The Ins and Outs of Applied Behavior Analysis – what it is and what is isn’t:

I recently read a great blog (http://abama.webs.com/) dedicated to the ethical application of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). The site draws attention to some very common misconceptions about ABA. For example, that ABA is only relevant to the treatment of autism, or that it is synonymous with Discrete Trial Training (DTT). Discrete Trial Training is a procedure that is based on the fundamental principles of applied behavior analysis, but it is only one of the many aspects of ABA. ABA is a methodology and much more than any one particular teaching procedure or intervention. It is based on many years of research into behavior, its causes, and techniques for changing behavior. ABA can be applied in any situation where a behavior change is desired. Other teaching methods included in an Applied Behavior Analytic approach include Incidental Teaching, Interspersal Teaching, Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), Verbal Behavior Training (VB), and many others.

DTT (sometimes referred to as the Lovaas method) is an intensive treatment designed to assist individuals who have developmental disabilities such as autism.  It involves systematically and intensively training a variety of skills that individuals with disabilities may not pick up naturally. It is often said that because these children do not learn the way we teach, we should teach the way they learn. Programs designed for children on the autism spectrum initially teach pre-learning skills (sitting, attending, looking at the therapist), social skills, self-help skills, communication skills, safety skills and basic concepts (colors, letters, numbers).  After these basic skills are mastered, higher-level skills are taught. DTT is conducted using intensive drills of selected materials.  Complex behaviors are broken down into small, reachable components. A specific behavior is prompted or guided, and children receive reinforcement for proper responses.  Shaping procedures are used to teach children to respond to other types of reinforcement, such as praise or breaks. Adversaries sometimes suggest that DTT promotes robotic responses in children but research has demonstrated a 50% recovery rate for autistic children who participated in discrete trial training 40 hours per week, including parent education, and began treatment during the preschool years. But like any therapeutic program, DTT, as well as ABA, needs to be tailored to meet the needs of the individual client because no two cases are alike. A good behavior analyst will know how to adapt a program to fit the child because as all of us working in the field of autism know, “when you know one person with autism, you know one person with autism”.