Connections for Students

Resources Provided by School Boards
and Autism Intervention Program Providers

Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)
Applied Behaviour Analysis employs methods based on scientific principles of learning and behaviour to build useful repertoires and reduce problematic ones. Using this approach, there is a clear definition of the behaviour(s) to be changed, careful recording of the behaviour, and analysis of the antecedents and reinforcers that can be used to help develop new adaptive behaviours and reduce undesirable behaviours.

Interventions based on behavioural principles are data-driven and designed to change the behaviour, and the program is monitored closely. Progress is accessed, empirically, and the program is modified as necessary. ABA can be applied to anyone including people of every age, it can be applied in a variety of situations, and it can be employed for very limited and specific purposes, such as for the development or reduction of single behaviours of classes of behaviour (to improve relaxation skills, reduce smoking behaviour, teach more effective social skills).