09/09/2026
If your child receives Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), you need to know the difference between ABA of the past and what your child should receive today.
I’ve watched ABA evolve since 1992 and spent my 30+ year career helping push that evolution forward.
I often tell parents: We don’t fly in the first airplane the Wright brothers built. We learned from it, improved it, and made flying safer and more effective. Therapy should evolve the same way.
Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas was one of the pioneers of ABA intervention for autistic children and conducted research at UCLA. Dr. Lovaas and his son, Erik Lovaas, were mentors who shaped my understanding of ABA.
I understand why aspects of Lovaas’s research are viewed as controversial today, but his work also needs to be understood in the context of its time. Lovaas worked in a very different era, when institutionalization was widespread and interventions including lobotomies and electric shock were used.
As a neuro-affirming speech-language pathologist, Autism Clinical Specialist, and late-diagnosed autistic adult, I bring both clinical and lived perspectives. I learn very well through ABA practices. It isn’t for everyone, but with the right team and individualized approach, it can be life-changing.
Speech Works by Elissa is Lovaas-influenced as I collaborate with ABA facilities internationally, working alongside BCBAs and RBTs, with teams having access to me 24 hours a day. I educate teams to support speech, language, motor, and auditory development using visual, tactile, kinesthetic, and physical prompts, combining what I learned with today’s understanding of motor planning, oral-motor placement, auditory processing, muscle memory, and sensory regulation.
My hope is that speech-language pathologists become an integral part of every ABA team, with intensive interdisciplinary collaboration.
The right ABA team can change a child’s life. But the provider matters. Parents, ask questions and find a team that sees your whole child. The right fit makes all the difference.
Comment INFO to learn how my unique root-cause approach can complement your child’s ABA program.
