Caitlyn Haynes 1:46pm Dear colleague, *** I have been doing research on children with autism spectrum disorder and the effects of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability that can affect speech, cognitive ability, and social skills (Tiura et al., 2017). Applied Behavioral Analysis, otherwise known as ABA, is a form on therapy that children with autism spectrum disorder receive that provides multiple different interventions in order to increase the independence and development of a child (Hodgson et al., 2022). In the first article about the effects of applied behavioral analysis with age and the amount of applied behavioral analysis received, researchers questioned how effective applied behavioral analysis is when it is received the most effective age and the amount of hours of ABA a child receives (Vietze & Lax, 2018). The sample size of this research was 106 children with autism spectrum disorder that were all under 40 months, or 3.5 years old. These children that participated in the ABA program were all from immigrant families and to which all had limited English skills (Vietze & Lax, 2018). Within the sample size, there were 90 males and 16 females. The variables of interest were the language that was spoken throughout the ABA program. Some of the participants spoke Chinese, while others spoke English, Spanish, or another language (Vietze & Lax, 2018). Although transportation was provided in order to keep consistency with the schedule, children's hours were different throughout, especially when it came to getting sick, holidays, or other availability issues. Using the results from the ANOVA, it showed multiple means for many different factors throughout the study. The results showed that children that were in the younger age group showed improvement throughout the testing (Vietze & Lax, 2018) and overall, the ABA program increased childrens capability to do more skills independently and reduce symptoms of autism spectrum disorder. In the second article about outcomes of the time in applied behavioral analysis, researchers questioned how cognitive function affected the growth seen in children with autism spectrum disorder when in ABA. The sample size of this study was 35 children with autism spectrum disorder that had a mean of 3 years old. The variables of interest in this study were the severity of their autism diagnosis, cognitive ability, the hours of ABA being provided, gender, the education of parents and the language that is spoken at home (Tiura et al., 2022). The statistical score that was used in this study was developmental profile 3, otherwise known as DP-3. The mean and standard deviation was calculated from this testing and the result showed that children in ABA that had a higher cognitive function showed faster growth with their developmental skills rather than children with lower cognitive function (Tiura et al., 2022). The two articles work together to help me better understand the correlation between autism spectrum disorder and applied behavioral analysis. This will help me professionally so I can properly assign hour doses to clients at the appropriate age in order to increase their independence and help improve their cognitive, social skills, and language at a rate that is right for them. Hodgson R, Biswas M, Palmer S, Marshall D, Rodgers M, Stewart L, Simmonds M, Rai D, Le Couteur A. (2022). Intensive behavioral interventions based on applied behavior analysis (ABA) for young children with autism: A cost-effectiveness analysis. PLOS ONE, 17(8). 10.1371/journal.pone.0270833 Tiura, M., Kim, J., Detmers, D., Baldi, H. (2017). Predictors of longitudinal ABA treatment outcomes for children with autism: A growth curve analysis. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 70, p. 185-197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2017.09.008 Vietze, P., & Lax, L. E. (2018). Early intervention ABA for toddlers with ASD: Effect of age and amount: Research and Reviews. Current Psychology, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9812-z B Read Less