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Pros & Cons of Applied Behavior Analysis

Parents of autistic children encounter many of the same behavioral problems. While some therapies focus on the emotional roots of these unwanted behaviors, applied behavior analysis (ABA) focuses on the behaviors themselves. This approach to behavioral therapy has received much praise and criticism alike.

  1. Pro: Scientific Studies

    • In 1987, the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology published what is probably the most famous study on using applied behavior analysis with autistic children. The researcher, O.I. Lovass, found that 90 percent of children undergoing ABA improved substantially over the control group, with nearly half attaining a normal IQ and testing with normal ranges on social and adaptive skills. A follow-up study in 1993 found that these children maintained their improvements and could function successfully without special education or residential services.

    Con: 40 Hour Weeks

    • Practitioners recommend 40 hours per week of applied behavior analysis, which many parents find challenging. The responsibility of adhering to this rigorous schedule creates stress in some families. While therapists can implement ABA in fewer hours per week, it takes much longer to achieve gains and the improvements may be less significant than if implementing ABA properly.

    Pro: Objectivity

    • ABA works by training children to develop what are considered to be "socially significant behaviors," such as communication, reading, academics, adaptive living skills and social skills by repeatedly reenacting the situations that trigger these behaviors and manipulating them as they arise. ABA proponents argue it is far easier to engage with and manipulate external behaviors, the outward manifestations of a child's psyche, than to explore and resolve the subjective emotions and abstractions fueling those behaviors, like aggression, sadness or fear.

    Con: Produces Robots

    • Because the focus of ABA is on altering external behaviors, perhaps at the expense of addressing a child's underlying emotions, many opponents argue that it creates robotic behavior in children, where they're all performing in the same regimented ways without any genuine emotional backing to it. Especially during the early stages of ABA therapy, continuous "discrete trial training" drills (DTTs) play a prominent part. Opponents also complain that ABA doesn't help children develop natural-sounding language skills that communicate effectively.

    Pro: Parental Involvement

    • Applied behavior analysis relies heavily on parental involvement, encouraging parents to implement the strategies from therapy at home. Behavior therapists further coach parents to generalize the skills their child developed in therapy by reinforcing them in as many different environments and with as many different people as they can.

    Con: Unqualified Practitioners

    • Not many places have legislated regulations for ABA practitioners, which can make it difficult to find a qualified therapist. There is no dearth of professionals claiming to practice ABA, but according to Board Certified Behavior Analyst Alexandra Rothstein, few possess the formal training, competency and experience to do it properly. The Behavior Analyst Certification Board offers consumer information and assistance finding a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

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