Why ABA Therapy?

[Guest guest]

Hello Everyone,

Parents usually ask me " Why should we Choose ABA Therapy? " Because of that I

have decided to write this in order to better assist those with your inquiries.

If you have any more questions concerning ABA therapy please feel free to

contact me and I will be more than happy to answer any other questions you may

have. You can also check out www.changebehaviornow.com for more information.

Behavior analysis is a science concerned with the behavior of people, what

people do and say, and the behavior of animals. It attempts to understand,

explain, describe and predict behavior.

Behavior analysis differs from most psychological attempts to understand

behavior. Psychological theories study entities such as " the mind " or " the

personality " or " cognitive structure " or " self-concept " or " drives. " These are

usually viewed as the basic subject matter of psychology; they are causal and

behavior is merely a derivative of them. Unfortunately, these assumed entities

do not exist in the natural world of the other sciences, they do not reside in

the same physical natural science realm as electrons, atoms, magnetism, cells,

and so forth. Where they actually exist is unclear, perhaps in some " mental " or

" hypothetical " universe.As a result, it is difficult to define and measure them

unambiguously and even harder to understand how they relate to other natural

phenomena.

Behavior analysis does not posit such " mental " causes for behavior. Behavior

itself is seen as the subject matter of interest. Variations in behavior,

changes in the frequency or form of what we do or what we say, are understood in

terms of relations with real-world events. Understanding, describing, and

predicting behavior does not require an appeal to nonobjective or unscientific

concepts. It is analyzed in terms of interactions between behavior itself and

the environment.

Selectivism, not " purposism, " is the guiding concept. Behavior does not occur

" in order to " produce some result, even though we inaccurately say " the child

cries to get attention. " Purposive statements suggest that present behavior

(e.g., crying) is caused by something which has not yet occurred (attention). It

is more accurate to say that the environment provides consequences for behavior,

which make that behavior more likely to occur in the future under similar

circumstances. At a later time we then observe the strengthened behavior to

occur. Thus, the child cries (now) because in the past crying has resulted in

attention, and the present is influenced by the past, not the future. Operants

and reflexes are the two major classes of behavior. Operants (traditionally

called " voluntary behaviors " ) include most visible everyday things we do or say.

Events which follow operants (consequences) significantly influence the

likelihood of the behavior occurring again under similar circumstances (e.g.,

ask politely, get seconds on pie). Reflexes, called respondents, are mostly

automatic responses to some stimulus which precedes them (e.g., loud noise,

heart rate changes), and are frequently " physiological. " They are not influenced

very much by consequences.

Some people incorrectly believe that behavior analysis considers all behavior to

be respondent in nature, and therefore " automatic " and not influenced by what

happens. Even some texts suggest this. This is an unfortunate misunderstanding.

In fact, however, behavior analysis suggests that most behavior of interest in

everyday life, in family or personal relationships, in school or on the job, is

operant in nature, not respondent. It therefore changes as the environment

changes and provides different consequences.

Contingencies and functional relationships describe the connections between

behavior and its causes in the environment. " When he told jokes people laughed "

asserts that the laughter of others was contingent on his telling jokes. If we

found that this consequence strengthened the probability that he would tell

jokes, we would have discovered a functional relationship; his telling jokes was

a function of people laughing. From this observed functional relationship and

many, many others we might develop the abstract concept of reinforcement, an

abstract functional relationship.

Explanations which are not functional relationships do not really " explain. "

Some people might explain an individual's helpless behavior as due to a

" dependent personality. " This might refer to chronic, frequent dependent

behavior, including test responses such as " I let other people make decisions. "

Although this label or description is often useful to know, it " explains "

little. We cannot say that a person acts helpless or dependent because he or she

has a dependent personality (has acted dependently a lot in the past) and claim

we have illuminated the causes of the behavior.

Genetics, brain chemistry, physiology, and related factors play a role in

understanding behavior. Behavior analysis assumes that certain functional

relationships between behavior and the environment are true for individuals or

species because of genetic endowment. We inherit a structure such that things

" work " in a certain way, for both digestion and behavior. Functional

relationships and general laws of behavior exist because of this genetic

structure. Behavioral laws do not deny genetics, they exist because of genetics.

Those individuals and species who inherited structures which allowed them to

respond in certain ways to their environment survived, those who inherited

structures which lead to different learning and behavior did not. " Nature "

selected for survival those who inherited certain behavioral laws (structures),

much as the environment selects specific behaviors of the individual to

strengthen. The " nature-nurture " or " genetic-environment " controversy is

meaningless. Because of our " nature " the environment nurtures (selects) our

behavior in a certain way, and our " nature " reflects what we have inherited.

Behavior analysis sees things like physiology and brain chemistry as playing

essential roles in understanding behavior. Contingencies which occurred in the

past influence behavior today. Behavior analysis does not assume that some sort

of time machine exists, that what happened eight years ago travels through time

to influence how you will respond to a situation today. Behavior analysis

speculates that these past events changed some structure, biological,

neurological, chemical, or electrical, and these changes persist today and

influence behavior today. However, we currently know little about what precisely

goes on at these levels that mediate behavior. Fortunately, we can develop

functional relationships that relate behavior to the environment independently

of these events, and have a science of behavior, much as chemistry existed

independently of quantum theory for a long time. Today, scientists know a lot

about interpreting chemistry in terms of quantum theory; we are not at that

stage in behavioral science, although there is a start. But today we do not know

enough to explain behavior by reference to chemical or electrical events.

