Why is Speech Therapy Often Paired with ABA?

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can affect children in many different ways. One of the most common and overarching symptoms of autism, though, is deficits in communication.

This can mean very different things to different children on the autism spectrum. For some, it might mean having trouble understanding non-verbal signals such as hand gestures or facial expressions, while others might be completely non-verbal.

Well-regarded treatment methods such as applied behavior analysis (ABA therapy) have proven extremely effective at helping children with ASD build their communication skills with consistent effort.

At the same time, ABA therapy is often paired with speech therapy to produce the best outcomes for children with autism. In this article, we’ll discuss why speech therapy is often paired with ABA therapy.

Learn more about ABA Therapy for Speech

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What is the Focus of Speech Therapy?

Speech therapy has a relatively general focus of supporting children as they work to overcome any challenges they face with communication. It addresses many different aspects of communication, including language development and comprehension; recognition and articulation of sounds, letters and words; and skills related to social communication.

Many times, speech therapists will work to help children enhance their expressive communication. It can start with helping children label items, people and objects with the appropriate words, then progress to stringing multiple words together to make requests.

In time, speech therapy teaches children the verbal skills they need to communicate effectively with other people — whether that’s making requests or answering questions from their parents, or interacting with their peers.

The end goal of speech therapy is to give children the tools they need to participate in real-world conversations that are meaningful and fulfilling.

What is the Focus of ABA Therapy?

ABA therapy certainly can help children improve their communication skills in many of these same ways. However, speech is only one aspect of what the treatment seeks to address.

In addition to communication skills, ABA therapy helps children with autism do things such as self-care activities, prepare for school environments and modify certain negative and/or harmful behaviors. There are many different strategies and tools that therapists will use to support their patients, including positive reinforcement.

One of the biggest aspects of ABA therapy is targeting certain problematic behaviors and helping children find replacement behaviors that are more appropriate. These problematic behaviors are often disruptive to the child and others — and can stand in the way of learning — while at times they can also be physically damaging.

By reducing these problematic behaviors, ABA therapists are helping enable children to learn more effectively, which can lead to bigger gains in areas such as speech.

How Can Speech Therapy and ABA Therapy Work Together?

When speech therapy and ABA therapy are paired, it provides the child with a collaborative approach to improving communication skills. It also ensures that the two therapies are tailored specifically to each child’s unique strengths, challenges, needs and preferences.

Speech therapists can work on labeling, recognition, verbalization, pronunciation and making requests, for example. Then, ABA therapists can reinforce those skills in a more holistic setting, enabling the child to practice the skills in a variety of environments — whether that be in school, at home or in the community.

By taking this well-rounded and collaborative approach, children with autism can learn how they can communicate effectively in various scenarios. This can then ultimately lead to them getting what they want more often, expressing how they feel so they can get proper support, interacting with peers and others better, and building self-confidence.

All of these improved skills then lead to major benefits in other aspects of their lives, too. Ultimately, the child can enhance their self-care skills and social interaction skills at the same time, which improves their daily functioning and their ability to live independently.

Blue Gems ABA Collaborates with Other Professionals to Support Children with ASD

Speech therapy is often paired with ABA therapy to provide a holistic approach to helping children with ASD improve their communication and social interaction skills. Doing so ensures that each child receives tailored therapy that specifically addresses the challenges they face.

At Blue Gems ABA, we work with professionals from multiple backgrounds to support the children with autism who we serve. We always create treatment plans that are catered specifically to each individual child, which improves their outcomes.

To learn more, please contact us today.