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1. What should I do after the diagnosis? 2. Do behavioral principles apply to everyone? 3. Until what age can an individual benefit from ABA? 4. Are there children that ABA is not right for them? 5. Does an ABA intervention involve bribery? 6. Why reinforce a child for something he or she needs to do anyway? 7. What does the intervention teach the child? 8. What results are to be expected? 9. What is the recommended intensity for a young child? 10. What about parental involvement? 12. Is it recommended to combine treatment approaches? 14. What happens when the child cries?
1. What should I do after the diagnosis? When children are young time is precious. Every day in which there is no intervention the child misses learning opportunities. The ABA approach encourages early intensive intervention, and this is why results are obvious in the early stages of an intervention. It is important to get information and arrive to an informed decision about the treatment approach. Considerations should also include costs, so that long term consistency could be verified. It is important to talk to other parents and hear about their experiences with different approaches, as well as receive some support. It is also important to remember that a parent’s choice for their child is not necessarily right for another parent or child.
2. Do behavioral principles apply to everyone? Yes. However, the selection of strategies and their application is different and changes across individuals, according to necessities. Each individual is different, has different genetic factors, different physical attributes, different learning history, and different circumstances.
3. Until what age can an individual benefit from ABA? ABA intervention can benefit any individual. The principles of behavior analysis apply to all humans, with and without disabilities, in all ages. However, the earlier the intervention starts, the better, quicker, and longer lasting the change is.
4. Are there children that ABA is not right for them? Based on the theoretical approach and experience, we believe that the answer is not. However, since an early intensive intervention requires a lot of effort from the environment (consistency, cost, etc.), the intervention might not ‘fit’ the environmental characteristics.
5. Does an ABA intervention involve bribery? The intervention involves the use of reinforcement strategies. This is different than bribery. Moreover, the use of bribery by a behavior analyst is unethical. A reinforcer is an event or a stimulus that follows behavior and increases its occurrence.
6. Why reinforce a child for something he or she needs to do anyway? Reinforcement occurs in a natural way in the natural environment. We make sure it occurs in the right timing and the right magnitude. For skills that are to be acquired, the child requires a great amount of reinforcement in order for learning to occur.
7. What does the intervention teach the child? Early intensive intervention focuses on every area of development. With children diagnosed on the autism spectrum, the social, language and communication areas are emphasized. As a rule of thumb, behavior analysis aims to increase and develop adaptive behavior, and decrease inappropriate behaviors. The intervention program is adapted according to individual necessities and environmental conditions.
8. What results are to be expected? The progress, like the intervention, is individual. Each child progresses at his or her own rate. However, there are some variables known to affect progress. These include: age (the younger the child the better the progress), genetics, consistency, and intensity.
9. What is the recommended intensity for a young child? The need for intensity changes according to the child’s necessity. However, when there are a number of needs, including language, communication, and socialization, and the child is young, research shows a clear advantage for interventions based on a minimum of 25 weekly hours. The practice opportunities effect the child’s learning and achievements.
10. What about parental involvement? Parental involvement is recommended and identified as one of the variables contributing to success. Therefore, parents receive training and weekly update. They are encouraged to participate (unless other variables, such as behavior change) in sessions, or watch sessions on video or DVD. Parents also take an active part in determining intervention objectives.
Sessions are filmed for two main purposes: (1) for internal evaluation, and (2) in order to enable working parents to watch the sessions and act consistently.
12. Is it recommended to combine treatment approaches? The most important variable for treatment selection is that it’s evidence-based. In other words, that the treatment is based on scientific literature. Behavior analysis is based on more than 50 years of research. Any other element that is considered as a part of the treatment should be considered if it has scientific evidence.
Behavior analysis is a scientific approach that investigates laws governing behavior. All humans, with or without disabilities, who are looking for behavioral change, can benefit from its applications. The most known applications are with individuals diagnosed with autism, mental retardation, phobias, ADHD and other attentional disorders, OCD, ODD, CD, amongst others. ABA is also effectively applied in the school environment for the establishment of a positive learning environment.
14. What happens when the child cries? Crying is natural, and indicates stress and adjustment difficulties. The most important thing here is the gradual nature of the intervention. The first phase of an intervention is called ‘pairing’, in which a positive environment is established and gradually increasing demand is presented. However, some children still cry because the learning process is not easy, and demand is not something they are used to. It is important not to reinforce the crying, in order for it not to become an effective communicational strategy. The right treatment, though, should bring to a minimum of crying (or any other inappropriate behavior) and a maximum of success.
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