What is ABA Therapy?
A plain-language guide for parents. What ABA is, what a session looks like, what to ask a provider, and where the cost and insurance answers live.
The short answer
ABA is a way of teaching skills and reducing behaviors that get in a child's way, one small step at a time, by looking at what happens before and after a behavior. It's one of the most studied approaches for autism. A BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) designs the plan and technicians deliver most of the sessions. How many hours a week depends on your child, and a good provider won't give you a number before meeting them.
Two things to hold onto. ABA isn't a cure, and autism isn't an illness. ABA teaches skills your child can use and works on the behaviors that get in the way of learning or safety. It isn't one technique. It's a way of figuring out why a behavior happens and teaching something better in its place.
New to all of this? Start with our free eBook
The ABCs of Autism is our free plain-language starting point for families, caregivers, and educators. What an autism diagnosis means today, developmental milestones, early signs, how the diagnosis process works, and where to turn next. It's a free PDF download. No payment required.
How ABA works: before, behavior, after
Every behavior happens in a situation. ABA looks at three parts of it:
- Before (the antecedent): what happened right before the behavior. A request, a change in the room, a person arriving or leaving, hunger, tiredness.
- Behavior: the thing you can see and count. ABA works on what can be observed, not on guesses about what a child is feeling inside.
- After (the consequence): what happened right after. Whatever follows a behavior makes it more likely or less likely to happen again. Modern ABA builds on the "more likely" side, which is reinforcement.
When a BCBA writes these three things down over and over, a pattern shows up. That pattern tells them why the behavior is happening, and the why decides what to teach instead. A child who screams to get attention needs a different plan than a child who screams to get out of a hard task, even though the screaming looks the same.
Try our free ABC Data Collection Tool →The four reasons behavior happens
Almost every behavior does one of four jobs for a child:
Attention
It gets someone to look, talk, or react. Even a scolding counts.
Escape
It gets the child out of a task, a demand, or a place they don't want to be.
Getting something
It gets a toy, a snack, a screen, or an activity.
It feels good on its own
Rocking, humming, flapping. The behavior is its own reward.
What ABA actually teaches, and how
The plan is built for your child, so the mix changes, but most programs use some of these:
Positive reinforcement
When your child does the thing you're teaching, something they like follows right away. Praise, a favorite toy, a turn on the swing. Done well, this is most of ABA. Done badly, it's bribery, and a good BCBA can explain the difference.
Small steps (task analysis)
Washing hands is nine or ten steps. Getting dressed is more. ABA teaches one step at a time and stacks them.
Structured practice (discrete trial training)
Short, clear teaching rounds at a table: an instruction, a chance to respond, a result. Used for skills like matching, naming, and early words.
Teaching in play (naturalistic teaching)
The same skills, taught on the floor with the toys your child already likes, in the middle of daily routines. This is closer to how any child learns.
Help, then less help (prompting and fading)
A hand over your child's hand, a pointed finger, a word. Then less. Then none. The goal is always your child doing it alone.
A better way to ask (functional communication training)
If hitting gets a child out of a task, ABA teaches a word, a sign, or a picture card that does the same job without hurting anyone.
What a first session looks like
Before any teaching starts, a BCBA meets your child and you. They watch, they ask you what matters most at home, and they test what your child can already do. From that they write a plan: the skills to teach, the behaviors to work on, how many hours a week, and how they will measure progress. Then a technician starts coming, and the BCBA keeps checking the data and the plan.
A session itself is part table work, part play, part real life. Some of it will look like a game. Some of it will look like your kitchen at 7am. Both are on purpose.
Read what an ABA session actually looks like, hour by hour →
What to ask a provider before you sign anything
- Who is the BCBA on our child's case, and how often will they be in the room? Check their certification on the BACB registry.
- How do you decide how many hours our child needs, and what would make you change that number?
- Show me a progress graph for a child like mine. How often will I see our child's?
- What happens when our child says no? How do you handle assent?
- How will you teach me to do this at home?
- Do you take my insurance, and who handles the authorization?
A provider who welcomes these questions is the one you want. A provider who bristles at them has told you something too.
What the research says
ABA is one of the most studied approaches for autism, with decades of published research behind it. That research is also where the hard questions get asked, including about how older ABA was practiced. We put the citations, the limits, and the criticisms on one page so you can read them yourself instead of taking our word for it.
