Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Therapy

Applied Behaviour Analysis is the most extensively validated approach for skill acquisition and behaviour change in autism spectrum condition, other neurodevelopmental presentations and learning disability. Our eleven-week specialist programme offers a clinically grounded introduction to ABA, covering both the foundational science of behaviour and the practical, ethical delivery of interventions in clinics, schools and home settings.

The programme begins with the conceptual foundations: operant and respondent conditioning, the three-term contingency, reinforcement schedules, and the crucial distinction between behaviour and its function. Participants are introduced to the literature of functional analysis — how to identify why a behaviour occurs rather than merely what it looks like — because this distinction turns out to be decisive for intervention design. Every subsequent clinical module returns to functional analysis as its organising principle.

Assessment is covered in depth. Participants learn to use direct observation, ABC recording, structured preference assessments and standardised instruments such as the VB-MAPP and the ABLLS-R. We give careful attention to the construction of the skills-acquisition plan: selecting target behaviours, operationalising them, choosing reinforcers, designing prompting and prompt-fading procedures, and collecting data that actually inform clinical decisions rather than merely generate paperwork.

Intervention modules cover verbal behaviour and communication training, social skills, daily living skills, and the management of challenging behaviour. We treat the ethics of ABA practice with particular seriousness: the programme addresses historical critiques from the autistic community, the contemporary shift towards assent-based and trauma-informed practice, and the clinician's responsibility to ensure that interventions are genuinely in the service of the learner and not merely of the surrounding adults.

The programme concludes with a supervised practicum element. Participants submit video-recorded sessions (with appropriate consent) for supervision, a complete skills-acquisition programme for a single learner, and a final integrative case report. The IPAS Certificate in Applied Behaviour Analysis is awarded on successful completion.