What does an ABA Therapy session look like?

ABA Therapy, Parent Education

An ABA therapy session usually blends structured table work, play based learning, movement breaks and positive reinforcement, all built around goals your child’s BCBA sets. Kids practice skills like communication, imitation, self help and following directions in small, manageable steps, with plenty of chances to earn activities they enjoy. Every session is individualized, so what it looks like depends on your child’s needs, interests and treatment plan.

How Long Is an ABA Therapy Session?

Most ABA therapy sessions last between 2 and 4 hours, though some children attend for a longer portion of the day. Session length depends on your child’s age, goals and the number of weekly hours their BCBA recommends. For example, the child featured below attends ABA therapy 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. To learn more about weekly recommendations, read how many ABA therapy hours your child may need.

How an ABA Therapy Session Is Structured

While every session is built around the child, most follow a similar flow:

• Arrival and pairing: Your child settles in and connects with their therapist through favorite toys and activities, building trust before learning begins.
• Structured table work: Short, focused practice on skills like matching, labeling and imitation.
• Natural environment teaching: Skills are practiced during play and movement, so learning carries over to everyday life.
• Breaks and reinforcement: Your child earns time with preferred activities after completing tasks, which keeps motivation high.
• Self help skills: Routines like snack time, handwashing and toileting are built right into the day.
• Transitions: Moving between activities and spaces is practiced on purpose, since transitions can be tough for many kids.
• Wrap up and caregiver check in: The session ends with clean up, and the team shares how the day went.

Sample ABA Therapy Schedule

Wondering what a full day might look like? Below is an illustrative schedule for a 5 hour session. Every schedule is built by your child’s BCBA around their goals, interests and needs, so your child’s day may look different.

Typical ABA Therapy Activities

To give you a real look, below is an example of part of one child’s session at Westside. For privacy reasons, the child’s name, therapists’ names and Westside location will not be named.

The child receives ABA therapy at Westside five days a week for five hours each day. Remember: The below observations are just an example of what one ABA therapy session looks like. There are some similarities in how certain behaviors are worked on, but each program is unique for the individual child.

This child’s program focused on a variety of social, language and learning skills that will allow them to participate and engage in their environment. To grow that skillset, the child went through a variety of activities including matching, labeling, motor imitation, vocal imitation, self-help, and requesting. The purpose of these activities was to break down complex skills into smaller teachable parts.

Matching and Labeling Familiar People

• The child was asked to match pictures of people in their life. The therapist laid out multiple picture cards of people in the child’s life and had another stack of different pictures of the same people.
  • From there the child had to not only match the picture but also communicate who the person was. The child primarily used an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device to get their needs met. However, they were able to communicate some names vocally.
    
  • By teaching a child to recognize and name important people in their personal life, the therapists hope that this will translate into the child’s community as well. In the event the child needed help finding a family member, they would be able to communicate to a community member who they’re looking for.
  • The program is designed in a way that the therapist ensures that the child is matching the name with the appropriate picture and not guessing each time a picture is presented. By switching between family members, we ensure that this information has been retained.

Building Frustration Tolerance

• Another open-ended activity the child did was matching socks that were mixed in a box.
  • This activity took a little longer than others. This activity challenged the child to persevere through a more difficult task in their ABA therapy session.
  • The child correctly matched two pairs of socks immediately, but was unable to get a third. Their frustration manifested through screaming, crying, throwing their head back and kicking.
  • When these behaviors occurred, the therapists removed the activity and waited for the child to calm. If the child self calmed, the therapist provided praise and checked to see if the child was ready to work by asking the child to complete a simple request before continuing with the original instruction (rubbing hands together, tapping feet, knocking on the table, rubbing legs, etc.).

• When a child gets frustrated, therapists support them through the rest of the activity. If the child gets frustrated to where they can no longer continue, the therapist will give them the option to request for a break. It is important to teach children to follow through on activities, however, it is equally important for them to self advocate when they need additional support.
• After going through calming exercises and pauses in the activity multiple times, the child calmed down and successfully completed the task.

How Play Fits Into an ABA Therapy Session

Play is one of the most powerful tools in ABA therapy. Therapists often build skill goals into activities a child already enjoys, so learning feels like fun instead of work. This keeps kids engaged and motivated, and it helps skills carry over into everyday routines.

