An analysis of past studies carried out by Guralnick (1998) and Ramey and Ramey (1998) lead to the establishment of primary conditions for the consideration of an acceptable treatment:

• The interventions employ behavioural techniques in order to enhance the child’s development.
• The interventions target all developmental domains (language, motion, cognition, social relations, etc.) An individualised curriculum, fitted to the child’s profile, is created.
• The interventions must be submitted to frequent re-evaluation. Direct observation and measurement of each person’s performances enable the analysis of progress and the appropriate adjustment of the learning plans.
• Interventions involve parents, who are considered as co-therapists. The interventions are conducted and supervised by BCBA professionals or professionals with a Masters of Science in Behaviour Analysis, specialised in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), all of whom have gained practical experience in the field of childhood, adolescence, and Developmental Disorders.

Important note:
“The Autism SIG (the Special Interest Group for the Association of Behaviour Analysis) does not consider BCaBAs (vs. BCBA), or individuals with equivalent or less training and experience, to be qualified to independently design, direct, and guide behavior analytic programming for individuals with autism. They may deliver behavior analytic intervention, and may assist with program design, but should be adequately supervised by BCBAs or the equivalent (psychologists or therapists who followed a recognised Masters course in ABA).” (emphasis by ABA consultants and ABA providers)

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Interventions take place at the child’s home. They comprise generally of 6 main steps:

1. The child’s competences are evaluated (through the ABLLS/VB MAPP, or an IQ test is performed) enabling a curriculum of competences to be written up.
2. The educational aims and needs of the child or adolescent are considered
3. Various means or strategies are used to enable the identification of individual difficulties. The intervention plan is written out.
4. The plan is applied and the interventions rigorously followed-up and supervised by the specialised Behaviour Analyst or psychologist.
5. Continuous evaluations take place at the beginning as well as throughout the interventions and the plan is adjusted according to the observed evolutions.
6. Learned skills are generalised (applied to other forms of material, to different contexts…), and maintained throughout the long-term.

Every child possesses a “book of competences”, which enables him or his family to be aware of the different plans and intervention goals put into place. It also allows the child’s course of evolution to be monitored.

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Not only is the family’s participation welcome, it is actively encouraged. The interventions are not simply limited to individualised sessions with the child, they must also integrate the family’s everyday lifestyle. Therefore, ABA training for the family is recommended.

Interventions must be constant and coherent: In order for the child to benefit from quality interventions, it is necessary that parents and professionals intervene in the same direction, as an integrated team.

Moreover, messages must remain as unequivocal as possible. Therefore, the child’s family and professionals (trainees, psychologists, etc.) meet on a regular basis. Meetings generally take place every month and the monthly report is presented. This enables the child’s results to be ascertained, any problems encountered to be discussed, and goals and plans to be adjusted accordingly…all together.

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Above all, ABA is a clear, transparent approach.

Its goal is to modify behaviour on the basis of concrete results which are both observable and quantifiable.

A child’s progress is directly observed and marked down, on a day-to-day basis.

If necessary, the data may be incorporated into graphs, which in turn integrate into the monthly reports which are submitted to the families.

Example of a graph as it is presented in a report

ABA is a data-driven approach which leaves no space for subjective interpretation…

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