What is one common ABA practice that you believe is overused or misapplied in today’s clinics?
Michael P.
I’m curious to hear from other BCBAs.
What is one ABA practice you see used frequently in clinics that you believe is overused or sometimes misapplied?
This is not about criticizing individuals. It is more about reflecting on how our field can continue improving quality of care.
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Extinction. Planned ignoring. Blocking. Restraint. All treated like they’re required for behavior change (and not only that, but that they’re the first line of intervention when they should be used as a last resort) when they often aren’t. That’s lazy ABA.
I see this more in school sessions with non-ABA trained staff (however, I also see it if the ABA practitioner is old school) but: focus on consequence strategies rather than antecedent strategies (yuck!). Emphasis on punishment procedures (especially delayed punishment procedures — ew) rather than reinforcement/differential reinforcement procedures. Overuse of extinction, especially extinction without a reinforcement system in place which is unethical.
Unfortunately, due to the boards jurisdiction, they have no control over non board certified people who are using practices guided by ABA, and it makes collaboration difficult, especially if they are “tricked” by a post-reinforcement pause, into thinking it was effective.
Forced eye contact as a “social skill.” It still shows up a lot, and it’s often pushed when the person is already engaged in the interaction in their own way.
Thanks!