The U.S. Surgeon General concluded: "Thirty years of research demonstrated the efficacy of applied behavioral methods in reducing inappropriate behavior and in increasing communication, learning and appropriate social behavior."

Replicated research has shown that intensive behavioral intervention (Applied Behavior Analysis), begun when a child is between 2-5 years old can have significant and lasting positive impact on communication and social behavior.

Our program provides the following elements of effective intervention as outlined by the NY State Board of Health, Clinical Practice Guidelines:

• A functional approach to dealing with problem behavior
• A highly structured and supportive teaching environment
• Strategies for generalization of skills to less restrictive settings
• Strategies for transition between daily activities
• Long-term strategies for transitions between intervention settings  (early intervention, school, etc.)
• Opportunities for family involvement

Principle Methodology

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is the science of human behavior that is based on over 70 years of scientific research. When applying the methodologies derived from this research to teaching children (adolescents and adults), research demonstrates drastic improvement in skill deficits.

• Breaking down skills to their smallest manageable units and expanded into more meaningful and complex units.
• Using procedures such as reinforcement, extinction, shaping, prompting, fading, chaining, discrimination, generalization etc. to teach skills.
• Skills taught include, but are not limited to: receptive language, expressive language (mands, tacts, intraverbals, etc.), social skills, motor imitation, self-help skills, etc.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) over the past 15 years or so has erroneously been referred to as a distinct program for teaching kids with autism with Discrete Trial Training or Lovaas programming. With the increased interest in Verbal Behavior as a component in ABA programs, it is necessary to explain how ABA, Discrete Trial Training, Lovaas programming, and Verbal Behavior differ and relate.

As the science of Applied Behavior Analysis evolves, improvements to the application of its principles are carefully researched and published in peer reviewed journals. In the past, most ABA programs implemented for children with autism were based on the work published by O. Ivar Lovaas in the 1980s.

However, during those years Jack Michael, PhD., Mark Sundberg, PhD., and James Partington, PhD., among others in the field, focused on researching Skinner's Analysis of Verbal Behavior and its effectiveness of teaching language skills to persons with developmental delays, among other disabilities.

Verbal Behavior research has enhanced ABA programs by emphasizing the critical elements in language acquisition previously ignored by traditional Lovaas-based programs. That is, capturing a child’s motivation (known as mand training) to develop a connection between the value of the word from the child’s perspective and the word itself. The Verbal Behavior approach places an emphasis on the function, not the form of the word taught.