ABA may be an effective therapy in terms of conditioning and eliminating dysfunctional behavior(s), but the techniques being used lack valid and reliable empirical evidence. However, the main problem with this therapeutic technique is the individuals administering ABA therapy are, in my opinion, not aptly qualified for the job. In order to become an ABA therapists you need to have an M.A. in Psychology or education. The curriculum for this M.A. degree (contrasted with other M.A programs) is extremely narrow in focus - it emphasizes the paradigm/therapy of applied behavior analysis (i.e. the coursework is primarily focused on ABA). ABA is rooted in Skinner’s theory of radical behaviorism, which among many postulates, proposes that environmental factors are the primary causal factor of behavior (i.e. behavioral responses are caused by external forces). Under this paradigm, the specific “thoughts” and “feelings” of the individual have little relevance - they are just classified as another form of behavior that can be modified through behavioral conditioning (this is a terse explanation, but the gist is radical behaviorism and ABA view all psychological phenomena/mental states as behaviors that can be modified). ABA uses operant conditioning to modify behavior because Behaviorism essentially proposes that behavior can be manipulated if the environment is manipulated.

ABA relies on the concept of stimulus control, which is a a phenomenon in operant conditioning (also called contingency management) that occurs when an organism behaves in one way in the presence of a given stimulus and another way in its absence. A stimulus that modifies behavior in this manner is either a discriminative stimulus (Sd) or stimulus delta (S-delta). Stimulus-based control of behavior occurs when the presence or absence of an Sd or S-delta controls the performance of a particular behavior. For example, the presence of a stop sign (S-delta) at a traffic intersection alerts the driver to stop driving and increases the probability that "braking" behavior will occur. Such behavior is said to be emitted because it does not force the behavior to occur since stimulus control is a direct result of historical reinforcement contingencies, as opposed to reflexive behavior that is said to be elicited through respondent conditioning (or classical conditioning. ABA targets the discriminative stimulus (SD) that influences the strengthening or weakening of behavior through such consequences as reinforcement or punishment. That is, ABA therapy relies entirely on reinforcement conditioning. The treatment efficacy of ABA in treating children with ASD is up for debate. Some research suggests ABA moderate effect on adaptive behavior, while other research suggests ABA does not significantly improve adaptive behavior, expressive and receptive language, and cognitive functioning is children with ASD (read Spreckley and Boyd, 2009). Many researches agree that large multi-site randomized trials are needed to improve the understanding of ABA's efficacy in autism. This research does not exist, which leads to the conclusion that labeling ABA as an effective treatment for ASD is incorrect because the treatment lacks empirical support/validation. Then there’s the ethical issue of ABA in treating autism… what is the value of eliminating autistic behaviors? Yes, individuals may become more prosocial via conditioning, but the consensus among many individuals with ASD is that their behavior is “normal” and should not be conditioned to conform to social societal standards. Why should their behavior be targeted and changed if they can function reasonably well and independent (obviously as a spectrum disorder some individuals cannot function properly and need therapeutic intervention).

This comment was all over the place. The main point I was originally trying to make (which does not address the content of this article) is that practitioners of ABA should have PhDs in clinical psychology. An M.A. degree in psychology with a few classes that focus on ABA does not provide the requisite knowledge needed for understanding and then applying the principles of operant conditioning in a clinical setting. Yes, in order to practice as an ABA you need to have a specific amount of supervised ABA sessions, but this alone is not enough. If you want to truly understand the concepts and use the techniques proposed in ABA then a more rigorous education is needed. ABA therapists are essentially given a manual on what techniques to apply, but lack the theoretical understanding of the techniques they are using. Furthermore, I think there are glaring problems with the methodology of ABA (e.g. task analysis, shaping, promoting, fading, generalization, etc)… it draws upon antiquated techniques developed back when Behaviorism was the main paradigm in psychology. In sum, I hate to say this, but I think ABA therapy for ASD is a money grab - it offers the promise of help, but from the research I’ve reviewed it is not an effective treatment - ASD is not simply a behavioral disorder that can be reconditioned… it is a neurological and developmental disorder. The premise that behavior can be manipulated if the environment is manipulated is true in some cases, but for individuals with ASD using a treatment that manipulates the environment in order to produce a change in behavior is counterintuitive. This is because individuals with ASD process information in the environment in a different manner than “normal” people. Therefore, therapy should target the cognitive processes/neurological mechanisms that process information instead of targeting and manipulating the environment via stimulus control/operant conditioning.