When your child receives an autism diagnosis, you’re suddenly navigating a flood of information, opinions, and treatment recommendations. The sheer volume can feel overwhelming—and sometimes contradictory. Should you trust Google searches, advice from well-meaning friends, social media discussions, or stick solely to your healthcare provider’s guidance? What happens when you read about a treatment that sounds great for your child, but your doctor dismisses it as unsupported by research? Or when a trusted friend raves about an intervention that online communities warn against?
As a parent, you want to make choices that will help your child live their safest, happiest, and most fulfilling life—while ensuring they’re cared for and valued for their unique personality and strengths. Uncertainty can feel paralyzing when you’re trying to do what is best.
The Evidence Behind ABA Therapy
One of the most frequently recommended treatments for autism is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy. This approach has decades of research demonstrating positive outcomes, particularly when implemented early and comprehensively. Because of its proven effectiveness, ABA is considered medically necessary and covered by most health insurance policies. It’s also endorsed by leading healthcare organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, and also by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However, ABA therapy isn’t without its critics—both parents and professionals have raised concerns. To be completely honest, some of these negative opinions can hold some truth. But many of them are misinformation, and current ABA practitioners have listened to these concerns and evolved their methods based on new understanding and research.
Let’s address some of the most common misconceptions about ABA therapy and explore what families can and should expect from a quality ABA therapy program.
“ABA Only Focuses on Compliance and Following Rules”
The Reality: Learning to follow instructions and rules is an essential skill for success in many areas of life, including school and work. Because ABA therapy focuses on teaching socially significant skills, therapists often work with children on skills like following directions to build communication, cooperation, and independence.
However, today’s ABA emphasizes meaningful engagement over forced compliance. ABA therapists understand that even the most cooperative children don’t—and shouldn’t—follow directions 100% of the time. Instead, the focus has shifted to creating positive learning experiences that children actively choose to participate in.
Today’s ABA therapy emphasizes assent, ensuring that children actively choose to engage in sessions through their words or actions. Therapists foster autonomy by teaching children appropriate ways to say no, which builds self-advocacy and mutual respect within a therapeutic relationship where children feel empowered rather than pressured.
Most importantly, learning should be enjoyable. When therapy is guided by a child’s interests and motivations, it becomes a positive and rewarding experience rather than a task to endure. By making sessions engaging and interactive, ABA therapists can make learning something that happens more naturally during play – no need to force compliance when everyone wants to be there and is having fun!
“ABA Creates ‘Robotic’ Children Who Lack Creativity and Spontaneity”
The Reality: This misconception likely stems from a well-known teaching method in ABA called discrete trial training (DTT) — a structured way to break down skills into smaller parts and teach through repeated practice. In the past, discrete trials were often conducted in a mass trial format, where children practiced isolated tasks, like identifying colors with flashcards at a table. While effective in building foundational skills, these structured lessons could feel unconnected to everyday life and lacked creativity.
Today, discrete trials are used within more naturalistic and play-based learning strategies, making the experience more engaging and meaningful. For example, instead of repetitively asking a child to label color flashcards at a table, an ABA therapist might find a way to include color identification into daily activities—asking a child to “find something red” while playing with blocks, setting the table, getting dressed, or flipping through a book. Teaching in real-world contexts helps skills feel much less rigid or robotic. Additionally, modern ABA emphasizes learning how to learn, fostering creativity and independence. When children develop foundational abilities, like imitation skills, they gain the tools to acquire new behaviors more naturally in spontaneous ways.
And remember, both types of teaching methods have value! Consider how you learned multiplication: while you may have memorized times tables through repetition, that foundation enabled you to apply mathematical thinking creatively in countless situations. Similarly, ABA blends structured learning with more naturalistic teaching opportunities to ensure children not only build essential skills but also develop the ability to apply them in creative ways.
“ABA Tries to Make Children ‘Less Autistic’ and Suppresses Natural Behaviors”
The Reality: This is one of the most common criticisms of ABA therapy: that it is ableist and not neurodiversity-affirming. And to be completely transparent, early practitioners of ABA did prioritize “fitting in” over individual needs and well-being and placed too much emphasis on decreasing harmless behaviors such as “stimming.” Thankfully, this represents an area where ABA has genuinely grown and improved.
ABA seeks to strengthen behaviors that enhance a person’s quality of life while addressing only those behaviors that truly impede well-being. Harmless self-regulating behaviors like rocking, hand-flapping, or repeating comforting phrases are typically not targeted for reduction.
In addition, when addressing repetitive behaviors becomes necessary (for safety or access reasons), therapists take a person-centered and comprehensive approach. For example, it may be important to help a child reduce loud repetitive vocalizations if they are keeping them from being included in an otherwise appropriate educational setting. Or a child who needs to learn to avoid rocking back and forth for a period of time to undergo a medically necessary MRI. In these types of situations, ABA doesn’t simply suppress behaviors. Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) carefully examine why behaviors occur, what needs they meet, and how to modify them while respecting the child’s natural self-regulation strategies, personal goals, and input from family.
The Bottom Line: Person-Centered, Evidence-Based Care
When implemented thoughtfully and ethically, contemporary ABA therapy can help achieve your goals for your child while honoring their individuality. Quality ABA programs teach necessary life skills through positive, engaging methods. They value and incorporate each child’s unique interests, motivations, and personality and focus on bringing out their strengths and potential. ABA therapy doesn’t seek to change who your child is—it seeks to help them share their wonderful, authentic selves with the world while building the skills they need to thrive.
This post is the first in our series exploring what families should know about and expect from ABA therapy. Stay tuned for more insights into evidence-based autism interventions and how to navigate your family’s unique journey.
