What is ABA?
Essentially Applied Behaviour Analysis, or ABA, is a set of principles based on behavioural science which is used to change all behaviour. It is a scientific approach to understanding and improving behaviour by identifying the factors that influence behaviour and targeting behaviours for change with individualized goals and strategies.
Behaviour change can include increasing daily living skills, language/communication, social skills, or play skills. It can also be used to decrease challenging behaviours, or behaviours interfering with learning, such as aggression, throwing, or screaming.
Behaviour Therapy (also called ABA therapy or BT) can be used with anyone with a behaviour problem, no diagnosis needed. Parents often seek the help of a behaviour analyst for issues such as toilet training, tantrums, and social skills.
What is IBI?
Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) refers to a specific type of therapy for children on the moderate to severe end of the autism spectrum, which is also funded in Ontario by the Ministry of Child and Youth Services (MCYS). According to research studies, the younger a child is upon entering IBI the better the treatment outcomes, though in Ontario there is no age cut-off.
Intensive Behavioural Intervention uses the principles of ABA for treatment, but the main difference is the level of intensity.
Functions of Behaviour
The function(s) of behaviour refers to what is motivating or causing the behaviour to continue over time and is specific to the individual. There can be multiple functions for a behaviour or a function of a behaviour can change based on the responses of others.
Functions of behaviour are determined through observation, data collection and data review. When we determine the function(s) we can better plan for individualized strategies that will increase the behaviours we want to see more often and decrease the behaviours we want to decrease and see less often.
References:
https://childrensupportsolutions.com/aba-vs-ibi-what-is-the-difference/
Cooper, J.O., Heron, T.E. & Heward, W.L. (2020). Applied behaviour Analysis (3rd edition). Pearson Education
Helpful Resources:
https://theautismhelper.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ABA-101-Handouts-The-Autism-Helper.pdf
