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My classroom is an ABA classroom, which means we use the principles of ABA to teach functional communication, increase socially significant behaviors, use play based learning, and teach skills such as readiness skills, daily living skills, academic skills, social skills, coping skills, replacement behaviors, and communication skills.
What is ABA?
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is the scientific understanding of behavior and how to improve it. Behaviors do not just refer to problem behaviors! Behaviors are anything a living organism says or does (speaking, eating, walking, etc.)
In this classroom we follow a trauma informed, compassionate, and neurodiversity affirming approach to ABA.
Reinforcement : change in environment IMMEDIATELY following a behavior that INCREASES the behavior in the future.
Reinforcers: something that, when presented after the behavior, results in that behavior occurring more often in the future.
Preferred Items: items that the individual enjoys, but will not necessarily work for it. Preferred items do not necessarily INCREASE the future frequency of the behavior.
Functions of Behavior: There are 4 main functions of behavior, and they can be co-occurring - Attention/Connection Seeking, Escape, Access, and Automatic/Sensory.
Replacement Behaviors: teaching a behavior that serves the same purpose, or function, a problem behavior. Alternative behaviors allow the student to receive, maintain, or escape something in a socially appropriate and functional way. The socially appropriate behavior serves the same purpose as the problem behavior and replaces the problem behavior when the individual is taught to engage in the replacement behavior rather than the problem behavior under similar conditions.
Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT): method of teaching a skill in simplified and structured steps. Instead of teaching an entire skill at once, the skill is broken down teaching discrete trials that teach one step at a time.
Extinction: discontinuing reinforcement of previously reinforced behavior. The primary effect is a decrease in the frequency of behavior until it reaches pre-reinforced level or ultimately ceases to occur
Punishment: something that, when presented after the behavior, results in that behavior occurring less often in the future.
Manding: another word for "requesting" used in ABA - a verbal operant/verbal behavior that is an important skill for children to learn in order to communicate wants/needs - often alleviates problem behaviors once they learn how to mand.
Tacting: another word for "labeling" used in ABA - a verbal behavior that is important for children to learn so they can better communicate their wants/needs, build vocabulary, and grow in conversational skills.
VB-MAPP: Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program - The Milestone Assessment is divided into three levels and is a developmental assessment that mirrors a neuro-typical child's development related to language and other important skills such as group, social and pre-academic skills. The Assessment looks at the student's acquisition of verbal and social skills. Once a Milestone Assessment is complete it provides a representative sample of a child's skills in relation to his/her verbal behavior as well as other important skills, and can be used to guide staff to develop a teaching program that benefits the learner.
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