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The following article was published in Your Health Magazine. Our mission is to empower people to live healthier.
Jennifer Tennyson, MA, BCBA
The Amazing Results Of Applied Behavior Analysis
Personalized Therapy, LLC
. http://www.personalizedtherapyllc.com

The Amazing Results Of Applied Behavior Analysis

As more children are diagnosed with autism each year, more families become “Autism Families.” An autism diagnosis affects the entire family. One parent even described the diagnosis of her son as, “not just grievingbut mourningmourning the child I thought I would have and life that I thought he would have.” While the child with the diagnosis may be directly affected with autism, the entire family is impacted by the skills deficits, problem behavior, and a myriad of medical, school, therapy, and meeting schedules to juggle.

Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurological disorder characterized by restrictive and repetitive behaviors and deficits in the areas of social interaction and verbal and nonverbal communication. The Center for Disease Control reports that one in 68 children have been diagnosed with ASD.

This means that over three million individuals in the United States carry an autism diagnosis. While there is currently no known cause or cure for autism, one thing is certain, is that Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is the most effective, research based therapy. Intensive ABA intervention can yield amazing results.

ABA is a science that analyzes the effects variables in the environment have on behavior and then manipulates those variables to produce a meaningful positive change in behavior. Behavior, in ABA, simply means anything an individual says or does.

For example, having a conversation with your neighbor is behavior, taking a sip of water is behavior, and telling your sister to “Go Fish” during a card game is behavior. Professionals called behavior analystslook at and analyze these behaviors, to determine the function of behavior (the why). They then alter the environment to change the behavior. In a nutshell, behavior analysts seek to increase, by positively reinforcing, socially appropriate behavior and reduce or extinguish maladaptive or inappropriate behaviors.

Behaviors that have a good or rewarding result are more likely to occur in the future. For example, a child asks their brother to wrestle with him he says yes and then they both have a great time laughing and spending time together. He is then more likely to ask his brother to wrestle again in the future. But how does that help individuals with autism? ABA, when used as an intervention for individuals with autism, seeks to find what motivates that individual. In the example above, that motivation was fun and laughter. Behavior analysts then harness that found motivation, break skills down in to smaller steps, and use that motivator to increase and teach desired behavior such as language, communication, and social skills and to decrease maladaptive behaviors such as aggression, self-injury, and repetitive or obsessive behaviors.

Not only is ABA effective, for many families affected by autism, it is life changing. The son of the parent who was quoted at the beginning of this article participates in an ABA program. When she was asked how ABA has helped her family, she states “We used to not go out in public, it was just too difficult. But, since starting ABA our family has become whole again. We can participate in community events, go on vacations, and my son is even playing baseball this spring, which is something I never thought would be possible. ABA gave me back my hopes and dreams and it gave my family back our life.”

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