1. Applied Behavior
Analysis for Children
with Autism
Jonathan Tarbox, PhD, BCBA, & Bill Roth, PhD, BCBA
ITC

2. Presentation Outline
• Brief introduction to ABA and autism
• How to teach: Components of a comprehensive ABA
program for children with autism
• What to teach: ABA curriculum
• Note: Don’t be afraid to raise your hand with a question
at any time!

3. What is ABA?
• Applied Behavior Analysis
• ABA is the use of scientific principles of learning and
motivation to teach effectively
• The core concept is that the consequences of what we
do affect what we learn and what we will do in the
future
• Positive reinforcement: behaviors that produce a good
outcome are more likely to occur in the future
• People are motivated by what they get out of what
they do
– Examples: money, feeling good for helping someone, approval
from others, satisfaction of a good book, etc.

4. Positive Reinforcement
• The ABA approach to autism is to identify what
motivates each individual child
• Every child is different
• Teaching must use what is motivating to the child, not
what we think should be motivating to the child
• Then we teach the child by teaching new skills in very
small steps and rewarding the child with positive
reinforcement when they make an effort at learning

5. Accountability and
Effectiveness
• ABA assumes that if a child is not learning, it is NOT
the child’s fault, it is our fault
• We must change the way we are teaching
• We must continue to try different ways of teaching
until we find one that works
• ABA is the best method for finding what works
• We never blame the child if learning does not happen
• We believe it’s our responsibility to figure out how to
teach whatever the child needs to learn

6. Comprehensive ABA Programs
• Earliest versions of ABA programs focused mostly on
discrete trial training.
• Comprehensive ABA programs now include a variety of
behavioral teaching strategies
– Discrete Trial Training (DTT)
– Natural Environment Training (NET)
– Verbal Behavior
– Challenging behavior
– Data collection
– Programming for generalization

7. Discrete Trial Training
• Breaks down learning opportunities into well-controlled,
discrete teacher-student interactions
Instruction → Correct Response → Reward
OR
Instruction → Incorrect Response → Correction

8. Discrete Trial Training
• Provides structure for the learning interaction
• Provides a very large number of learning opportunities
in a small amount of time
• Is proven by hundreds of studies to be an effective
teaching procedure

9. Natural Environment
Training
• Basic approach:
– Teach in the natural environment
– Set up situations where the child will be motivated (e.g., toy out of
reach)
– Wait for child to initiate
– Prompt the correct behavior
– Reinforce it

10. Natural Environment
Training
• Much more natural approach than DTT
• Less structured
• Looks more like typical interactions
• Great for teaching play and social skills
• Great for establishing generalization of skills learned
in DTT
• Some children prefer NET over DTT
• Proven by dozens of studies to be an effective
teaching procedure

11. Verbal Behavior
• Separates language into categories by function
• Reminds us to teach all functions of words
• Teaching one function does not necessarily lead
to learning other functions of the same word
– Example: if we teach a child how to say “red,” he may not
actually be able to say “red” when he wants something
that is red

12. Challenging Behavior
• Examples: aggression, self-injury, self-stimulatory
behavior, tantrums
• ABA assumes that children are getting something they
want from challenging behavior
– Attention
– Escape
– Toys or food
– Sensory stimulation
• Autism is NOT the cause of bad behavior

13. Challenging Behavior
• First step is to do a “functional assessment”
• This means assess what the child is getting from their
challenging behavior
• The next step is to not give it to them any more when
they have the behavior (“extinction”)
• AND teach the child a more appropriate behavior that
will get them what they want
– Example: asking for a break, playing with a toy, asking for attention,
etc.

