ABA Building Blocks

A simple way of recording behavior: what happened just before (Antecedent), what your child did (Behavior), and what came right after (Consequence). The clearest picture clinicians have of why a behavior is happening.

The everyday-living skills your child needs to be more independent: dressing, brushing teeth, asking for a snack, crossing a street safely. Often the most life-changing part of a plan.

The science behind every program at CareWorks. ABA studies how behavior is learned and uses that knowledge to teach communication, independence, and social skills in ways that stick.

The current diagnostic category for autism, used by clinicians since 2013. The word “spectrum” reflects how widely autism presents from one child to the next.

Your child’s ongoing willingness to participate in a session. Honoring assent, including pausing when a child clearly needs a break, is core to ethical modern ABA.

The starting measurement of a skill or behavior before therapy begins. Without a baseline, there is no honest way to measure progress.

A behavior analyst who works under a BCBA’s supervision. Often the bridge between the supervising clinician and the day-to-day session team.

In ABA, anything a person does that can be observed: a word, a gesture, a refusal, a hug. Not a value judgment, not “good” or “bad.”

A written, individualized plan for reducing a challenging behavior and replacing it with a healthier skill. Built directly from a Functional Behavior Assessment.

A trained team member who delivers therapy hours under a BCBA’s plan. Often referred to as an RBT once nationally certified.

Therapy delivered at one of our clinic locations, built around structured rooms and shared peer learning. See Center-Based ABA.

Teaching a multi-step skill, like washing hands, by linking each step into a smooth sequence. Forward chaining starts with step one; backward chaining starts with the last.

Building your child’s ability to choose between options. A small skill that quietly grows into self-advocacy, refusal, and independence over the years.

The if-this-then-that relationship between a behavior and what follows it. Clear contingencies help your child predict their world and feel safe in it.

The session-by-session record of what is working and what is not. Your BCBA uses it to adjust goals, fade prompts, and prove progress beyond a parent’s gut sense.

The formal assessment used to identify autism, typically using tools like the ADOS-2. Required by most insurers before ABA services begin.

Reinforcing a desired behavior more strongly than competing behaviors. A core technique for shifting effort toward the skills we want to grow.

A clinician watching a behavior happen in real time, not relying on second-hand reports. Much of a BCBA’s first month with your child is direct observation.

Gradually withholding the reinforcement that was keeping a challenging behavior going. Used carefully and ethically, it helps the behavior fade as new, healthier skills take its place.

A vocal repeat of what someone else just said. An early language-building skill that opens the door to fuller verbal behavior.

A teaching approach that prevents wrong answers by giving immediate prompts, then fades them over time. Builds confidence by letting the learner succeed from the very first trial.

A treatment with rigorous research demonstrating it works. ABA is the most heavily researched intervention in autism care, with decades of peer-reviewed evidence behind it.

The structured investigation a BCBA runs to figure out why a challenging behavior is happening. Without an FBA, behavior plans are guesses.

Gradually reducing the help, prompt, or reinforcer your child needs to perform a skill. Done well, fading builds independence without losing accuracy.

When a skill is fast, smooth, and accurate, not just performed correctly. The phase that follows acquisition and precedes generalization.

The reason a behavior is happening: to get attention, to escape a demand, to access something tangible, or for sensory input. Knowing the function shapes everything in the plan.

When your child performs a skill independently, accurately, and across people and places. The official endpoint of a teaching target.

Sessions where two or more children practice social skills together with clinical support. Available in our center-based programs.

Building a skill your child has not yet developed. Different from rehabilitation, which restores a skill that was lost.

A planned series of easy “wins” before a harder request. Builds momentum and cooperation in the moment.

Your child’s program is built from their specific profile, not a template. Goals, methods, and session intensity are custom to their developmental needs and your family’s life.

Using moments your child initiates (a request, a glance, a reach) as the starting point for a teaching opportunity. Especially effective for natural language growth.

Therapy delivered in your living room, kitchen, or bedroom. Often the right choice for skills that need to generalize directly to your child’s daily environment. See In-Home ABA.

How many therapy hours per week your child receives. Comprehensive plans run 30 to 40 hours; focused plans run 10 to 25, per current clinical standards.

The time between a request and a response. Short latency means right away; long latency may mean processing time, prompt dependence, or avoidance.

Everything your child has experienced that shapes how they respond now. A new clinician’s first job is to understand it, not assume it.

The technical term for a request. Teaching your child to mand for what they want, instead of grabbing or melting down, is often one of the first goals in early programs.

Keeping a skill alive months after it was taught. Built into every plan with periodic check-ins so progress does not quietly slip away.

Showing your child the behavior we want them to perform, then giving them the chance to copy it. Often paired with imitation training.

A family of strategies (NET, Pivotal Response Training, Incidental Teaching) that teach inside play and routines rather than at a structured table.

Removing something unpleasant to make a behavior more likely. Frequently misunderstood as punishment; it is not.

Direct watching of a behavior to gather objective data, instead of relying on what someone remembers later. The starting point for almost every assessment.

Structured coaching that gives you the strategies your child’s team uses, so therapy continues between sessions. CareWorks runs a dedicated Parent Training program.

A naturalistic teaching method built around motivation, choice, and natural reinforcers. A strong fit for play-based and language-focused goals.

Adding something your child values right after a behavior to make it more likely to repeat. The most-used and most-misunderstood tool in ABA.

Any help that increases the chance of a correct response: physical, verbal, gestural, or visual. Faded systematically as skills grow.

Anything that makes a behavior less likely to repeat. Modern ABA at CareWorks does not use deliberate punishment; we focus on reinforcing healthier replacement skills instead.

A nationally certified technician who delivers session hours under a BCBA’s plan. Most direct therapy hours at CareWorks are run by RBTs.

A healthier skill that meets the same need a challenging behavior was meeting. The point of every behavior reduction goal.

A predictable sequence of activities your child can count on. Routines lower anxiety and create natural moments for teaching new skills.

Your child’s growing ability to ask for what they need, refuse what they do not, and signal when something is wrong. A long-term goal whose seeds are planted in early sessions.

How your child organizes input from the world around them. Sensory-friendly environments support learning rather than distract from it.

The written document outlining your child’s goals, hours, and methods. Reviewed with you regularly and adjusted as your child grows.

Skills like greeting, sharing, taking turns, and reading other people’s emotions. Often a major focus once language and core requesting skills are in place.

A clinician who treats speech and language alongside ABA. Many CareWorks families work with both, with the team coordinating goals.

The technical term for labeling. When your child sees a dog and says “dog,” that is a tact. Different from a mand because no specific reward follows.

A supervising BCBA joining a session by video. Used when the right clinical fit lives outside the local market, or to broaden access for families.

A reinforcement system where your child earns tokens for target behaviors and trades them for a chosen reward. Effective at building motivation across longer goals.

A single teaching opportunity inside a session. Plans are measured in thousands of trials, not hours.

A widely used assessment that maps your child’s current language and social skills against developmental milestones. Often the starting point for goal-writing.

A picture-based timeline of what comes next. Reduces anxiety and supports independence by making the day predictable.