Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is one of the most widely recognized and reliably diagnosed developmental disorders. Behaviour Therapist describes autism as a disorder characterized by deficits in communication and social skills, and excesses, such as ritualistic behaviour and tantrums (Green, 1996). Children often require exact and clear instruction and practice of the essential missing skills in autism in the areas of social interaction, communication, self-regulation and organisational skills in order to be more independent learners.
ABA is widely used as a behavioural (psychological) intervention for children with ASD. Early intervention and concentrated behaviorally-based treatment, have shown tremendous results in systematically teaching skills and minimizing problematic behaviours in schoolchildren with ASD. A systematic rewards-based model to encourage social behaviour is enforced by the ABA therapist in an integrated manner along with the caregiver and an intervention team. The process is entirely behaviorally focused. If a child responds positively or as expected (depending on the goal), he/she receives a reinforcer from the therapist. The child responds incorrectly, he/she does not receive a reinforcer and the therapist will deliver a correction procedure.
Behaviours are modified by consequences that follow them and are strengthened and maintained by reinforcement. This can be done at home as well as in a school setting (Smith, 2011). Since there are so many people involved in a child’s daily life it is important to strive to use behavioural teaching to bring out the best in each child. The therapist studies and evaluates the child’s behaviour and develops treatment plans to improve the communication and behaviour skills necessary for achievement in their personal and skilled lives. The therapists evaluate and modify the treatment as it progresses. For a successful ABA program, the plan needs to be consistent with constant feedback and correction of a child’s behaviour. A study conducted by Lovaas has demonstrated that nearly 50 % of the children in the ABA program benefit from higher functioning as compared to only 2% of the control group who did not receive the treatment.
ABA helps a child with ASD improve specific behaviour, reading, communications, social skills, academics as well as adaptive learning skills such as fine motor, and gross motor skills, hygiene, grooming, domestic capabilities, and life skills. The therapist keeps constant track of the child’s pattern of behaviour and responds accordingly. Collaboration with the child, parents, teachers and other therapists helps achieve the common goal faster and better. Skills taught through behavioural analysis, empower the child, the caregiver, and people who are around the child. This gives confidence to the child as he/she learns independence, social skills and how to deal with frustration. Once they learn to be more confident in their day to days skills, they are able to build bonds with people around them.
Children receiving ABA care have shown an increased level of cognitive ability, language skills, adaptive ability, enforcement abilities and even compliance. Evidence suggests few children who received ABA therapy were eventually able to attend classes with their non-disabled peers (Ryan et al 2014). This suggests that ABA interventions implemented early on in a child’s life can result in long-term positive goals (Ryan et al 2014).
ABA is recognized as a crucial and scientifically valid method of educating and managing children and youth with ASD. However, it is noticed that ABA is at the centre of a number of debates regarding methodological preferences for educating students with ASD. Since ABA is a customized program for an individual-focused program and the therapy is modified to suit the child, this can make research studies harder to conduct. Since every child with ASD is unique, it becomes challenging for the therapists to describe what the child’s individual results will actually be. ABA therapy can be expensive and time-consuming, which means the therapist may recommend up to 40 hours of therapy each week. A stressful schedule for a child who is unfamiliar with this type of change can lead to more frustration. Another important element of ABA is reinforcing/ maintaining a positive behaviour through rewards may not work always work with children with ASD as they are picky and may not always like the chosen reward. Also, sometimes the child may get tired of the reward or finicky on a daily basis and can lead to more frustration. Hence, parents/the therapist may always be on the hunt for new reward as it the basis of changing the child’s behaviour.
ABA forces child with autism to model the same behaviour as his/her healthy peers therefore some detractors say that this approach is abusive, unethical and wrong. Some researchers believe that ABA forces children with autism to hide their true nature in order to fit in. It is unfortunate that damage done by ABA therapy through continuous conditioning can affect reliance and lead to learned helplessness. Last, but not least several may not be able to hire specialized support, they often rely on special education teachers to care for children with special needs. Even when they have a behaviourist available, they might not have the funds to actually provide one-on-one attention.
ABA is a laborious but effective intervention program for children on the Autism Spectrum. The power of ABA is in its evidence-based results and it has been proven to have the best results across all domains: behavioural, language, social and cognition and it has result-driven data supporting this approach compared to other methods (Rosenwasser, Axelrod, 2002). Early diagnosis and intervention have shown that almost 50% of children with ASD can be taught to the mainstream, allowing them to lead happy and independent lives. Even if mainstreaming is not possible, ABA can help over 90% of children make substantial gains (Lovaas, O. I. 1987). ABA therapy allows us to see progression and regression easily, it is geared towards the child’s needs, and almost every child that has done ABA has shown some amount of progression in their abilities.
References:
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Association for Science in Autism Treatment. Accessed December 28, 2016. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), Autism Speaks.
ABA Therapy, Center for Autism & Related Disorders. Accessed December 28, 2016.
Behaviour Analysis Certification Board. About Behaviour Analysis. Accessed December 29, 2016.
Lovaas, I. O. (1987). "Behavioral Treatment and Normal Educational and Intellectual Functioning in Young Autistic Children". Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 3-9.
Smith, D. (2010). From the Classroom to the Family Room: Using ABA for the Best Behaviors. Smith, T. (2001). Discrete Trial Training In The Treatment Of Autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 86-92.
Green, G. (1996), “Early behavioural intervention for autism: what does research tell us”, in Maurice, C., Green, G.and Luce, S.C. (Eds), Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism: A Manual for Parents and Professionals, PRO-ED, Austin, TX, pp. 29-44.
Rosenwasser, B., & Axelrod, S. (2002). More Contributions of Applied Behavior Analysis to the Education of People with Autism. Behaviour Modification, 3-8.
Ryan, J., Hughes, E., Katsiyannis, A., McDaniel, M., & Sprinkle, C. (2011, 2014). Research-Based Educational Practices or Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Council For Exceptional Children
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