"Applied behaviour analysis is a science devoted to the understanding and improvement of human behaviour"
Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)
What is Applied Behavioural Analysis?
Behavioural Analysis is the study and measurement of a person’s behaviour. Once you have an understanding of why a person behaves in a certain way, will arm you with the tools to change it for the better. This is why the principles of ABA are being used functionally with children with Autism, and has shown more increasingly better results when used at an early stage in an autistic child’s life which is regarded as early intervention.
ABA for Autism
The principles of functional ABA are regarded and applied as a fundamental part of behaviour analysis and is a way of understanding, analysing and changing behaviour for people with autism or special needs. The principles of ABA have undergone substantial studies and investigations in a variety of different areas and there is also compelling evidence supporting its efficiency as a method for teaching children with autism, and has shown great results especially in early intervention stages.
ABA has now been recognised by many schools as well as tutors in the UK and internationally in the following ways in order to promote independence:
- Programmes which are individually designed based on a person’s short, medium, and long term needs where progress is regularly monitored and adapted to suit their immediate needs.
- This would involve Breaking down tasks, even simple ones, into a series of steps, with every step forward preparing the way for the ne next.
- Success is then reinforced with consistent praise and rewards that motivate each individual child, so that the small segments of learning gradually build up into an understood and meaningful “complete"
Which ABA Principles Can Be Applied To Teaching?
The principles of ABA as applied to a teaching model are:
- Personalised learning which attends to each individual’s weakness and builds on strengths
- Breaking down goals into small achievable targets
- A consistent and well structured environment
- Positive reinforcement of correct responses