So my child will be getting ABA therapy?  This is great!  So what is ABA?

ABA stands for Applied Behavior Analysis, which is a scientific approach to understanding and changing behavior. It is most commonly used to support individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but can be applied in various contexts, such as education, mental health, and workplace performance.  It is a data driven approach, which means that we are going to let the data drive our treatments and approach.  We evaluate and adjust our strategies as needed so that we are ensuring the most effective treatment for your child.

At STEPS Behavioral Health we focus on many different therapeutic methods in our therapy sessions in order to achieve the most success with our clients.  Our trained technicians and BCBA’s use several different methods during sessions and our programs are customized to each individual client’s specific goals and needs.

Discrete Trial Training (DTT): Breaking skills into small, teachable steps with clear prompts and reinforcements. 

How does it work? 

• First the therapist will provide the antecedent (instruction). This may be “touch the one that is green” or “who puts out fires?” 
• The learner either responds with the correct response, incorrect response or no response. 
• If necessary they will provide a prompt (cue) to help the client respond with the correct answer.  
• If the answer is incorrect, they may use error correction to give corrective feedback. 
• Then the therapist will provide the consequence, either positive reinforcement (high five, toy) or correction (repeat the instruction).

This is a very structured way of teaching that is repetitive and very successful for learners. Progress is always being monitored through consistent data collection and revisions.

Natural Environment Teaching (NET): Learning in more natural settings using opportunities that arise in daily life.  The goal is to learn about the learner’s interests and motivations to make learning more meaningful and functional.

How does it work?  Introducing child-led learning.  The therapist may use the car she sees the child playing with to teach colors, labels and intraverbal communication.  Our therapists will use functional skills that the child can use every day like communication, turn taking skills, requesting items and labeling everyday items they see around the room.  Toys can be used in so many ways to teach many different skills.  We make learning FUN!

We also use Behavior Intervention Plans to develop strategies to address challenging behaviors and improve upon daily performance and outcomes.  These plans are tailored to each child and can be modified throughout your child’s treatment period.  The goal of the plan is to replace any problem behaviors with a positive alternative by finding out what the function or cause of each behavior is.

The plan will include:

• Preventive strategies – what are we doing to prevent a behavior by altering the environment
• Replacement behaviors – teaching functional alternatives to meet the same need.
• Reinforcement – positive reinforcement for appropriate behavior
• Reactive strategies – how will adults respond to challenging behaviors, minimizing reinforcement of the behavior
• Support and resources – who will implement the plan
• Data collection – a way to track progress of the plan

Behavior plans focus on teaching new skills and are tailored to each child’s needs.  

To ensure that families are comfortable with their child’s plan and able to execute it at home, we provide weekly Parent Trainings with your BCBA.   Families will have goals that they are working towards each week. This is so important and beneficial to ensure that your child’s treatment plan is consistent across all settings and able to be understood by everyone in your child’s life.  Your BCBA will go over specific details of the plan as well as model ways to carry out each part of the treatment.  Families will get to practice and role play scenarios with their BCBA and receive feedback.  Attending Parent Trainings is a crucial part of the ABA process and working together on these goals helps your child to achieve success!

Our team of experts includes the BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst), the RBT (Registered Behavior Technician) and our entire client services team.  Together, our team will help your child achieve success – let us take the first STEP!

For more information, contact us today!