Is My Child “Doing ABA”? Why the Language We Use Matters

If your child receives ABA services, you have probably heard phrases like:

• “Time for ABA.”

• “Let’s do your programs.”

• “We need to finish your targets.”
  

These phrases are common, and there is nothing inherently wrong with the words ABA, therapy, program, or target. Children do not need to be shielded from knowing that they receive ABA services, and families should certainly understand what their child is working on and why.

But there is another way to think about this language.

When a child is at an ABA session, what are they actually doing?

• They might be making a snack.

• Playing a board game.

• Building with LEGO.

• Having a conversation.

• Getting dressed.

• Ordering food.

• Playing with another child.

Learning what to do when something doesn’t go as expected.

From the child’s perspective, these are the activities they are participating in.

Behind those activities, however, there may be a great deal of clinical planning happening.

A behaviour analyst might be thinking about communication, independence, flexibility, problem-solving, waiting, social interaction, self-management, or many other skills.

So while the child is making a snack, the clinician might be intentionally creating opportunities for them to ask for something they need, follow a sequence, wait, solve a small problem, make a choice, or complete more of the activity independently.

The child is making a snack.

We are using ABA to help teach the skills within that experience.

That distinction matters.

The Activity Is the Context

Imagine a child is baking cookies.

From the child’s perspective, they are measuring ingredients, mixing, pouring, waiting for the cookies to bake, and hopefully eating one at the end.

From the clinician’s perspective, there may be many skills embedded within that same activity.

• Perhaps we are working on following a sequence.

• Perhaps an ingredient is intentionally placed somewhere that creates an opportunity to ask for help.

• Perhaps the child needs to wait for their turn.

Maybe something spills and creates an opportunity to practice problem-solving.

Maybe the goal is simply completing more steps independently.

The clinical goals have not disappeared because the activity is fun or meaningful.

• The teaching is still intentional.

• The clinician is still observing.

• Data can still be collected.

• Progress can still be evaluated.

ABA is still guiding the decisions being made.

But does the child need to think of what they are doing as their “sequencing program,” “requesting program,” or “independence program”?

Maybe they can simply experience themselves as baking cookies.

When Clinical Language Becomes the Child’s Language

I have heard children ask things like:

“Can we do the perspective-taking program?” Or: “Can we do the fluency program now?”

There is nothing inherently concerning about that. Some children enjoy knowing the names of things they are working on, and there is certainly nothing wrong with a child knowing they receive ABA.

But it does make me think about how much of our professional language needs to become the language children use to describe their own experiences.

As clinicians, we need terms like goals, targets, programs, data, and intervention. Those words help us organize our work, communicate with one another, and evaluate whether what we are doing is effective.

Children may not need every activity organized for them in the same way.

Instead of: “Let’s do your social skills program.”

It might simply be: “Let’s go play with them.”

Instead of: “We need to work on your requesting target.”

It might be: “What do you need?”

Instead of: “Time for your independence program.”

It might be: “Let’s make your snack.”

The professional still knows exactly what skill is being taught and why.

This Isn’t About Hiding ABA

This distinction is important.

Using everyday language does not mean pretending ABA is something else.

Families deserve transparency about the services their child receives. Children should also be given developmentally appropriate information about the support they receive.

The goal is simply to distinguish between our professional framework and the child’s experience.

ABA is what helps us decide what to teach, why we are teaching it, how we will support learning, and whether our approach is working.

The child gets to participate in the activity itself.

And ideally, many of those activities look increasingly like the things children do in everyday life: playing, communicating, helping, creating, making choices, spending time with others, solving problems, and becoming more independent.

Why Language Matters

The words adults use communicate something about how we see an experience.

If everything a child does during a session becomes a program, every skill becomes a target, and every activity becomes therapy, it can become easy for the clinical framework to take centre stage.

But the program is there to serve the child.

The child is not there to serve the program.

That is an important distinction for families and professionals alike.

Perhaps instead of asking: “How do we get them to finish their programs?”

we can sometimes ask:

“What activity would give them a meaningful opportunity to learn and practice this skill?”

The goals can remain intentional.

The teaching can remain systematic.

The decisions can remain grounded in ABA.

But the child can still experience themselves as playing a game, baking cookies, talking with a friend, getting dressed, solving a problem—or simply participating in their life.

The activity provides the context.

The skill is what we are teaching.

ABA is the framework guiding how we teach it.🩷