Long-Term Outcomes of Early ABA Intervention

Screenings have become a huge focus of the health-care industry in recent years. Routine doctor’s visits and specialized screenings for different diseases and afflictions are a big part of how healthcare is administered nowadays, as a major goal is to identify potential health issues before they become major problems.

This holistic approach to healthcare applies to young children, too. Developmental screenings are now a routine part of visits to the pediatrician, as it’s important to identify the potential early signs and symptoms of things such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

The reasoning for this is quite simple: Early diagnosis of autism leads to many long-term benefits, including the chance to implement early intervention such as applied behavior analysis.

Also known as ABA therapy, it has long been considered the gold standard of treatment plans for children on the autism spectrum. The earlier ABA therapy can begin, the better the potential long-term outcomes.

Below, we’ll analyze the long-term outcomes of early ABA intervention, backed by various research and studies into the topic.

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What Does ABA Therapy Entail?

ABA therapy is a science- and evidence-based approach to learning and behavior. It seeks to help children with autism build the communication and social skills they often lack, while also learning how to modify certain behaviors.

Oftentimes, ABA therapy is intensive. Most children need to undergo multiple hours of the treatment multiple times per week. The reasoning for this is that it takes time and repetition for the children to learn these skills and modify their behaviors to overcome their challenges.

ABA therapists use various strategies to teach these skills. This includes breaking big tasks down into more manageable and understandable individual steps, using positive reinforcement to motivate learning and modeling behaviors.

While ABA therapy can be prescribed at any time, it’s most effective when children can start from a young age, since that is the time when their brains are most able to adapt and learn major changes.

What are Some of the Long-Term Benefits of Early ABA Interventions?

Multiple studies have found that there is evidence that intensive ABA therapy can significantly improve outcomes for children who have ASD. This is especially true when ABA therapy begins at a young age.

Some of the biggest improvements in outcome include improvements in the child’s adaptive behavior, which includes communication, expressive language and socialization. These are all things that children on the autism spectrum typically struggle with, and are very important skills to learn to help them live independently.

When ABA therapy begins from a young age, therapists are able to create targeted treatment plans to help patients in a variety of areas — from helping them adapt to foreign situations and environments, to enhancing their social interactions, to developing communication strategies that are effective and much more.

Not only that, but early ABA therapy intervention can target problem behaviors, such as aggression and/or self-injurious behaviors. Therapists can work to identify what some of the triggers for these behaviors are, so that they can then create coping mechanisms and strategies to help the child modify those behaviors.

Does Research Support These Benefits?

The benefits of early ABA therapy interventions are backed by plenty of scientific research.

A 2005 study looked at children who received ABA therapy over a number of years, finding that many were able to achieve significant gains in language development, adaptive behavior and cognitive abilities.

Particularly impressive was the finding that 48% of all the children studied showed “rapid learning … and at age 7, were succeeding in regular education classrooms.”

Another study conducted in 2009 found that patients who receive early intensive ABA therapy significantly improved in the areas of adaptive behavior, language skills and cognitive function.

This study concluded that because of the impressive results and the long-term benefits of early ABA therapy intervention, it “should be an intervention of choice for children with autism.”

There are plenty of other studies, too, that have concluded that early ABA therapy intervention helps children be more successful in learning skills and modifying behaviors not only in the short term but over the long-term as well. Ultimately, this helps them live more independent lives.

Blue Gems ABA Supports Children with ASD through Early Intervention

Early detection and intervention are extremely important in healthcare in general, but especially for children with autism. The earlier that intervention programs such as ABA therapy can be started, the more successful they can be.

At Blue Gems ABA, we help to support children on the autism spectrum through these early intervention programs. We administer ABA therapy on a one-to-one basis, crafting each treatment plan to each child’s unique strengths and challenges.

To learn more, please contact us today.