How to write ABA notes (with examples)

Looking for ABA notes and ABA session note examples? This article provides a summary of applied behavior analysis (ABA), how to write ABA notes, ABA session note examples, some criticisms of applied behavior analysis, and an editable ABA notes template. 

Summary

1. Document essential client information at the start of each ABA session note, including client name, DOB, diagnosis codes, insurance details, session time/date, and CPT codes to ensure compliance with billing requirements and clinical documentation standards.
2. Record objective behavioral observations using measurable terms and specific data points, including frequency counts, duration measures, and intensity scales to track progress in applied behavior analysis interventions.
3. Detail intervention strategies implemented during the session, including specific teaching methods used (such as discrete trial training, pivotal response treatment, or naturalistic teaching), along with the client's response to each approach.
4. Include quantifiable progress measurements and behavioral data in each note, documenting both improvements and challenges while maintaining HIPAA-compliant language and professional terminology.
5. Conclude each ABA note with clear recommendations and next steps, incorporating specific skill acquisition goals, behavior modification targets, and planned interventions for future sessions.

For over 50 years, applied behavior analysis has been used most commonly as a treatment for children with autism spectrum disorder.

While numerous studies support its effectiveness in improving emotional and social skills in autistic children, ABA has faced scrutiny over its aversive measures to reinforce neurotypical behaviors. 

Critics of ABA also point to its controversial history; applied behavioral analysis was developed by Ivar Lovaas, PhD—the same psychologist connected to conversion therapy. 

That said, ABA has evolved over the years, and there are still advocates in favor of ABA today.

Therapists practicing applied behavior analysis therapy should know how to write ABA notes, review ABA session note examples, and consider the pros and cons of using this therapeutic intervention. 

What is applied behavior analysis (ABA)?

Applied behavior analysis is a behavioral strategy that uses analytical principles and reinforcements to improve socially important behaviors and discontinue less desirable behaviors, such as self-injurious behaviors or meltdowns, that may be interfering with a child’s daily life.

There are several kinds of ABA methods. 

The first arose in the 1960s, when Lovaas, the founder of ABA, used a method called discrete trial training (DTT). 

DTT is structured and based on autistic children repeating tasks frequently. When completed correctly, they would be positively rewarded.

Modern forms of ABA include: 

Pivotal response treatment

This treatment is mostly child-driven, but may be prompted by the clinician to improve certain skills and knowledge using natural reinforcements.

Early start Denver model 

This type of ABA is provided individually or in a group setting, and involves setting several goals within certain activities to improve skills like motor coordination or asking for help with something.

Naturalistic teaching 

Also client or student-led, this style of ABA allows the child to set their own pace and is based on elements of their regular routines.

Token economy system 

A form of ABA that uses rewards to motivate certain behaviors. 

Contingent observation 

While in a group setting, the student observes their peers completing a predefined behavior acceptably so they can learn and model appropriate behavior. 

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What are ABA notes?

An applied behavioral analysis session note accurately records a summary of treatment. 

Like other therapy progress notes, ABA notes include behavioral targets, observations during the session, measurable information like improvements, treatment progress, logistical information (like session date, start and stop time), and any adjustments necessary. 

ABA session note examples

No matter which format you choose to write them in, ABA session notes for insurance should include all of the following:

• Client name
• Date of birth
• Presenting condition and relevant diagnosis code
• Insurance
• Date, start time, and stop time
• Clinician name and qualification
• Units of service (counted in 15-minute increments)
• Place of service/location
• Participants
• CPT code

The therapist might use a narrative note format or a SOAP note format to record ABA notes—so long as the note includes the aforementioned information, the format doesn’t matter. 

Treatment and session details may differ in format depending on whether this is a SOAP note, regular narrative ABA note, or registered behavior technician (RBT) ABA session note, so we’ve included some ABA session note examples to reference below.

Here are ABA note examples in two different formats:

ABA SOAP notes example

Subjective: The client reported feeling “OK” when arriving at the session. However, they later reported feeling “anxious” when transitioning between tasks.

Objective: The client arrived to work on X target behavior.

