ABA is the only empirically proven intervention to help children with Autism. Replicated research findings demonstrate that nearly half of children who receive early, intensive ABA therapy overcome ASD. Progressive Kids prides itself on its natural, unique style of this evidence-based approach.
What is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)?
Applied Behavior Analysis, ABA, is an evidence-based practice proven to help treat children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD. Behavior analysis is the science of behavior. ABA is the process of systematically applying interventions based upon the principles of learning theory to improve socially significant behaviors to a meaningful degree (Baer, Wolf & Risley, 1968/1987; Sulzer-Azaroff & Mayer, 1991). Replicated research findings indicate nearly half of the children diagnosed with Autism can succeed in the mainstream setting if given appropriate and intensive therapy (Lovaas, 1987). ABA has been known as the only scientifically proven intervention to help children with Autism (Axelrod & Rosenwasser, 2001).
What is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?
Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD, is a neurodevelopmental divergence that affects social and communication skills resulting in behavioral challenges and learning differences. ASD is classified as a spectrum disorder because the diagnosis encompasses a range of functioning from low to high. ASD can be attributed to a combination of genetic and environmental influences. ASD is a growing epidemic that currently affects 1 in 36 children in the United States. ASD is about four times more prevalent in males than females. ASD can be diagnosed by a developmental pediatrician, neuropsychologist, neurologist, psychologist and psychiatrist based on evaluations at as early as 18 months of age. Early diagnose and early intervention are key in treatment of ASD.
Literature Review on Applied Behavior Analysis
by Jamie Kraus, M.S.Ed, BCBA, LBA
Autism Spectrum Disorders, or ASD, is a neurodevelopmental disorder ranging in severity and affecting an individual’s cognition, socialization, language and communication, motor skills and daily adaptive skills (Ben-Itzchak & Zachor, 2007). ASD has continued to rise over the last decade with 1 in 36 children and is 4 times more prevalent in boys than girls. This makes ASD more prevalent than pediatric AIDS, cancer and diabetes combined (Autism Speaks 2011). The Center for Disease Control has used the term “epidemic” to describe the increase in diagnosis.
Applied Behavior Analysis is the only scientifically proven treatment for Autism Spectrum Disorders (Axelrod & Rosenwasser, 2001). Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA, is an evidence-based practice targeting the increase or decrease of intellectual, social, language and communication behavior (Daly, Grey, Honan & McClean, 2005). “ABA has been recognized by the surgeon general of the United States as the treatment of choice for autism in the mental health report for children” (Axelrod & Rosenwasser, 2001).
In 1987, pioneering research by Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas at UCLA suggested that 47% of children diagnosed with ASD could overcome their disability, participate in mainstream classes, and fail to meet the criteria for an ASD diagnosis after several years if given an intensive Applied Behavior Analysis treatment program at a young age (Lovaas, 1987). Dr. Lovaas revealed in studies of children with ASD that compared to 2% of children who received ten or less hours of ABA per week, nearly half of children who received 40 or more achieved normal intellectual and educational functioning by age seven and had sustained gains at age 11 (Lovaas, 1987; Lovaas, McEachin, & Smith, 1993).
While not all children made this level of progress, even children that remained diagnosed made good progress and gained skills with ABA treatment (Ben-Itzchak & Zachor, 2007). Intense ABA intervention has had greater outcome than non-intensive (Lovaas, 1987). A 2005 study reported that after participants with ASD at two and a half years of age received approximately 40 hours a week of ABA for four years, all participants had substantially increased their IQ, adaptive functioning, daily living skills, socialization, language and communication and 48% succeeded in regular education by age 7 (Graupner & Sallows, 2005). In 2006 a study compared young participants with ASD receiving 35 to 40 hours of ABA in a community setting to their same-aged participants being serviced in a special education class in public school. It was verified that after three years of intense ABA therapy 6 participants were fully included in regular education and 11 participants were included with shadows as opposed to only one participant from the special education class that moved on to regular education (Amerine-Dickens, Cohen, & Smith, 2006). A study in 2007 showed that all two-year-old participants with ASD made significant gains post ABA intervention including doubling behavior assessment scores in imitation, receptive language, expressive language, play skills and nonverbal skills and decreasing stereotyped behaviors in half (Ben-Itzchak & Zachor, 2007).