Read the evidence for ABA: what the research says and what it doesn't →
About the concerns you may have heard. Some autistic adults and advocates have raised concerns about ABA as it was practiced in the 1960s and 70s, which sometimes used aversive procedures. The field has moved away from them. Today's practice is built on positive reinforcement, your child's dignity, and your child's assent, and the BACB Ethics Code prohibits harmful procedures and requires the least restrictive effective treatment. If something in your child's therapy worries you, say so to the supervising BCBA. If that doesn't resolve it, contact the BACB.
Who is in the room
The BCBA
Board Certified Behavior Analyst. A graduate degree, supervised fieldwork, and a national exam. Designs your child's plan, runs the assessment, reads the data, and supervises the technician.
The technician (RBT)
Registered Behavior Technician. Completes a 40-hour training course and a competency check, and works one-on-one with your child under the BCBA's supervision. This is the person your child will see most.
Where the cost and insurance answers live
Two questions come right after "what is it": what does it cost, and will insurance pay. Both have their own page, because the answer depends on your state, your plan, and your hours.
- How much does ABA therapy cost? The rates, what drives them, and a free calculator for your state.
- Does insurance cover ABA therapy? The state-by-state rules, and the one question to ask your plan first.
- Insurance said no? The appeal kit.
- How long does ABA therapy last? Why nobody can tell you at the outset, and what they can tell you.
How to find a good ABA provider
- Check that the BCBA holds current certification on the BACB registry
- Ask how they use positive reinforcement and how they handle your child's assent
- Ask how they collect data and how often you will see it
- Confirm you're part of planning, not just told the plan
- Confirm they accept your insurance and ask who handles authorization
- Ask for references from current families
- Check the ESBAP ethical provider directory for providers who have committed to ethical standards
Free resources to get started
Free tools, a screening checklist, and a free consultation with a BCBA. No account needed for any of them.
Ready to go deeper?
The ABCs of Autism eBook: $9.99
The free guide above is the starter version. This is the full eBook edition, written for parents of newly diagnosed children and anyone who loves and cares for them, including special education teachers. Straightforward information to help you understand autism and make informed decisions.
Get the eBookIntro to ABA: Level 1 Basic Training, $199
Special Learning’s foundational ABA course, taught by highly trained professionals with extensive experience in the principles and methods of Applied Behavior Analysis. Webcast format: watch from your computer or mobile device.
See the CourseQuestions parents ask about ABA
ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) is a way of teaching skills and reducing behaviors that get in a child's way, one small step at a time, by looking at what happens before and after a behavior. It's one of the most studied approaches for autism. A BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) designs the plan and technicians deliver most of the sessions.
No. Autism isn't an illness and ABA isn't a cure. ABA teaches skills your child can use, such as asking for what they want, getting dressed, or joining other kids, and it works on behaviors that get in the way of learning or safety.
It depends on your child's age and goals. Part of a session is usually structured teaching at a table, part is play, and part is practicing real routines like washing hands or taking turns. A technician works with your child and a BCBA checks in regularly. Read our companion page on what an ABA session actually looks like.
There's no number that fits every child. The BCBA sets the hours after an assessment and adjusts them as your child's data comes in. If a provider gives you a number before meeting your child, ask how they got it.
Nobody can tell you at the outset. It depends on your child, the goals, and how consistently sessions happen. What a good BCBA can tell you is what they are targeting, how they will measure progress, and what should change by when. Our guide on how long ABA therapy lasts walks through the phases.
It depends on your plan. Many states have autism insurance laws, but they reach only state-regulated plans. Self-funded employer (ERISA) plans set their own rules and are exempt from state mandates. Ask member services whether your plan is fully insured or self-funded; that answer decides which rules apply to you. For children enrolled in Medicaid, ABA can be covered under EPSDT when a medical-necessity determination supports it. Our state-by-state insurance guide has the details for where you live.
Modern ABA emphasizes positive reinforcement, dignity, and your child's assent. Historical ABA in the 1960s and 70s sometimes used aversive procedures, and the field has moved away from them. The BACB Ethics Code prohibits harmful procedures and requires the least restrictive effective treatment. If something in your child's therapy worries you, say so to the supervising BCBA, and if that doesn't resolve it, contact the BACB.
Check that the BCBA holds current certification on the BACB registry. Ask how they use positive reinforcement, how they share data with you, and how they involve you in planning. Ask for references from current families and confirm they accept your insurance. Our ESBAP directory lists providers who have committed to ethical standards.