ABA Facts

• ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis) is a behaviourist teaching style that uses rewards and consequences to teach children and individuals with autism social, communication, academic and life skills as well as socially appropriate behaviour. Positive reinforcement, systematic observation and accurate data collection are the cornerstones of effective ABA. ¹
• IBI (Intensive Behavioural Intervention) is the use of ABA methods in an intensive (30 to 40 hours/week) program of one-on-one instruction. IBI is also sometimes called “intensive ABA”. EIBI (Early IBI) is used to describe IBI programs for pre-school aged children.
• ABA methods can be used in any environment, and to varying degrees of intensity, depending on the individual needs of each child.
• The terms ABA and IBI are frequently used interchangeably, but the only significant difference is one of delivery, not underlying methods and objectives. The phrase “applied behavioural methods” is also sometimes used when describing the use of ABA methods in general terms. In Ontario, the government uses the term IBI to refer, specifically, to the services delivered under the Ministry of Children and Youth Services’ Autism Intervention Program (AIP).
• In 1987, UCLA-based American psychologist Dr. Ivar Lovaas used ABA to treat autism. His methods and research proved ABA is very useful in promoting appropriate behaviour in children with autism and even, in some cases, removing the diagnosis. ²
• In existence longer than any other behavioural or developmental intervention for autism, and with more than 50 years of formal research behind it, ABA is the most evidence-based scientifically proven therapeutic intervention for children with autism. It’s considered by most autism researchers and clinicians nationally and internationally to be the most effective intervention, and substantially more effective than the mixture of methods provided in many education programs. ³
• IBI programs work best when started before age 5, but have been shown to be very helpful to many older children, youths and adults, particularly those who’ve already received IBI from a young age.
• In 1999, the U.S. Surgeon General said: “Thirty years of research demonstrated the efficacy of applied behavioural methods in reducing inappropriate behaviour and in increasing communication, learning, and appropriate social behaviour.” ⁴
• In a three-year study in Wisconsin, half of all pre-school children with autism who received three to four years of IBI acquired near-normal functioning in language, performance IQ and adaptability; 92% of all the children who received it acquired some language. Control group children who received only special education showed no gains in IQ or adaptability. ⁵
• One study found that children who were enrolled in an ABA program before 48 months of age were more likely to achieve an inclusive education placement in a regular education class than those children that started after that age. ⁶

¹ Behaviour Analyst Certification Board, http://www.bacb.com

² The development of a treatment-research project for developmentally disabled and autistic children http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1297900

³ A comparison of intensive behaviour analytic and eclectic treatments for young children with autism. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 26, 359-383. Sparkman, Cohen, Green and Stanislaw (2005)

⁴ Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/chapter3/sec6.html

⁵ Wisconsin Early Autism Project http://www.wiautism.com/images/Sallows-Graupner2005.pdf

⁶ Age and IQ at Intake as Predictors of Placement for Young Children with Autism: a Four- to Six-Year Follow-Up. - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Vol.30, No.2, 137-142