Determinism, robots and control are issues many raise about behavior analysis.

Many seem to feel that determinism makes everything seem mechanical and

pre-ordained, that it makes people appear like robots. Yet in spite of the fact

that we know all the basics in classical physics, engineers cannot predict which

plane will fail. Even with complete determinism in theory, complexity prevents

full prediction or control in practice. Chaos theory posits a determined but

unpredictable world. " Control " is merely a metaphor for functional

relationships. As used technically in behavior analysis, if temperature affects

how we dress, we say it " controls " dressing behavior. Thousands of other things

may also exert concurrent control.

Many think that analysis destroys the romance of the world. Yet with every

problem analyzed and " solved " in the physical, chemical and biological sciences,

ten new ones are discovered. The more we understand the more we find there is to

understand. Ignorance is neither romantic nor exciting.

Finally, reality is not up for a popular vote. Researchers who study behavior

did not " create " behavioral laws. No one believes that if it were not for Newton

there would be no gravity. Yet many act as if behavioral scientists are

responsible for the way the world is.

Hope that helps!

- Adam Ventura MS, BCBA

[Guest guest]

I don't want to start any fights but I just have to chime in....I think it's ironic how the company is called automaticity inc when ABA has NOTHING to do with automaticity! ABA builds the left hemisphere and leaves the brain disconnected from the right causing more problems for the already disconnected child. It gives the left faster timing and the poor right (with all the social skills, immune system, motor, gestalt, non verbal, and sensory functions) nothing! It (right) gets slower and more out of sync. Nothing can go to automaticity until the primitive reflexes are integrated, it's nothing that can be taught.

[Guest guest]

Every child is different. Every parent makes decisions based on what they think is best for their child. ABA was great for my son. Live and let live!Sent from my iPhonePlease excuse typos

I don't want to start any fights but I just have to chime in....I think it's ironic how the company is called automaticity inc when ABA has NOTHING to do with automaticity! ABA builds the left hemisphere and leaves the brain disconnected from the right causing more problems for the already disconnected child. It gives the left faster timing and the poor right (with all the social skills, immune system, motor, gestalt, non verbal, and sensory functions) nothing! It (right) gets slower and more out of sync. Nothing can go to automaticity until the primitive reflexes are integrated, it's nothing that can be taught.

[Guest guest]

I attribute ABA therapy to my child's miraculous ability to exist in a world that he struggles to understand, and yet blends into beautifully. ABA is a therapy that both typical and developmentally delayed children can benefit from as at it's core it is simply teach, reinforce this learning through positive motivation, and then repeat. I guess if you dig deep enough you can find something wrong with everything. Imperfection is a common denominator amongst us all.

Re: Re: Why ABA Therapy?

Every child is different. Every parent makes decisions based on what they think is best for their child. ABA was great for my son. Live and let live!

Sent from my iPhone

Please excuse typos

I don't want to start any fights but I just have to chime in....I think it's ironic how the company is called automaticity inc when ABA has NOTHING to do with automaticity! ABA builds the left hemisphere and leaves the brain disconnected from the right causing more problems for the already disconnected child. It gives the left faster timing and the poor right (with all the social skills, immune system, motor, gestalt, non verbal, and sensory functions) nothing! It (right) gets slower and more out of sync. Nothing can go to automaticity until the primitive reflexes are integrated, it's nothing that can be taught.

[Guest guest]

I'm very sorry that you feel that way; we named the company Automaticity because

it is one of the basic principals discussed in Behavior Analysis. As there are

many different professional fields that utilize their own terminology and

jargon, I'm sure you are aware that words have more than one definition,

depending on the context in which you use them. Take the term reinforcement as

an example; from a behavior analytic perspective the term explains the process

by which a stimulus change immediately following a response increases the future

frequency of that response in similar conditions. From a different perspective,

the term can be defined as the process of providing support or added strength

for something, possibly while constructing a building.

I understand that you have a different perspective on the usage of

the term Automaticity, however, that particular term is a very basic precept in

Behavior Analysis, referring to the notion that behavior is modified by its

consequences irrespective of an individual's awareness; a person does not have

to recognize or verbalize the relation between her behavior and a reinforcing

consequence, or even know that a consequence has occurred, for reinforcement to

work (, Heron & Heward 2007).

We thought this was a creative way to emphasize the often times clandestine

nature of applied behavior analytic therapy. I hope this helps clear up any

misunderstandings about the association between the word " Automaticity " and ABA

therapy.

- Adam Ventura Clinical Director, MS, BCBA

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> I don't want to start any fights but I just have to chime in....I think it's

ironic how the company is called automaticity inc when ABA has NOTHING to do

with automaticity! ABA builds the left hemisphere and leaves the brain

disconnected from the right causing more problems for the already disconnected

child. It gives the left faster timing and the poor right (with all the social

skills, immune system, motor, gestalt, non verbal, and sensory functions)

nothing! It (right) gets slower and more out of sync. Nothing can go to

automaticity until the primitive reflexes are integrated, it's nothing that can

be taught.

>