Interventions are based on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis and include a combination of discrete trial and incidental teaching techniques. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a discipline used to promote the understanding and improvement of socially significant behavior by utilizing methods based on scientific principles of behavior, such as positive reinforcement (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 1987).
Characteristics of ABA that make it so effective include individualized & measurable goals, continual assessment & data collection, intensity of hours & teaching opportunities, data based decisions, interventions based on empirically validated research, and skill acquisition maintained over time & under natural conditions (generalization).
ABA has a research base starting in 1960 working on a wide range of skills (such as helping people with stuttering, stopping self injurious behavior in children, increasing physical activity for overweight adults, teaching people to form healthy sleep habits, etc…). The principles of