The plan is a hypothesis. The data decides.
Applied Behavior Analysis is not a curriculum we run at every child. It is a method: observe carefully, measure what matters, look at the numbers, change one thing, measure again.
How clinical decisions are made.
Five steps that do not stop. A treatment plan that has not changed in six months is not a stable plan; it is a plan nobody is reading.
Observe
What happens, when, and what follows it. Described in terms anyone in the room would agree on — not in terms of what we assume the child is feeling.
Measure
Counted or timed the same way every session, so that two therapists on two days produce comparable numbers.
Analyze
The BCBA looks at level, trend and variability over time — not at one good afternoon.
Modify
One change at a time, written down with the reason. Change three things at once and you learn nothing about which worked.
Measure again
Back to step two. The loop is the treatment.
We describe what can be observed and counted. We do not claim to know what a child is thinking, and we do not promise a result — anyone who gives you a number before assessing your child is guessing.
From first assessment to leaving us.
- AssessmentDirect observation and standardized tools. Builds the plan.
- Treatment planningGoals worth something to your family, each with how it will be measured.
- Protocol modificationThe BCBA changes the procedure when the data says to.
- GeneralizationThe skill has to hold with other people, materials and places.
- TransitionDischarge is a goal, not a failure. Planned, not abrupt.
The parts, in detail.
The science behind it
What the evidence supports, what it does not, and the criticism that changed the field.
Assessment
What happens before, during and after — and how it becomes goals.
Data-based treatment
The difference between collecting data and actually using it.
Caregiver training
You practise the procedure; the BCBA watches and gives feedback. Not a lecture.
Quality and outcomes
What we measure about ourselves, and what we will publish when it is validated.
Ask the clinical questions before you commit.
A BCBA will answer them. Nobody will sell you an outcome.