“Our speech therapist told us not to do ABA. Our pediatrician told us to start as soon as possible. Who am I supposed to believe?”
If you have typed is ABA bad into a search bar at midnight, you are in very good company. Parents come to me after reading glowing clinic websites, angry forum threads, and everything in between, and they are exhausted by being told there is only one right answer.
I am a speech-language pathologist and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, so I have heard the strongest arguments from both sides of this debate, often in the same week. Here is my honest answer: ABA can be done well or done badly, and the difference matters more than the label. This article will help you tell which is which.
Why the debate exists
The criticisms of ABA did not come from nowhere, and I think parents deserve a straight account of them.
- Its history includes practices we would not accept today. Some early programs, decades ago, used aversive procedures and aimed to make autistic children look “indistinguishable” from their peers.
- Autistic adults have described real harm. Many have spoken about programs that focused on compliance, taught them to hide their distress, or tried to stop harmless behaviors such as stimming or avoiding eye contact.
- Quality varies widely. ABA is delivered by people with very different levels of training and supervision. A child’s experience depends heavily on who is actually in the room.
Those concerns are why some speech therapists, teachers and parents are wary. Taking them seriously is not “anti-ABA”. It is exactly what a good ABA provider should be doing too.
The science versus how it is used
Here is the distinction I come back to again and again.
ABA is a science of how learning happens. Reinforcement, motivation, prompting and fading, generalization: these principles describe how every person learns, autistic or not. You use them every time you praise your child for trying a new food.
How that science is applied is an ethical choice. Which goals are chosen, whose priorities they serve, and how the child is treated along the way are decisions made by people. That is where things go right or wrong.
Neurodiversity-affirming practice gives us the ethical framework for those decisions: respect the child’s communication and identity, seek their assent, and focus on skills that improve their safety, health, independence and quality of life, rather than on making them look less autistic. The science and the ethics are not opposites. Good ABA needs both.
The behavior analysis profession’s own ethics code puts it in similar terms. Its core principles include treating others with compassion, dignity and respect.
Put simply, the current debate often pits ABA against neurodiversity-affirming practice as if you had to choose one. You do not. ABA is a neutral science of how learning happens; neurodiversity-affirming practice is the ethical framework that decides how that science is used. The problem was never the science of learning. It is application that neglects the learner.
The science itself is neutral — it’s all about HOW we apply it. When we center respect, autonomy, and assent, the principles of learning can absolutely help someone achieve their goals in a supportive way.
It is not the tool, it is the hand that holds it.
How I ended up learning ABA
I did not come to this as an ABA enthusiast. I qualified as a speech-language pathologist 24 years ago, and for the first eleven years I worked across the range of children’s developmental communication disorders, during the years when autism diagnoses were climbing sharply.
What I noticed was that autistic children learned language in a distinctly different way. When I used a developmental language framework alone, it did not explain their pattern of strengths and difficulties, and my own assessment and intervention framework clearly had gaps in it.
At that time, hardly any of my colleagues talked about ABA. In early childhood settings and in graduate programs it was often treated as the opposing camp, criticized for being rigid and for using food as reinforcement, so I did not go looking for it either.
Then I worked in a school alongside two excellent BCBAs. They were glad to work with a speech therapist, and they were very good at solving the behavior problems I was stuck on. It opened my eyes.
So I decided: I have problems I cannot solve, ABA explains the relationship between function, environment and behavior, and I am curious. Why not learn the thing everyone else is avoiding and judge it for myself? Let’s see if it belongs in my toolbox.
Thirteen years later, the debate has grown louder rather than quieter. My position has not changed: I don’t pick sides, I want to bridge.
ABA is not a therapy. It is the science behind therapies
One misunderstanding sits underneath most of this argument, and it is worth clearing up.
ABA is not a treatment, a course, or a session on a timetable. It is a science of behavior and learning, and it shows up inside many different professions: speech therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, CBT, daily living skills teaching.
It also describes ordinary life. We work for a salary. We post something and keep posting when people respond. A child tries something, gets a warm response, and does it again. That is reinforcement. Speeding fines, marks deducted for late homework, penalties for breaking the law: society runs on behavioral consequences too.
The structured drills a speech therapist uses to shape a sound are a teaching method that ABA can explain, but the drill itself is not “ABA”. Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions, which are child-led, rest on behavioral principles as well.
So ABA is not what is being done to your child. It is what explains why an approach works. You may think you are choosing whether to do ABA. In daily life you are already using it.