14. Data Collection
• Good ABA programs take lots of data on the child’s
progress
• Frequency of challenging behavior
• Percent correct on skill teaching
• Data are graphed after every teaching session
• The percent correct should be increasing over time if the
child is learning

15. Generalization
• Comprehensive ABA programs must explicitly focus
on generalization
• Generalization does NOT occur automatically
• Generalization is NOT an afterthought or side-effect
• Generalization is THE central goal of intervention

16. Planning for
Generalization
• Best way
– Teach skills in many different environments
– Teach with many different teachers
– Teach during many different times of day
– Do NOT do the same thing the same why all of the time
– When skills are learned in DTT, make sure to practice them in
natural settings
– Parents must practice all new skills as often as possible

17. Therapist Training
• ABA therapy is difficult to do
• It’s much more structured than feels natural
• It takes a LOT of training to learn how to do it
correctly
• 20-30 hours of initial classroom training
• Another 30 hours of hands-on training with children

18. Supervision
• Good ABA programs provide approximately 2 hours
of supervision for every child, every two weeks
• Supervisors must be experts in ABA, with several
years of experience
• Every therapist that works with the child is directly
observed working with the child
• Every therapist is given specific and immediate
feedback on good and bad performance

19. Workshop Model
• There aren’t enough ABA experts in the world to
provide supervision
• Another option is the “workshop” model
• For families who do not live within an hour drive of an
ABA clinic
• A consultant travels out to family’s home and trains
everyone
• Then the family runs the program and manages the
therapists
• Consultant follows up with regular contacts

20. TEST TIME
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21. Overview of ABA
Curriculum

22. The ABA Curriculum
Language
Adaptive
Play
Skills
Motor Social Cognitive
Skills Skills Skills

23. A Comprehensive Curriculum
• What needs to be taught in ABA programs for kids with
autism?
• Autism is defined by global deficits…
• If we want to catch kids up to typical development, we
need to teach EVERYTHING that they are delayed in!
• That is what the ABA curriculum was designed for

24. ABA Curriculum
• Every area of human functioning is addressed in the
eight content areas
• Each content area in the curriculum is broken down into
dozens of teaching programs
• Each program is broken down into many (up to 20 or
more) specific instructions along with the correct child
behavior
• Lessons are arranged in the order in which they emerge
in typical development

25. Language

26. Language Curriculum Language
31 Lessons by Emerging Age and Function:
0-12 mos. 1 - 2 yrs. 2 - 3 yrs. 3 - 4 yrs.
• Body Parts • Actions • Adverbs • Describe
• Echoics • Basic Mands • Attributes • Sequences
• Following • Categories • Features • Statement -
Instructions • Choices • Gender Statement
• Gestures • Functions • Manding for 4 - 5 yrs.
• Sound • Negation Information • Same / Different
Discrimination • Objects • Opposites 5 - 6 yrs.
• People & • Pronouns • Ask & Tell
Relationships • Wh- Discrimination
• Prepositions Discrimination • Statement –
• Yes / No • Locations Question
• Plurals • Syntax
6 - 7 yrs.
• What Goes With

27. Language Curriculum Language
• Each lesson
– Goes beyond teaching the meaning of words
– Because we cannot assume that once the child
has learned the meaning of a word that she will
use it in all possible situations
– We need to make sure a child can use a word in
all of its functions

28. Language Curriculum Language
Example
• We teach the child to hand us an apple when we say
“Give me apple” (receptive)
• We teach the child to respond “apple” when shown
apple & asked “What is it?” (expressive)
• This does not mean the child will now be able to
respond “apple” in other situations or ask for apples
when he/she wants them

29. Language Curriculum Language
Function Instruction Behavior Consequence
or Setting (Reinforcer)
Matching “Put with same” apple is matched
with apple Praise
Listening “Touch apple” Selects apple Praise
Vocal Someone says “apple” Praise
Imitation “apple”
Request Hungry and no “apple” Child gets an
apple present apple
Labeling Apple is present “apple” Praise
“What is your “apple” Praise
Conversation favorite fruit?”

