ABA Therapy

What ABA is, and what we think it should be

Applied behavior analysis studies how behavior is shaped by what happens around it, and applies that to teaching skills and reducing behaviors that get in a child’s way. In practice, an ABA program at Joy Therapy and Learning Center means a board certified behavior analyst assesses your child, writes an individualized program, and supervises registered behavior technicians who deliver sessions and record data on how it is going. What is different here is that the program is developmental and play based, and built with direct support from our speech, occupational and physical therapy teams rather than in isolation from them.

ABA is also a therapy that some families arrive at with reservations, and we would rather address that directly than pretend it is not the case. Criticism of ABA is largely aimed at older and more rigid forms of the practice, along with programs that prioritized making a child appear typical over making a child’s life better. Those criticisms have merit, and they have changed how the field is practiced.

Our position is straightforward. Goals should serve the child rather than adult convenience. A behavior that looks disruptive is usually accomplishing something for a child who has no better option available, and the work is to build that better option rather than to suppress the behavior. Communication comes first. Play and self-advocacy are legitimate goals. Compliance for its own sake is not. That is easier to mean than to do, and the reason we can is that our ABA is developmental and play based, with direct support from the speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists and physical therapists working in the same building. A child whose behavior is really a communication problem is not left waiting on a referral elsewhere. If you want to have this conversation with a BCBA before you commit to anything, we welcome it.

How a program is built and supervised

Everything starts with assessment. Your BCBA looks at what your child can already do, what they are working toward, and what function any challenging behavior is serving. That last question matters most: a child who screams to escape a demand and a child who screams to get attention need opposite plans, even though the behavior looks identical.

From there, the analyst writes a program with specific, measurable goals and trains the technicians who will run it. Sessions generate data on every target, which is reviewed regularly. If a program is not producing progress, it gets changed. That feedback loop is the core value of ABA as a method and it only works if the data is honest.

Parent training runs alongside the direct sessions and is not optional in any program worth paying for. Strategies that only work when a technician is present have limited value to a family.

An ABA assessment is a different process from a therapy evaluation in speech, occupational or physical therapy, and a child who needs both will have both. The intake forms page carries the ABA intake packet and the paperwork we need before a program can start. For children under three, early intervention is often the way in.

Who aba therapy helps

Families pursue ABA for a range of goals, most commonly:

• Building communication, including requesting what a child wants and needs
• Reducing behaviors that are unsafe or that block learning
• Developing play skills and interaction with other children
• Daily living skills such as dressing, toileting and mealtime routines
• Tolerating transitions and changes in routine
• Following routines at home, in school and in the community
• Building independence within tasks a child currently needs full support for

ABA services are most commonly sought by families of children with:

• Autism spectrum disorder
• Developmental delay
• Behavioral difficulties affecting daily life
• Communication difficulties affecting behavior

This list is not exhaustive and nothing on it is a diagnosis. If something here sounds like your child, an evaluation is the way to find out what is actually going on.

What a session looks like

Session length and frequency vary widely, from a few hours per week to a more intensive schedule, depending on your child’s assessment and goals. We are candid with families about intensity and will recommend fewer hours when we believe that serves a child better.

1. BCBA assessment

   A board certified behavior analyst assesses your child’s current skills and the function of any behaviors of concern, then writes the individualized program.

2. One-to-one sessions

   A registered behavior technician works directly with your child, running the programs as written and recording data on each target throughout the session.

3. Ongoing supervision

   Your BCBA observes sessions, reviews the data and adjusts the program. You should expect the plan to change over time, because a plan that never changes is not being read.

4. Parent training

   You are trained on the strategies being used so they continue outside of sessions. You will also see the progress data rather than a summary of it.

Credentials

Our ABA services are delivered under a clear supervisory structure:

• Programs designed and supervised by Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA)
• Direct sessions delivered by Registered Behavior Technicians (RBT) working under BCBA supervision
• Ongoing supervision, data review and program revision by the supervising analyst
• Coordination with our speech, occupational and physical therapy teams when a child receives multiple services

This page is not a diagnosis and nothing on it is medical advice. If something here sounds like your child, an evaluation is how you find out what is actually going on.