Our Approach
Side by Side ABA Therapy delivers a substantial portion of instruction within play and daily routines, including mealtimes, community outings, and preferred activities. Learning opportunities are arranged around the child’s interests, and correct responses are followed by natural consequences. For example, a request for a preferred toy results in access to that toy.
Teaching within naturally occurring contexts is intended to promote generalization of skills across people, settings, and materials, and to support sustained motivation. Structured, discrete-trial instruction remains available and is used when clinically indicated for specific skill targets.
This model is consistent with Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBIs), which integrate the principles of applied behavior analysis with developmental science.
Supporting Evidence
- Schreibman et al. (2015) defined NDBIs as interventions delivered in natural contexts, using shared control between child and adult and natural contingencies, and reviewed the empirical support for this class of interventions.
- In a randomized controlled trial, Dawson et al. (2010) found that toddlers receiving the Early Start Denver Model, an NDBI, demonstrated significantly greater gains in IQ and adaptive behavior than children receiving community intervention.
- A large meta-analysis of interventions for young autistic children (Sandbank et al., 2020) identified promising evidence for NDBIs while noting the need for additional high-quality research across all intervention types.
- A multisite randomized controlled trial (Rogers et al., 2021) found comparable outcomes for toddlers receiving naturalistic and structured behavioral intervention, supporting individualized selection of instructional methods.
References
- Schreibman, L., Dawson, G., Stahmer, A. C., Landa, R., Rogers, S. J., et al. (2015). Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions: Empirically validated treatments for autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45(8). pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4513196/
- Dawson, G., Rogers, S., Munson, J., et al. (2010). Randomized, controlled trial of an intervention for toddlers with autism: The Early Start Denver Model. Pediatrics, 125(1). doi.org/10.1542/peds.2009-0958
- Sandbank, M., Bottema-Beutel, K., Crowley, S., et al. (2020). Project AIM: Autism intervention meta-analysis for studies of young children. Psychological Bulletin, 146(1). pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31763860/
- Rogers, S. J., Yoder, P., Estes, A., et al. (2021). A multisite randomized controlled trial comparing the effects of intervention intensity and intervention style on outcomes for young children with autism. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 60(6). doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2020.06.013
This information is provided for general educational purposes and does not constitute medical or clinical advice. Each child’s treatment plan is developed by a Board Certified Behavior Analyst following an individualized assessment. For questions, contact info@sidebysideabatherapy.com.