Bringing ABA into Home, School and Play for Children with ASD and other
Disabilities
Debra Leach, EdD, BCBA
leachd@winthrop.edu
Winthrop University
204 Withers
Rock Hill, SC 29733
803-323-4760
Debra Leach is an Associate Professor of Special Education at Winthrop University in Rock Hill,
SC. She is also the Director of the Winthrop Think College program, a post-secondary program
for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Her areas of specialization are
autism spectrum disorders, applied behavior analysis, positive behavioral interventions and
supports, differentiated instruction, and inclusion from birth to adulthood. She is the author of
Bringing ABA into Your Inclusive Classroom and Bringing ABA to Home, School, and Play for
Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Other Disabilities.
Workshop Description
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is typically the treatment of choice for children with ASD due to
empirical support of the approach. Professionals have been delivering ABA interventions with
young children with ASD for decades. However, many struggle with implementing these ABA
interventions in natural environments, as is required by federal law (IDEIA, 2004). Leading early
intervention researchers (i.e. Robin McWilliam, Carl Dunst) suggest the use of routines-based
interventions (RBI). With RBI, the premise is that all children, even children with special needs,
learn best when engaged in naturally occurring routines and activities. However, when ABA
interventions, such as Discrete Trial Training, were first introduced in the 1980’s, guidelines for
natural environment intervention were not provided. This resulted in a clinical delivery model
with 1:1 instruction often in isolated settings. This clinical approach often leads to lack of child
motivation and generalization of learned skills. Of course the literature does suggest that ABA
interventions such as Discrete Trial Training, Pivotal Response Treatment, Incidental Teaching,
and Applied Verbal Behavior can be implemented in natural settings, but the reality is, it is
difficult for interventionists to know how to take the structure of those approaches and
implement them within everyday routines and activities. This presentation will provide a
framework for designing and implementing an intensive ABA intervention program for delivery
within naturally occurring routines and activities.
Objectives
Participants will learn how to:
1. Conduct assessments for natural environment ABA
2. Set goals for natural environment ABA
3. Develop ABA teaching procedures for natural environment implementation
4. Coach caregivers to enable them to implement ABA interventions across a variety of early
childhood routines
5. Collect progress-monitoring data