A client can help choose ABA model characteristics and, when feasible, the person or format they prefer. Choice may concern a familiar adult, peer, self-model, animation, camera perspective, language, identity, pace, or no model at all. The team must also confirm competence, accuracy, privacy, availability, and voluntary participation. A preferred model does not authorize recording or require a peer to participate.
Invite the client to choose ABA model features
Offer realistic options and an accessible way to decline. Ask what makes a demonstration understandable or comfortable. Cultural relevance and lived experience can matter, while one person's identity never guarantees fit.
Protect every participant
A peer or family member can refuse. Define the role, supervision, confidentiality, recording status, and exit route. Avoid turning friendship, school placement, or family relationship into implied consent.
Keep clinical authority scoped
The BACB outline covers modeling, client-informed intervention, and evaluation as examination content. The Ethics Code addresses competence, involvement, confidentiality, and risk. The ASHA guidance supports communication access when model choice is discussed.
Measure fit without coercion
Record which options were offered, selected, tried, declined, or unavailable. Keep model preference, access, response accuracy, prompts, and generalization separate. Revisit the choice when the goal, relationship, or setting changes.
Example and family questions
Imani chooses an adult model with the same left-handed tool setup rather than a peer video. Ask: Who volunteered? Is the model accurate? What privacy controls apply? Can the client switch formats? Which result shows practical fit?
Sources
- Association for Behavior Analysis International, Basic Principles in Behavior Analysis
- Behavior Analyst Certification Board, BCBA Test Content Outline, 6th edition
- Council of Autism Service Providers, ABA Practice Guidelines Version 3.0 public summary
- Marzullo-Kerth and colleagues, Using Multiple-Exemplar Training to Teach a Generalized Repertoire of Sharing to Children With Autism
- Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Finni resources
