What is Applied Behavior Analysis?
When a child is diagnosed with a mental health disorder, parents have many choices ahead of them, including what therapy treatment is best. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), a scientific approach to understanding human behavior and how it can be modified or improved through evidence-based techniques, is most frequently associated with helping patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Still, many other conditions can be treated with ABA therapy.
ABA seeks to use positive reinforcement and behavior change strategies to teach new skills or modify challenging behaviors. By actively observing, ABA practitioners can logically and scientifically judge the best technique or treatment and apply it systematically to help their patients.
What is ABA Therapy?
“ABA seeks to use positive reinforcement and behavior change strategies to teach new skills or modify challenging behaviors.”
Is ABA Therapy Only for Autism Spectrum Disorder?
So, while it is true that ABA therapy is a proven and scientifically-supported method for treating autism with a high success rate, all parents struggling with their children can see improvement with ABA methods. The strategies used by ABA practitioners can promote positive behavior even as a classroom management technique for neurotypical students with no diagnosed behavioral or cognitive disorders.
ABA therapy can be highly effective for a range of cognitive disorders, behavioral problems, developmental delays, and sometimes for diseases that affect behavior and cognition.
Children with the following conditions can benefit from ABA therapy:
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Panic Disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Traumatic brain injury
Autism spectrum disorder
For adults, ABA therapy can also be beneficial for anger issues, eating disorders, personality disorders, and substance abuse disorders. It has research supporting its use for various behavioral problems, including depression, anxiety, and conditions arising from aging, such as dementia and post-stroke pain management.
Who Can Benefit from ABA Therapy?
“…all parents struggling with their children can see improvement with ABA methods.”
In a nutshell, ABA is designed to promote healthy, positive behaviors instead of behaviors that could be disruptive to the mental health of individuals.