Building Fine Motor Skills Through Play

This child needed to work on their pincer grasp, as this is a necessary component of many different activities of daily living (the pincer grasp is also a skill targeted in occupational therapy). Since they particularly enjoyed playing with thera-putty, the therapist built the goal around it.

• To develop the pincer grasp motion, the therapist challenged the child to pick beads out of thera-putty.
  • After finding a bead, the child had to use their pincer grasp to take the bead out and put it into a little case.
  • The child was working hard on the therapy goal of strengthening that grasp, but also doing it in a fun way of playing with putty.

Building off the child’s love of putty, the therapist worked on the fine motor skill of holding a fork.

• The child had to correctly grasp the fork and spear 1-inch pieces of Playdough and put them back into the cup.
• Although the child did grasp the fork a little too low on some attempts, they showed improvement overall. The child also squeezed tongs to improve hand strength.

Where ABA Therapy Sessions Take Place

At Westside, all ABA therapy sessions take place in the clinic. Our clinics include table areas for focused learning, along with ABA gyms and sensory spaces where kids can move, play and practice skills in a more natural setting. Most children have a mix of time at the table and time moving around and playing.

Learning Through Movement in the ABA Gym

Because of this child’s interests, more time was spent in the ABA gym. During their session, they moved around playing a card game similar to the face matching activity. This task had the child go around the ABA room, find objects and match pictures to their corresponding locations in the room. The first one was the trampoline. When the child successfully identified the trampoline card, the therapist allowed them to take a break on the trampoline.

After completing the task, the child had difficulty transitioning back to a table. The therapists supported the child until they self calmed, then built momentum to transition back by presenting a puzzle, a quick and easy task the child likes to do. This allowed the child to continue with their session.

How Positive Reinforcement Works During a Session

An important element of ABA therapy centers on a system of positive reinforcement for appropriate behavior. When the child completes an activity, they were able to do an activity they prefer. Therapists are constantly assessing the child’s interest to try and broaden their preferred activities.

The child uses their AAC device to request their preferred activities and must return to therapy activities when the therapist requests they do. The child returned to work every time during this ABA therapy session, something that was not happening months ago.

As children go through an ABA therapy session, they will learn that by participating in therapy, they will have access to activities they like. This makes children more motivated to participate during learning activities.

The child is still working on requesting and returning to work. Approximately every third or fourth time the learner appropriately returned to work when asked, the child could immediately return to their preferred activity.

The child does sometimes struggle with being away from preferred activities for longer periods of time, making certain tasks tougher. The goal is that tolerating being away from them for longer periods of time will lead to appropriately responding to being told “no” when requesting to do a preferred activity.

What Parents Can Expect From ABA Therapy

Starting ABA therapy is a big step, and knowing what’s ahead can make it feel a lot more manageable. Here’s what families can expect along the way.

Before Your Child’s First Session

Before therapy begins, our team verifies your insurance and schedules an assessment with a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). The BCBA gets to know your child’s strengths, challenges and interests, then builds an individualized treatment plan with goals and a recommended number of weekly hours. You’re welcome to schedule a clinic tour so you and your child can see the space ahead of time.

How You’ll Stay Updated on Progress

Your child’s BCBA tracks data during every session and regularly reviews progress toward each goal. They’ll share updates with you, talk through what’s working and answer your questions, so you always know how your child is doing.

Caregiver Training

Parents and caregivers are an important part of the team. Through caregiver training, you’ll learn strategies to support your child’s skills at home and in the community, so progress carries over beyond the clinic.

What to Bring or Send With Your Child

Your care team will share specifics. Common items include:

• Snacks and a drink
• A change of clothes
• Diapers or pull ups, if needed
• A favorite comfort item or toy
• Your child’s AAC device or communication tools, if they use one

How Goals Change Over Time

As your child masters skills, their BCBA updates the treatment plan with new goals. Weekly hours may also shift over time based on your child’s progress and needs.

Getting Started With ABA Therapy at Westside

Ready to take the next step? To learn more about our ABA therapy services, schedule a clinic tour to see our space in person, please call us at 815-783-2544, or submit a contact form to connect with our intake team. We’re here to answer your questions and help your family get started.