The World Health Organization (WHO) revealed last year through a report that one in every hundred children in the world has autism. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy has been called the “gold standard” for treatment. But what is ABA therapy?

This therapy is a type of treatment based on the use of positive reinforcement to improve behavioral, social, communication and learning skills through behavioral principles.

According to extensive research, ABA therapy techniques improve the development and skills of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but they are most effective when applied at an early age.

Among the types of ABA therapy is the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM). This technique begins to be applied in children with autism between 12 and 48 months through play activities in order to make better cognitive, social and linguistic skills.

Meanwhile, Discrete Trial Training (DTT) focuses on breaking down a skill and teaching it step by step. Once the child performs a successful behavior, they receive positive reinforcement.

Positive reinforcement involves giving a reward to encourage the client to continue the successful behavior. If the reward is delivered promptly, the child will associate the positive reinforcement with the behavior shortly after the reward occurs.

Another technique used in therapies is Antecedent Based Interventions, that considers learning as a three-stage process. An antecedent (A) triggers a behavior (B), which then leads to a consequence (C).

Likewise, Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) is an individualized, intensive and comprehensive technique used in young children to teach various skills, including some adaptive and functional ones.

Although the ABA therapy program requires about 20 to 40 hours per week, the techniques can be adapted to individual needs and be more flexible, as is the case with Pivotal Response Training (PRT).

PRT focuses on developing the child’s independence through motivation, responding to multiple cues, self-control, and finally self-initiation into social settings.

ABA therapy can be applied as a comprehensive program or targeted to achieving specific behaviors. Comprehensive ABA Therapy provides interventions in various environments and situations. It is considered the most effective in behavioral treatment.

Instead, Focused ABA therapy aims to help the client in a specific situation. However, the therapist can encourage the practice of these individual skills in small groups.

Although autism is a set of conditions that have no cure, ABA therapies can reduce certain behaviors and help children integrate into social life. From this, ABA intervention techniques have been widely accepted as standard of treatment.