ABA: The Basics in a Child's Development

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) uses principles of learning and behavior to help children build meaningful skills. ABA may focus on areas such as communication, daily living skills, social participation, independence, and emotional or behavioral regulation depending on the child’s individual needs and goals. Families who are new to ABA can also explore our ABA Therapy Basics for Parents for a broader introduction to how ABA therapy works.

Techniques

ABA uses a variety of techniques to teach new skills and behaviors. These techniques include:

Positive reinforcement

ABA uses positive reinforcement to reward desirable behaviors. This can be in the form of praise, tokens, or other rewards. By reinforcing desirable behaviors, ABA helps children learn new skills and behaviors.

Prompting

ABA uses prompting to help children learn new skills. This involves providing cues or hints to help the child learn the correct response. As the child becomes more proficient, the prompts gradually fade out.

Shaping

ABA uses shaping to help children learn complex behaviors. This involves breaking down the behavior into smaller, more manageable steps and gradually building up to the desired behavior.

Chaining

ABA uses chaining to help children learn complex sequences of behaviors. This involves breaking down the behavior into smaller steps and teaching each step separately before chaining them together.

Skills

ABA has been shown to be highly effective in improving a wide range of skills and behaviors in children. ABA can help children develop:

• language and communication skills, including speaking, listening, and understanding language.
• social skills, including making friends, sharing, and taking turns.
• self-help skills, including dressing, grooming, and feeding themselves.
• academic skills, including reading, writing, and math.
• problem-solving skills, including identifying problems, generating solutions, and evaluating the outcomes of their actions.

The skills addressed in ABA therapy depend on each child’s individual needs and treatment goals. Families can learn more about the benefits of ABA therapy, including communication, daily living skills, regulation, social participation, and greater independence.

ABA therapy should be individualized around each child’s strengths, needs, communication style, daily routines, and meaningful goals. The techniques used may vary depending on what the child is learning and how they respond to different teaching strategies.

ABA360 provides individualized, BCBA-supervised ABA therapy services in New Jersey for eligible children with autism. Families can also review our ABA therapy FAQs to learn more about eligibility, assessment, Medicaid/NJ FamilyCare, and how to get started.