Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) Therapy

Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) is probably the best-known, best-researched, and the only treatment for children with autism that has produced significant and comprehensive improvements, up to and including recovery.

ABA is a specialised area within the field of Psychology. The goal of ABA is to apply specific psychological principles (e.g., reinforcement, prompting, generalization, etc.) to issues that are socially important (like autism) to produce meaningful change (Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968/1987).

“ABA involves the breakdown of all skills into small, discrete tasks, taught in a highly structured and hierarchical manner. Central to the successful application of this method is the art of differential reinforcement. That is, the therapist or parent learns how to systematically reward or reinforce desired behaviours, and ignore, redirect, or discourage inappropriate behaviours. Also central to any well-run behavioural program is the therapist’s close monitoring of what is working and what is not working. Data on the child’s learning are recorded regularly and the therapist adjusts the teaching programs and protocol with respect to what the data indicate about the child’s progress.” (Maurice, Green, and Luce, 1996)

In Little Beginnings Academy Centre, our ABA program aims to improve your child’s everyday functional skills by increasing useful behaviours and reducing that which may interfere with daily activities and learning. Programs are tailored to each child’s learning style and sessions can be conducted at our Centre or your home, and then generalized to other settings including nursery, school and community.

The LBA ABA program:

  • Focuses on changing behaviour by understanding the reasons for the behaviour.
  • Teaches communication, social, self-help, motor, adaptive and academic skills based on age-appropriate developmental milestones.
  • Ensures that each child receives an individualized ABA program with learning objectives to reflect their unique strengths and needs.
  • Provides monthly clinical supervision and case management on your child’s program to ensure progress and updates as goals are achieved.
  • Supports parents and other family members throughout all the years the child attends our Centre.

Many young children who receive intensive interventions based on the principles of ABA have been shown to make gains in language, academic performance, adaptive behaviour, and their outcomes have been significantly better than those of children receiving other treatments, or no treatment. Across age and skill levels, ABA has over 50 years evidence of success.

Our team uses the principles of ABA to ensure that treatments are evidence based, data-driven, scientifically validated, and conceptually systematic.  ABA programs are highly individualized and dynamic, and reviewed on an ongoing basis with parents to ensure continued progress.

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