What ABA Therapy Used to Be, And Why It Looks So Different Today
If you’ve searched “ABA therapy” you’ve probably found two very different conversations happening at the same time:
One says ABA is the gold standard for supporting autistic children. The other says it causes harm. Both are drawing from real history — just different chapters of it.
So what’s the deal with this discrepancy? How can there be such variance in understanding? We hope we can clarify things here.
Where ABA Came From
Behavioral science started taking shape in the early 1900s. It presented a pretty radical idea: that psychology should concern itself only with what could be directly observed and measured. So behavior, not inner experience. Feelings, relationships, inner life — none of that was considered relevant data. What mattered was what you could see, control, and replicate in a laboratory.
In the 1930s and ‘40s, B.F. Skinner built on that foundation with what he called operant conditioning, which was the idea that behavior is shaped by its consequences. Reinforce a behavior, and it becomes more likely. Punish it, and it fades. Skinner believed this framework was one of the most powerful tools humanity had ever developed. He believed that if we understood what drives human behavior, we could reduce suffering, build better communities, and help people flourish.
While behaviorism has merit, the evolving theory was missing some really important components (that we’ll discuss below). Also, the methods were quite rigid. Early behavioral research included experiments on humans that we’d consider deeply unethical today - like conditioning fear responses in infants, using aversive shocks, treating people as variables in a laboratory study rather than as human beings deserving of dignity. These harmful practices weren’t the exception to the rule - they were the scientific norm of the time.
What Happened When ABA Met Autism
Eventually, in the 1960s and ’70s, behavioral principles started to be introduced to autistic children, with the explicit goal of making them “indistinguishable from their peers.” Sometimes children would receive up to 40 hours a week of structured behavior training, with studies showing that these efforts were successful. As such, these trainings became the dominant model for decades.
By the 1980s and ’90s, that model had hardened into something many families and children experienced as deeply harmful. Children sat at tables for hours. Demands were repeated. When a child didn’t comply, they were punished. And sometimes, the punishments were severe. For example, aversive techniques like electric shock were used to suppress what were perceived as problematic behaviors, including stimming behaviors that we now understand to be self-regulating. And for many autistic adults who went through ABA in this era, their treatment was genuinely traumatic. Their accounts are documented, credible, and important.
What Changed — And Why
The shift away from punitive ABA didn’t happen all at once. It happened because eventually the field accumulated enough evidence to show that punishment doesn’t actually produce the outcomes it promises. Not in the long term, anyway.
While punishment can definitely suppress a behavior (when the authority enforcing it is present), it doesn’t build skills. It doesn’t teach a child what to do instead. And once the punishing authority is gone, the behavior often returns. Meanwhile, punishment can result in ruptures between a child and their caregiver, and that damage can be tricky to repair.
Alternatively, reinforcement-based approaches work with a child’s motivation. They build skills that last because the child is genuinely engaged in the learning process. They keep the relationship intact. And they produce positive outcomes that last.
At the same time, the neurodiversity movement pushed the field to rethink its goals entirely. Was “indistinguishable from peers” actually a good outcome? Or was it asking autistic children to suppress who they are at great personal cost?
Today, modern ABA has largely answered that question. The Behavior Analyst Certification Board’s current ethics code calls for compassion, dignity, respect, and the least intrusive evidence-based procedures. Naturalistic, play-based instruction has replaced table-based drilling. Person-centered planning means families help set the goals. Assent-based care means a child’s resistance is treated as meaningful information, not something to override. And importantly, much of this evolution has come directly from listening to autistic voices which is a big shift in a field that spent decades not doing that.
What to Look for in a Provider
The honest reality is that not all ABA looks the same today. While the field has changed, individual providers vary widely in how much they’ve integrated those changes. If you’re evaluating a provider or wondering about one you’re already working with, we’d like to share some signs that they’re practicing modern, ethical ABA:
Sessions feel collaborative, not compliance-driven
Your child’s goals are built around their strengths and your family’s priorities
The therapist explains the why behind the skill building and strategies
You are included as a partner, not just informed after the fact
Stimming is respected unless it poses a safety risk
Your child’s resistance or distress is treated as information, not defiance
And finally, if something doesn’t feel right, it’s okay to ask questions. A good provider welcomes them.
The Bottom Line
We want to acknowledge here that the criticism of ABA is rooted in real history. If someone in your life is concerned about it, they’re not wrong. But things have evolved, and will continue evolving as we learn more about how to best support our children. Gratefully, the ABA practiced in homes today by our clinicians is not the ABA of the 1980s.
ABA has come a long way, and at Balance in Behavior, we remain committed to evolving as to best serve the children and families we work with.
Balance in Behavior provides in-home ABA therapy for families of neurodivergent children in Centerville, UT and surrounding areas. Visit our free resource library or sign up for our weekly newsletter.