Good ABA versus ABA to worry about
| Good ABA looks like | Be concerned if you see |
|---|---|
| Goals chosen with you, based on what matters in your child’s life | Goals mainly about sitting still, looking at people, or “looking typical” |
| Your child’s interests and motivation drive teaching | Long, repetitive drills your child clearly dislikes |
| All communication is honored: words, signs, pictures, AAC | AAC or favorite items withheld until “correct” speech appears |
| Harmless behaviors such as stimming are left alone | Stimming or other harmless autistic traits targeted for reduction |
| Your child’s signs of distress or “no” are respected and the plan adjusts | Crying and refusal treated as behaviors to push through |
| You are coached and invited to observe | Parents discouraged from watching sessions |
| Data are shared and explained in plain language | Progress described vaguely, or only in hours delivered |
| Speech therapists, teachers and other professionals are welcomed into the plan | Other professionals dismissed or kept at arm’s length |
One row matters most to me as a speech therapist: communication comes first. A child who can ask for a break, for help, or to stop has much less reason to communicate through distress. Any program that makes communication conditional is working against the child.
Why some speech therapists are wary of ABA
In my experience, speech therapists who push back on ABA are usually reacting to one of three things:
- Communication being treated as compliance. Programs that require a “full sentence” before a child gets a drink, or put the AAC device away during work time, clash with everything speech therapy teaches about communication rights.
- Language taught as a list of drills. Flashcard labeling without real requesting, conversation and play can produce words without functional communication.
- No real collaboration. Two plans written separately, with different words for the same skill, leave the child and family caught in the middle.
These are fair concerns, and they are all problems of practice, not of the science itself. When speech therapists and behavior analysts plan together, the result is often better than either would create alone. I wrote about what that looks like in How Speech and ABA Therapy Work Together.
How to find a good ABA provider
Before you sign anything, ask these eight questions. A good provider will be glad you asked.
- Who will work with my child, and who supervises them? Ask what training and credentials each person holds, how you can verify them, and how often the supervisor observes your child in person.
- How do you choose goals? Listen for your family’s priorities and your child’s quality of life, not a standard checklist applied to everyone.
- How do you respond when my child says no or becomes upset? Listen for adjusting the plan, not pushing through.
- What is your approach to stimming and other autistic behaviors? A thoughtful answer distinguishes harmful behavior from harmless difference.
- How do you support AAC and other communication? Communication should always be available.
- Can I observe sessions, and how will you coach me? Open doors are a good sign.
- How do you work with my child’s speech therapist and teachers? Ask for a specific example.
- How do you decide how many hours my child needs? It should be based on assessment and goals, and reviewed regularly, not a default number.
Frequently asked questions
Is ABA harmful to autistic children?
ABA can be harmful when it is applied without respect for the child, for example when it focuses on compliance, suppresses harmless autistic traits, or ignores distress. It can be very helpful when it is child-centered, respects all communication, and targets skills that matter in the child’s life. The quality of the specific program matters more than the label.
Why are some speech therapists against ABA?
Usually because of experiences with programs that treated communication as compliance, taught language through drills alone, or did not collaborate. Many speech therapists work closely and happily with behavior analysts when those problems are addressed.
Is there good ABA and bad ABA?
Yes. The same principles can be applied in ways that are respectful, playful and child-led, or rigid and compliance-focused. Use the table above to judge the program in front of you.
I’m still not sure about ABA. What should I do?
That is a reasonable place to be. Observe a session before committing, ask the eight questions above, and talk with your child’s speech therapist. You can also start with a short trial and clear goals, then review together whether it is helping. Trust what you see in your child.
How do I find a good ABA provider?
Ask about supervision, goal selection, how distress is handled, communication and AAC, parent coaching and collaboration. Ask what credentials each person holds and how to verify them, and be cautious of any provider who discourages questions or observation.
Can my child do speech therapy without ABA?
Yes. Speech therapy is its own profession, and many autistic children make excellent progress with speech therapy and other supports without ABA. Many families choose to combine them, and when they do, the two work best as one coordinated plan.
How many hours of ABA does my child need?
There is no single right number. Hours should follow from an assessment and your child’s goals, fit your family’s life, leave room for play and rest, and be reviewed regularly. More hours are not automatically better.
What is the difference between a BCBA and an RBT?
A BCBA is a graduate-level behavior analyst who assesses, designs and supervises programs. An RBT is a technician who delivers sessions under a BCBA’s supervision. Many children spend most of their session time with an RBT, which is why supervision matters so much.
If you are weighing whether ABA is right for your child, or want a second opinion on a program you are already in, I offer consultations for families and professionals. You may also find my answer to Is ABA neurodiversity-affirming? on the FAQ page helpful.
I post shorter pieces on these questions as @speechabaworks on Threads and Instagram — the two sections above began as posts there. Follow along for the short version between articles.
This article offers general information and is not a substitute for individual assessment or treatment.
Selected references
- Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2020). Ethics code for behavior analysts. BACB.
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Applied behavior analysis and communication services. National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons With Severe Disabilities.
- Slim, L., & Reuter-Yuill, L. (2021). A behavior-analytic perspective on interprofessional collaboration. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 14, 1238–1248.