A child becomes more skilled or determined at carrying rituals or pursuing obsessions over time (Koegel, Valdez-Menchaca, 1994). There is real risk that if such behaviors are not brought under effective control when the child is in his early years, they will eventually escalate and interfere with daily or desirable activities.
Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) is not about going for as many hours of therapy as possible. We recommend at least 15 hours of VB-ABA per week, but each case is different and should be analyzed individually. A good intervention plan should match your child’s development, capacity, intervention needs, as well as other important family factors. Research conducted by Autism Research Centre of Italy in 2010 highlights Verbal Behavior as a core basis for assessment. Other key elements of an effective ABA program include: early treatment, combination of discrete trail and natural environment teaching, complementary treatment in clinical setting, parent‐mediated treatment in the child’s natural environment, extensive staff and parent training, control of treatment fidelity as well as sound and continuous evaluation of child’s progress. Autism Recovery Network (ARN) abides by this approach.