30. Play

31. Play Curriculum Play
Domains
Independent Play
Sensorimotor Play
Task Completion Play
Play Stations
Interactive
Constructive
Play
Play Early Social Games
Block Constructions Read-to-Me Books & Nursery Rhymes
Structure Building Music and Movement
Sand and Water Constructions Treasure Hunt
Clay Constructions Card and Board Games
Arts and Crafts Locomotor Play
Peer Play
Pretend
Electronic Play Play
Functional Pretend Play
Audio and Video Play Symbolic Play
Computer Play Imaginary Play
Video Games Sociodramatic Play

32. The ABA Curriculum
Adaptive
Skills

33. Adaptive Curriculum Adaptive
Skills
Domestic
Pet Care
Setting & Clearing Table
Telephone Skills
Tidying Safety
Meal Preparation Safety Awareness
Cleaning
Safety Equipment
Gardening
Laundry
School Backpack Prep
Making a Bed
Personal
Feeding
Toileting
Undressing
Unfastening
Community
Dressing
Preventing Spread of Germs Shopping
Bathing Restaurant Readiness
Fastening
Teeth Care
Hair Care
Nail Care
Health Care

34. The ABA Curriculum
Motor
Skills

35. Motor Curriculum Motor
Skills
Oral
Oral Motor
Ocular Motility
Visual
Binocular Vision Skills
Visual Perception
Hand Skills Coloring
Finger Skills Drawing
Fine
Pre-Handwriting
Cutting with Scissors
Gross Sitting / Crawling / Creeping / Riding / Foot-Propelled Vehicles /Standing
Rolling Over / Rolling / Throwing / Dribbling / Walking Stairs and Climbing
Riding a Tricycle / Bicycle / Running / Balance Beam /Swinging a Bat /
Racquet /Paddle / Jumping / Kicking / Physical Education Readiness
Hopping / Catching

36. The ABA Curriculum
Social
Skills

37. Social Skills Curriculum Social
Skills
Social Language
Non-Vocal
Greetings and Salutations
Eye Contact
Social ID Questions
Non-Vocal Imitation
Prosody
Body Language & Facial Expressions
Regulating Others
Gestures to Regulate Social Interaction
Conversational Audience
Non-Vocal Physical Context of Conversation
Absurdities Listening to Conversation
Figures of Speech Social Initiating Conversation
Absurdities Joining Conversation
Humor and Jokes Language
What’s Wrong? Maintaining Conversation
Repairing Conversation
Transitioning Topics of
Conversation
Group Related Skills Ending Conversation
Responding in Unison Group Social Social
Group Discussion Related
Interaction
Skills Skills
Social Rules
Compliance Social Interaction
Following Rules Apologizing
Community Rules Social Self Assertiveness
Rules Esteem Compliments
Politeness & Manners
Cooperation & Negotiation
Social
Gaining Attention
Context
Self Esteem Introductions
Social Context Dealing with Conflict Levels of Friendship
Responding to Social Cues Positive Self-Statements Sharing & Turn-Taking
Learning Through Observation Winning & Losing Lending & Borrowing
Constructive Criticism

38. The ABA Curriculum
Cognitive
Skills

39. Cognitive Skills
Curriculum Cognitive
Skills
Language Arts
Colors
Community Helpers Math
Handwriting and Penmanship Shapes
Writing
Money
Letters
Spelling Pattaerning
Print Concepts Calendar
Literary Genres Addition
Decoding & Word Recognition: Subtraction
Phonics Statistics and Data Analysis
Sight Reading Number Concepts:
Comprehension:
Numbers
Oral Story Comprehension
Reading Comprehension Counting & Quantities
Phonological Awareness: Quantitative Concepts
Phoneme Isolation Ordering Numbers & Groups
Phoneme Blending & Segmentation Comparisons
Phoneme Matching Number Patterns
Phoneme Manipulation Time:
Word Discrimination & Segmentation
Time of Day & Daily Activities
Rhyming
Syllables Telling Time

40. The ABA Curriculum
Language
Adaptive
Play
Skills
Motor Social Cognitive
Skills Skills Skills

41. Conclusion
• ABA is the only treatment for autism that has substantial
science evidence for causing large improvements in
children
• ABA programs should be comprehensive:
– 25 or more hours per week of one-to-one
– Address all skills areas
– Two years or more of treatment
– Verbal behavior
– Generalization
– Discrete Trial Training
– Natural Environment Training
– Top-quality supervision