ABA Therapy is an evidence-based approach that has been primarily used to help individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The goal of this therapy is to help develop new skills, those that improve a child’s success in daily life, including at home, in school, and within their community. It also aims to help children become more independent and reduce challenging behaviors.
What Does ABA Therapy Help With?
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy for children with autism spectrum disorder is an evidence-based therapy that has, since the 1960s, helped develop a range of skills. These skills are all tied to increased independence and social success, while also reducing challenging or harmful behaviors.
Communication and Language Skills
ABA is highly effective at developing both verbal and non-verbal communication abilities. At our center, or with our in-home services, we can help your child regardless of their verbal skills/limits. These include:
- Requesting, where children learn to ask for the things or activities they desire
- Labeling, where children learn to identify things and emotions in their environment
- Conversational skills, teaching children to start conversations, ask questions, and make comments
- Language skills, where they learn to follow directions or understand things like body language and tone of voice
Social Skills
ABA provides structured methods for navigating complex social interactions. This means that low or high-intensity ABA therapy (based on individual needs) can improve your child’s social skills, setting them up for better relationships and transitions to school. This includes things like:
- Being able to interpret social cues from others, including facial expressions, emotions, and body language
- Interacting with peers in a group/social setting
- Building relationships and friendships through positive social interactions
Self-Care and Daily Living Skills
Our ABA therapy helps children develop essential skills needed for personal independence. This extends to tasks that make daily living much easier. For example:
- ABA therapy can teach children about personal hygiene, helping them to master basic tasks like bathing, hand-washing, teeth brushing, and getting dressed.
- ABA therapy can teach children to manage their daily routine through simple tasks like helping to prepare meals or gathering materials
- We teach children to understand their environment, including potential dangers, and follow safety rules
We aim to teach these, and many secondary skills like academic achievement, motor skills, and behavior management. In addition to ABA therapy, Caper ABA offers new occupational therapy services, speech therapy, and extracurricular therapy. All three of these complement one another, leading to improvement for your child.
Learn How Caper Can Help
If you are ready to get help for your child, we are here to improve their skillset with ABA therapy. Our ABA therapy can help your child improve their success at home, in school, and elsewhere. We aim to build on communication, social, and daily living skills through our ABA therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and other offerings.
Start ABA therapy today. Call Caper ABA.
FAQ
What is ABA Therapy?
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is an evidence-based therapy. It focuses on principles of behavior and learning to help bring positive change. It is heavily focused on positive reinforcement, providing a valuable reward for desired behaviors in order to encourage those desired behaviors to be repeated in the future. ABA is recognized as one of the leading treatments for autism spectrum disorder as well as traumatic brain injury, ADHD, and dementia.
Does ABA Help with Autism?
ABA is recognized as one of the most effective interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder. Developed in the 1960s, it was created as a way to improve desired behaviors using positive reinforcement, encouraging desired behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorder by rewarding them when they utilize those behaviors. This can help increase useful skills like social skills and independence, and also reduce harmful behaviors that might interfere with learning and development.
Does ABA Therapy Help Children Communicate?
Yes, this type of therapy can help improve communication skills for children with autism, improving their receptive language skills so that they are better able to follow directions, conversational skills, and identification skills so that they are able to label people, emotions, or objects in their environment.
Does ABA Help My Child at School?
ABA therapy can lead to improved academic and learning experiences. ABA therapy teaches children foundational skills that also apply to academics, such as the ability to focus and pay attention, the ability to work in a group, and the ability to follow a schedule. Part of ABA therapy extends to motor skills and the reduction of challenging behaviors. If, for example, your child throws tantrums, reducing that challenging behavior through this form of therapy can improve their ability to function in a group and in a school setting, much the same as a child who learns better fine motor skills will be better equipped to hold a pencil and fill out worksheets at school.
Will ABA Therapy Help with Motor Skills?
Yes! In addition to building focus and participation, ABA therapy helps children with autism build essential motor skills. This extends to fine motor skills like holding a pencil and gross motor skills like running or playing with a ball, all of which can improve social skills and make school and home life much more effective.
Can ABA Therapy Stop Bad Behaviors in My Child?
If your child is struggling with challenging behaviors, ABA therapy can help reduce these behaviors, including things like tantrums, self-injury, and aggression. Challenging behaviors can interfere with daily function and learning, which is why we teach alternative behaviors, using positive reinforcement. A primary function of ABA therapy is to reduce those challenging behaviors that might interfere with function and learning, teaching children appropriate alternatives.
How Does ABA Therapy Improve Daily Living?
ABA therapy teaches skills like personal hygiene and household tasks as well as safety skills. With our ABA therapy, children will learn how to understand potential dangers in their environment, how to follow safety rules, how to create a daily routine and manage simple chores, and take care of themselves, such as brushing their teeth or getting dressed.