What is ABA?

ABA, or Applied Behavior Analysis, is a systematic methodology grounded in the principles of learning and behavior. ABA looks at how the environment shapes how we behave. When writing a treatment plan, we look at how we can change the environment to produce meaningful changes. For example, if we want to teach your child how to stay in bed throughout the night, we would start with an assessment to determine why your child is getting out of bed. Does she need to use the bathroom? Does she want to snuggle with you? Does she wake up and need a parent to fall back asleep? Is she thirsty? Once we’ve determined why the behavior is occurring, we would think about what aspects of the environment we could change to make the undesired behavior (e.g., getting out of bed) less likely to occur and less desirable, and to make the target behavior (e.g., staying in bed) more likely to occur and more desirable.

Why ABA?

Thousands of scientific peer-reviewed articles demonstrate positive outcomes when the principles of ABA are used to both increase appropriate behaviors and decrease inappropriate behaviors. ABA has been endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, National Academies of Science, and the Surgeon General as the best practice for individuals with autism. Even though much attention has been placed on the use of ABA with individuals with autism, research has also demonstrated the effectiveness of ABA with many other populations including individuals with dementia, ADHD, destructive behavior, pediatric feeding disorder, and traumatic brain injury to name a few.

Interested in learning more about who ABA can help?