, to achieving positive behavioural changes, in many different areas.

Functional Behavioural Assessments, used in behaviour analysis, focus on identifying the trigger (the need that person tries to communicate) for each challenging behaviour. ABA views socially inappropriate behaviours, as a way for the person to communicate an unmet need. A plan is then created focusing on proactively teaching a skill to communicate that need successfully. The plan also includes strategies on how to respond to challenging behaviour, when it occurs, to avoid reinforcing the behaviour in the future. The final goal is to make challenging behaviour irrelevant. For example, a child who has learnt to engage in physical aggression to get access to attention/emotional support, can be taught how to ask for emotional support proactively by using a socially appropriate way to communicate. If the child’s environment reinforces the new behaviour, there will be no need to engage in challenging behaviour in the future.

Useful Articles and Resources

The top 10 reasons children with autism deserve ABA
The Daily BA
Let me hear your voice: A family’s triumph over Autism

How Is ABA Being Implemented:

One of the main principles in applied behaviour analysis, when it comes to teaching communication, as well as other new skills, is the use of motivation. While other approaches present teaching as a demanding process, leading the children to view it as something aversive, ABA focuses on making learning fun and motivating. During an ABA session communication and other skills are being taught during structured teaching at the table and reinforced in a systematic way (Intensive Table Teaching-ITT), as well as in the child's natural environment (Natural Environment Teaching-NET) using activities that the child prefers, to assist with the generalisation of the skills. ABA can also be used for broadening the variety of items and activities that the child finds reinforcing. When the focus is to reduce socially inappropriate behaviour, an assessment (functional behavioural assessment) informs the plan that will be implemented in order to replace this behaviour with a socially appropriate and functionally equivalent one that serves the same need.

Target Audience

Applied Behaviour Analysis, and behaviour principles in general, can be used in a variety of settings where the focus is to teach a new behaviour or change an old one (e.g. education, performance management, marketing, politics etc). ABA is popular for teaching individuals with autistic spectrum disorder due to the extensive research that demonstrates its effectiveness. Children with autism, as young as 2 years old, can start an intensive intervention based on ABA. EIBI has been proven to be effective in supporting young children diagnosed with autism, as it focuses on covering developmental gaps at an early stage. Children are having the opportunity to be taught in a systematic way, from a young age, how to communicate their needs in a socially appropriate way. The frequency of the ABA sessions depends on the personal needs of each child.