THE EFFECTIVENESS OF APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS THERAPY ON EYE CONTACT ENHANCEMENT, STEREOTYPICAL BEHAVIORS AND REDUCTION OF BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM

The present research aimed to determine the effectiveness of applied behavior analysis therapy on eye contact enhancement, stereotypical behaviors and reduction of behavioral problems in children with autism spectrum. The statistic population of research were all of children with autism spectrum in Tabriz city during 2015-16 which 40 of them were selected as available samples and were assigned randomly in experimental and control groups. The pre- test was done at first by using GARS (1994) and ASSQ (1993) questionnaires and ABA therapy was performed on experimental group. Researcher s self-made therapeutic package was used for therapy and both questionnaires were filled again on control and experimental groups as posttests. SPSS software was used to analyze the data and obtained results of Covariance analysis revealed that applied behavior analysis therapy was essentially effective on eye contact and social interaction enhancement and stereotypical and masochistic behaviors reduction.