“You need to accept that your son will likely never attend a regular classroom; likely require care for his entire life; and never be able to live independently.”

This shared prognosis from government officials brought the two founders of myABAKiS together, inspired to change this story for their sons. David and Erik decided to use ABA – Applied Behaviour Analysis, a rigorous, science-based form of early intervention proven to be effective for autistic children – to achieve this.

This should be a story that showcases the dramatic success of ABA. But this story isn’t that simple. You see, despite starting with ABA, our sons had two very different paths ahead of them.

For one, ABA worked. He graduated with honours and now as a young man lives independently in a studio apartment, successfully pursuing a career in culinary arts. For the other, ABA was not given the tools it needed to succeed, resulting in a more turbulent set of challenges.

The difference was in the data. Spending hours per week, often late into the night, transcribing hand-written notes into consistent and usable data, allowed one Behaviour Consultant (what are now commonly called BCBAs) to stay on top of things, make important course corrections, and coordinate effectively with schools. A large part of that success came from pure luck – and a stickler for consistency who insisted on data being collated and presented in a very specific way. It also came at a huge personal cost.

For an ABA program to work, it needs to be overseen by a professional armed with timely and consistent data. And that data needs to be transparent and accessible to everyone connected with the child.

There are other ABA data collection systems out there, but many are so complex or unreliable that users give up in frustration.