Why ABA ?
A distinction that is important, but not always obvious is the difference between pure speculation about a treatment and actual documented demonstrations that the treatment works. Because people are imperfect and variable in their abilities to observe and report events, reports are inherently inaccurate and inconsistent. Behavior analysts take precautions to ensure the information they receive is obtained by objective means. The first controlled early autism intervention study provided a clear demonstration that almost half (47%) of the children who received intensive behavioral intervention (approximately 8 hours each day), achieved IQ levels that matched that of their typically developing peers (Lovaas, UCLA, 1987). To date, behavior analysis is the only documented treatment that routinely employs a number of practices to increase objectivity of evidence about treatment effects: (1) behaviors are operationally defined (2) measurement procedures are clearly specified (3) those impleme
