My family and I love to watch really old TV shows. A favorite show of ours is Dragnet. The star of the show, Jack Webb, began every interview with a victim of a crime with the phrase, "Just the facts" Today, as we tackle the subject of Applied Behavior Analysis. There is lots of information, experiences and opinions regarding ABA but today we are going concentrate on the basics of what constitutes ABA.
I want to share a definition of what ABA is.
ABA refers to a systematic way of applying behavior intervention. There is so much more to behavioral theory than this but I will leave it at that right now. There are many fine books that address ABA therapy. You can go to my Pinterest board on ABA therapy and find several.
Some of the principles of ABA Therapy
- The ABC'S of behavior are the antecedent(what happens right before the behavior), the behavior and the consequence (what happens right after the behavior). This is used by therapists and schools to determine what the function of a behavior is. For example: if a child is told to do a task (antecedent) he falls on the floor and begins crying (behavior) and the adult comes over to calm him and says I will sit with you for a minute and help you get started on the task (consequence) . A therapist might conclude the function of the behavior is attention seeking. Other functions that are common are to escape a demand Or sensory seeking/avoidance.
- Reward desired behavior and it will be repeated. This creates motivation. This is a system using positive reinforcement. Have you ever taken away an item or privledge thinking it would cause the child to do the "right thing" next time. Did you find that the child didn't do what you wanted the next time or the next or the next? Well if you are like me, that has happened many times. Why? Because the child was unmotivated. It may seem too hard or too big which is another aspect of ABA. For now, let's just remember that ABA operates on the principle that behavior that is rewarded will be repeated.
- Don't directly or indirectly reward undesirable behavior. This is often seen when a child doesn't want to follow a direction such as setting the table. Here is the scene. A child does not know what to do. "Please mom don't make me set the table." He begins to cry and whine. Everyone is hungry and mom has to get the older kids to play practice as soon as dinner is over. She doesn't have time for this so she sets the table herself. The child has learned how to escape a task. He has been rewarded indirectly for his behavior.
- Identify and define target behavior. Behaviors often will need to be broken down into all the component parts of the behavior or skill. A possible behavior you may want is to teach the child to wait and not interrupt mom when she is talking to someone. This needs to be quantified. A possible routine could be taught. Place hand on mom's arm for - silent counting to five. Mom will give a signal of what to do while the child waits. He will not wait if he is not given a replacement behavior. He may set a timer for 3 minutes. When timer rings he may repeat the routine until mom is available to speak with him. He will need a routine with the component parts, a replacement behavior to do instead of interrupting and a reward for following the routine.
We will continue this discussion next week. We will talk about how to use reinforcement for success. Please join me as we try to keep ABA to "Just the Facts"!
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