Assessment: The client avoided eye contact and appeared to be displaying task avoidance. Behavioral regulatory activities may be introduced to support the client’s transition between activities and reduce their anxiety.

Plan: Implement regulation activities and increase pause between activities to positively reinforce transitions and reduce anxiety.

RBT ABA session notes example

Note: The client arrived on time and was calm when walking into the group treatment session. He promptly navigated between successfully completed tasks, displayed compliant behavior, and engaged with his peers and the therapist. 

Recommendations: Aim to include more advanced challenges to improve skill acquisition in the following areas: X, Y, Z.

Criticisms of ABA

The main critiques of ABA are that the intervention is less about the acquisition of helpful skills, than a system of rewards and punishments to promote desired behaviors and discourage or reduce autistic traits. 

Many critics of the intervention believe ABA seeks to force autistic individuals to comply with neurotypical traits or receive punishment for failing to do so—which can result in traumatizing experiences. 

At the same time, modern ABA practices, such as naturalistic teaching and others mentioned earlier, use more positive, client-centered approaches. 

Social psychologist, Devon Price, PhD, is openly critical of ABA. Price believes it is focused on “training autistic kids to fake a neurotypical personality” and reinforcing the notion that autistic traits are less desirable. He also underlines ABA’s troubled origins and founding father, Lovaas, “whose legacy haunt[s] LGBTQ autistics." 

In his 2022 book, Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity, Price lists some ABA punishments he’s critical of, including:

• Spraying a child’s face with water, or their tongue with vinegar, for avoiding eye contact
• Forcing children to rehearse compensation strategies
• Punishing children for hyperfocusing on their special interests
• Making children sit for hours practicing a conversational script
• Not allowing children to play until displaying an adequate amount of eye contact 
• Children forced to repeat niceties like “thank you” repeatedly while an ABA therapist snaps their fingers at them
• Putting hot sauce on crayons to discourage children from chewing
• Therapists withdrawing attention, or leaving the room, when an autistic child becomes distressed 

In addition, while electric shock therapy is very rarely used, Price highlights that the FDA only banned electrical shock devices in 2021, but reinstated them that same year after an appeal. 

Until 2022, the Association for Behavioral Analysis International (ABAI) supported the use of contingent electric skin shock (CESS). In a November 2022 task force statement on CESS, ABAI stated: “we strongly oppose the use of contingent electric skin shock (CESS) under any condition.”

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Using the ABA notes template

Though ABA has been controversial in the past, many therapists use more modern, person-centered approaches to this method of behavioral modification. 

So, if you’re looking for an ABA notes template to document the details of your ABA sessions, you can download the editable PDF at the top of this article and update it while referring to the ABA session notes examples above.

The ABA notes template follows a SOAP note format, and includes additional sections to document any neurodivergent-affirming approaches used.

Sources

1. Callahan, K., Foxx, R.M., Swierczynski, A. et al. (2019). Behavioral Artistry: Examining the Relationship Between the Interpersonal Skills and Effective Practice Repertoires of Applied Behavior Analysis Practitioners. 
2. Center for Autism Research and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. (2020). Discrete trial training.
3. Du, G., Guo, Y. & Xu, W. (2024). The effectiveness of applied behavior analysis program training on enhancing autistic children’s emotional-social skills. BMC Psychol. 
4. Leaf, J. B., Cihon, J. H., Leaf, R., McEachin, J., Liu, N., et al. (2022). Concerns About ABA-Based Intervention: An Evaluation and Recommendations. Journal of autism and developmental disorders.
5. Kronstein, A. (2018). Treating autism as a problem: The connection between gay conversion therapy and ABA. Nova Scotia Advocate. 
6. Price, D. (2022). Unmasking autism: Discovering the new faces of Neurodiversity. Harmony.
7. Lord, C. (2023). The controversy around ABA. Child Mind Institute. 
8. Kupferstein, H. (2018). Evidence of increased PTSD symptoms in autistics exposed to applied behavior analysis. Advances in Autism. 
9. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network. (2022). ABAI Finally Opposes the Use of Electric Shocks at the JRC.

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