How ABA Works

What happens during sessions?

Children learn through play and that’s what most ABA sessions look like. The therapist will pay attention to what your child is interested in and will use those toys and activities to teach new skills. For example, if your child likes cars the therapist may teach your child how to label the car is doing, imitate actions with the car, follow directions to roll the car or open the door, etc. If your child is interested in video games, the therapist may use these topics to work on answering questions or conversational skills.

Depending on your child’s age and their goals, the therapist may also mix in periods of table work (DTT) where they sit with your child in a more structured setting to work on very specific learning goals. Throughout the session the therapist will pay close attention to your child’s readiness for learning and adjust how they are teaching and interacting.

The therapist will collect data throughout the session on your child’s progress towards their goals. The therapist will also summarize the session in a session note.

The supervising BCBA will also be present for 10-20% of sessions. During this time, the BCBA will make any changes needed to the plan (add new goals, modify teaching strategies, etc.) and help troubleshoot any challenges with the therapist. The BCBA will summarize this information in their own session note.

How does ABA work?

Skill Acquisition

Skill strengths and areas of need are identified during the assessment. The BCBA will choose goals to work on and add these to the treatment plan. Depending on the goal, teaching may occur through a combination of strategies. Examples of strategies are:

  • Positive reinforcement

  • Play-based teaching

  • Structured table work (DTT)

  • Shaping behaviors to get them closer to the goal

  • Repetition

  • Teaching prerequisite skills

  • Breaking large skills to individual components

  • Generalizing learned skills

  • Planning for skill maintenance

Behavior Reduction

The BCBA will gain an understanding of what causes challenging behaviors through the assessment and during ongoing therapy. The BCBA will want to understand what the behavior is attempting to gain or avoid. Once the cause is identified, the BCBA may introduce one or more strategies:

  • Teaching a replacement behavior to meet the same need

  • Reinforcing alternative behaviors such as functional communication

  • Making modifications to reduce the likelihood that the behavior is “triggered”

  • Modifying how those in the child’s environment respond when the behavior occurs

  • Setting the child up for success through environmental changes

We can help.

Curious about whether ABA is is the right fit for your family? Contact us to find out more!