ABA wasn’t established as a field until 1968, much later than similar fields like medicine that have been around in some form for thousands of years. ABA has since been scientifically validated to be an effective treatment for those diagnosed with autism and its related disorders (Simmons, D., 1995). Due in part to its effectiveness in treating those with autism, news and media make it seem as though those in the ABA field can only work with individuals with autism. however; those trained in ABA have successfully worked in many different fields and on many different behaviours. Here are just some of the things that ABA has been used for;
Reduction/cessation of smoking
Eating Disorders
Criminal Forensics
Animal Training
Training Athletes
Gymnasts
Footballers
Ballet Dancers
Addressing Addiction
Business
So why the controversy? Beginning in the late 1960’s the field of ABA was just being established and it looked very different. While we know today that ABA is a safe and effective therapy for many behaviours, early practitioners had no guide on how to apply the principles they learned about behaviour to improving people’s lives. The use of behaviour principles in therapy was called “behaviour management” and early practitioners and programs relied too heavily on punishment strategies (meaning consequences that reduce a behaviour) due to their immediate results on reducing unwanted behaviours. Common punishers in those days included very loud noises, electric shocks, and water or food being withheld. As the field has grown so has our understanding of the principles of behaviour.
What About Punishment?
Early ABA practitioners used punishment strategies because they worked rapidly to reduce problem behaviours, so what was the problem? The problem was that they didn’t teach their client what to do instead. What often happened was a circle where a behaviour (like biting one’s self) was punished and would cease, only to be replaced by another, more intense behaviour (like banging one’s head on the floor. By the 1980’s the heavy use of punishment had reduced drastically and the field shifted toward a focus on what really changes behaviour, motivation. For a more in depth look at punishment check out our article on punishment and negative reinforcement.
Moving Toward Rewards and Motivation
Practitioners applying new research from the field of ABA found that using rewards for appropriate behaviour was vastly more effective at creating and changing behaviour. This shift was reflected in the field of ABA as a whole as therapists and practitioners prioritized rewarding clients for appropriate behaviour while making sure that inappropriate behaviour was simply not rewarded, rather than punished.
Is ABA Too Tough on Kids?
In the 1960’s there was a push to provide services at 40 hours per week for every client. This is no longer the norm and, while some research has shown that such high intensity of services is effective for some clients, most of those in ABA services today tend to receive from 10 to 30 hours per week of behavioural services, depending on personal need.
Research has demonstrated that humans, especially children, tend to learn best during play (Zosh et al, 2017) and ABA practitioners are typically trained to make services feel like play. ABA also focuses on training those providing direct services to be as animated and energetic as possible, so that services feel light and fun.
As an example; if I am working with a child on making eye-contact when spoken to and following directions I might tell the child that we are going to play a game of soldiers. I would let the child know that before we start the game I need to know they are listening and looking at me. The game of following directions as a soldier gives me the opportunity to have my client practice all of the directions they need to know and have fun doing it. As the client gets better and better at the game, we can start to practice in more serious ways and I can describe why it is important to follow directions by using statements like, “Stopping when we hear the word “stop” helps keep us safe and healthy”.
Is ABA Only For Problem Behaviours?
Some see ABA as a treatment only for “problem behaviour”; things like hitting, screaming, and running away. This is mainly due to “a few bad apples spoiling a batch”. Some practitioners fail to account for teaching their clients new, appropriate behaviours to replace the ones that were not safe or effective. This leads into a treatment cycle where the therapist is able to reduce an unwanted behavior, only to have another rise in its place. At Cayman ABA we have a 1:1 rule which is; if you are going to reduce a problem behaviour (tantruming for a cookie), you have to increase, or teach, an appropriate behaviour also (asking politely for the cookie).
Most ABA practitioners today use the science of ABA not only to reduce behaviour for their clients, but to teach all sorts of skills, from tying shoes and stating maths facts, to learning about sarcasm and how to change your tone when telling a joke. At Cayman ABA we tailor our interventions to our clients as individuals and typically have many more programs teaching or increasing a behaviour than we have for decreasing a behaviour.
Additionally, many in the field of ABA apply its principles not just for their clients, but for themselves. I used the principles of ABA to study for an important test and had a colleague use it to increase their exercise per week. ONce you know how effective rewards and motivation can be, it becomes the way you view the world. Want to increase a behaviour of your own, like studying or responding to emails? Start rewarding yourself when you study, or when you respond to an email right away.
A Message of Hope
The initial stated mission of the science of behaviour analysis was to save the world through the knowledge that the scientific study of behaviour brings. At Cayman ABA we realize that we probably can’t change the world, but we can teach kids the skills they need to thrive in the world and we can help families feel like they are not alone.
References
Simmons, D.A. The NAAEE Standards Project: Papers on the Development of Environmental Education Standards; North American Association for Environmental Education: Troy, OH, USA, 1995. [Google Scholar]
Zosh, J.M., Hopkins, E. J., Jensen, H., Liu, C., Neale, D., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Solis L.S., & Whitebread, D. (2017). Learning through play: a review of the evidence.Demark: LEGO Foundation