How Precision Teaching Differs from Traditional ABA: What Makes It Special?

Precision Teaching Differences: How It Sets Itself Apart from Traditional ABA

"We've tried ABA before, but the skills never seemed to stick." I hear this from parents more often than I'd like. Your child masters something in therapy, maybe even at home, but then struggles to use it at school or with friends. Sound familiar?

This is exactly why Precision Teaching takes a different approach. Let me explain what makes it unique without getting lost in technical jargon.

The Main Difference: Fluency vs. Just Getting It Right

Most ABA approaches focus on accuracy first. Can your child identify colors correctly? Can they request items appropriately? Can they follow two-step directions? These are important questions, but they're only half the story.

Precision Teaching asks a follow-up question: Can your child complete the skills not only accurately but also quickly?

Think about your own reading skills. You can probably read individual words accurately, but you can also read fluently - quickly, smoothly, without having to think about each letter. That fluency is what allows you to focus on understanding meaning rather than decoding words.

The same principle applies to everything we teach children. When skills become fluent, they become automatic. And automatic skills are the ones that show up everywhere - at home, school, in the community.

What This Actually Looks Like for Your Child

Let me give you a real example from our practice at Precision ABA.

Traditional approach: We teach your child to greet people by saying "Hi" when prompted. After several weeks, they can do this correctly 80% of the time in therapy sessions. Goal achieved, right?

Precision Teaching approach: We teach your child to respond to greetings, but we also build fluency. We measure how long it takes them to respond to said. We practice until responding to greetings becomes so automatic that your child doesn't have to think about it - they just naturally say hi when they are greeted.The result? The child who used the traditional approach might respond to a greeting when reminded. The child who used Precision Teaching will respond to greetings from classmates, family members, and neighbors quickly without any prompting because the skill has become fluent and natural.

Why We Focus on Building Speed Along with Accuracy

Here's something that might surprise you: building speed actually improves accuracy, not the other way around. When we help children get faster at skills, they become more confident, make fewer errors, and use those skills more naturally.

At Precision ABA, we empower individuals with Autism using Precision Teaching, evidence-based strategies and individualized instruction because we've seen how focusing on fluency creates changes that last.

We're not talking about rushing your child or creating pressure. We're talking about building the kind of smooth, confident skill use that makes your child more independent and successful.

The Data That Actually Helps You

Traditional progress reports often sound like this: "Johnny had a good week. He's making progress on his communication goals."

Precision Teaching progress reports are more specific: "Johnny increased his rate of appropriate requests from 5 per 10 minutes to 12 per 10 minutes this week. At this rate of improvement, he'll reach our fluency goal within the next month."

This isn't just about having more numbers. It's about having information that actually helps you understand your child's progress and what to expect next.

When Skills Become Automatic, Everything Changes

The real magic of Precision Teaching happens when skills become so fluent that your child can use them while doing other things. Just like you can have a conversation while walking, or read while drinking coffee.

When your child's communication skills become fluent, they can focus on what they want to say rather than how to say it. When social skills become automatic, they can focus on building relationships rather than remembering the steps for interaction.

This is what creates the lasting change that parents tell us about months and years later.

How We Combine Different Approaches

We don't use Precision Teaching for everything. Sometimes your child needs highly structured teaching to learn a brand new skill. Sometimes they need to practice in natural settings to see how skills apply in real life.

But when we want to make sure a skill sticks and transfers everywhere, that's when Precision Teaching makes the biggest difference. We might introduce a skill one way, but we build fluency using Precision Teaching principles.

What to Look for in Your Child's Program

If you're wondering whether your child's current program includes fluency-building, here are some questions to ask:

• Are we measuring how fast my child can perform skills, not just accuracy?

• Do goals include specific rates or frequencies we're working toward?

• How do we know when a skill is truly mastered versus just learned?

• What do the data show about my child's rate of improvement?

These questions can help you understand whether your child is getting the kind of instruction that builds lasting, transferable skills.

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