ABA intervention was recognized more beneficial than eclectic intervention, which was a combination of methods such as Developmental Individual-Difference Relationship (intensive program consisting of child-directed floor time play), The Treatment & Education of Autistic & Related Communication Handicapped Children (an individualized program built upon children’s strengths that incorporates visual support and family involvement), as well as ABA (Cohen, Green, Howard, Sparkman, & Stanislaw, 2005; Eikeseth, Eldevik, Jahr, & Smith, 2002). As reported in 2007, children with ASD who received 35 hours per week of ABA were compared to an Eclectic-Developmental Intervention group who received three hours per week of various interventions including partial ABA. 20% of participants in the ABA group lost the ASD diagnosis and 20% changed to a less severe diagnosis of ASD. On the other hand in the ED group, none of the participants lost the diagnosis and 15.8% changed to a less severe diagnosis (Ben-Itzchak, Lahat, Rabinovich, & Zachor, 2007).
The growing statistic of children with ASD has yielded an amplified need for early intervention and school accommodations. In order to properly educate children with ASD in an inclusive classroom, special educators must receive adequate training in an evidence-based practice (Allen & Loiacono, 2008). Research suggests that ABA is an appropriate option for classroom implementation, however many special education teachers are not adequately trained. Thus, the need for Special Education Itinerant Teachers (SEIT) to compensate. If children receive intense therapy services at home, they can enter a mainstream classroom with the facilitation of a SEIT to generalize skills and learn incidentally from typically developing peer models.
It has been the purpose of ABA to prepare children with ASD to be included in regular education in what would be their least restrictive environment. Mainstreaming has been proven to be an achievable goal of ABA therapy (Graupner & Sallows, 2005; Lovaas, 1987). ASD has been considered the fastest growing developmental disorder in the United States (Allen & Loiacono, 2008). Until the 1980s ASD was largely considered to be untreatable, and therefore Dr. Lovaas’ research was groundbreaking in that it revealed almost half of the children who had received intensive behavior programs were declassified and brought to the functioning level of their typically developing peers (Lovaas, 1987). This research was replicated many times over the past 30 years and as a result, the future of Autism is bright.
References
Allen, B. & Loiacono, V. (2008). Are special education teachers prepared to teach the increasing number of students diagnosed with autism? International Journal of Special Education, 23(2), 120-127.
Amerine-Dickens, M., Cohen, H., & Smith, T. (2006). Early intensive behavioral treatment: replication of the ucla model in a community setting. Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 27(2), 145-155.
Autism Speaks™ (2011). How common is autism? Retrieved October 25, 2011 from http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism.
Axelrod, S., & Rosenwasser. (2001). The contributions of applied behavior analysis to the education of people with autism. Behavior Modification, 25(5), 671-677.
Ben-Itzchak, E., Lahat, E., Rabinovich, A., & Zachor, D.A. (2007). Change in autism core symptoms with intervention. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 1, 304-317.
Ben-Itzchak, E. & Zachor, D.A. (2007). The effects of intellectual functioning and autism severity on outcome of early behavioral intervention for children with autism. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 28, 287-303.
Bleiweiss, J., Brennan, S., Cohen, S., Koenig, K.P., & Siegel, D.E. (2009). The asd nest program: a model for inclusive public education for students with autism spectrum disorders. Teaching Exceptional Children, 42(1), 6-13.
Callahan, K., Cowan, A.K., & Henson, R.K. (2008). Social validation of evidence-based practices in autism by parents, teachers, and administrators. Journal of Autism Developmental Disorders, 28, 678-692.
Cohen, H.G, Green, G., Howard, J.S., Sparkman, C.R. & Stanislaw, H. (2005). A comparison of intensive behavior analytic and eclectic treatments for young children with autism. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 26(4), 359-383.
Daly, M., Grey, I.M., Honan, R., & McClean, B. (2005). Evaluating the effectiveness of teacher training in applied behavior analysis. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 9(3), 209-227.
Eikeseth, S., Eldevik, S., Jahr, E., & Smith, T. (2002). Intensive behavioral treatment at school for 4- to 7- year old children with autism: a 1- year comparison controlled study. Behavior Modification, 26(1), 49-68.
Graupner, T.D. & Sallows, G.O. (2005). Intensive behavioral treatment for children with autism: four-year outcome and predictors. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 110(6), 417-438.
Lovaas, O.I. (1987). Behavioral treatment and normal educational and intellectual functioning in young autistic children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55(1), 3-9.
Lovaas, O.I., McEachin J.J. & Smith, T. (1993). Long-term outcome for children with autism who received early intensive behavioral treatment. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 97 (4), 359-372.