If you are the parent or a loved one of a child who has been diagnosed with autism or other developmental disability, you at one time probably experienced shock, surprise, grief, trepidation, uncertainty, confusion and perhaps even sadness.

At some point however, these emotions gave way to resolve. And with that resolve came the commitment to finding the very best therapy available for your child in an effort to give them the best possible opportunity at life.

During your search, you may have come across the term ABA, which is short for Applied Behaviour Analysis. Perhaps you discovered this term while reading through the Recommendations Section in a diagnostic or psychological report from an overseas service provider, recommending 30 hour of intensive ABA therapeutic interventions as an early intervention strategy.

In order to understand, why researchers and many reputable service providers support ABA as an intervention for youth with autism and other developmental disabilities, it is important to understand what ABA is.

ABA is the science of changing behaviour and is derived from a set of scientific principles. Science is a discipline that uses systematic approaches to investigate and understand the natural world. In the case of ABA, we look to understand the connection between environmental variables and their impact on behaviour.

But we don’t just study any behaviour. We study socially significant behaviours or those behaviours that have meaning for the client and for the client’s significant others (Cooper, Heron & Heward, 2007).

The ‘Applied’ aspect of Applied Behaviour Analysis means that we don’t just take what we have learned in the laboratory or the university and leave it there. It means that we take our research and put it into practice. It means that we apply what our research suggests as being effective and we use that knowledge in natural settings to benefit and improve the lives of our clients.

Specifically, we manipulate stimuli in the environment in a manner that has been reliably shown to have an impact on socially significant behaviours some of which are communication, self care, academic and social behaviours.

The stimuli that we manipulate are called antecedents and consequences. Antecedents are stimuli that come before a behaviour has occurred and consequences are stimuli that occur immediately after behaviour has occurred.

A wide body of research indicates that ABA is an effective tool for teaching skills to youth and adolescents with autism and other developmental disabilities (Autism Speaks, 2012).

For more information on the research supporting Applied Behaviour Analytic Interventions, please see the research links on our useful websites page.

To bring positive change to the lives of people with autism, pervasive developmental disorders and other developmental delays through research based best educational practices.

To provide training to allied health professionals, parents, teachers and others in the Bermuda community regarding the scholarly research cited as best practices in the service delivery to people with disabilities.

To provide a continuum of care for throughout the lifespan of people with autism, pervasive developmental delays and other developmental disabilities an effective and individualized educational program for children with autism and related disabilities.

To improve the quality of life for persons with autism and related disorders by working on the systematic issues that affect their lives.

Tomorrow’s Voices - Bermuda Autism Early Intervention Centre was the brainchild of two parents of autistic children, Mrs. Tricia Simons (Crow) and Ms. Thea Furbert. These parents felt that there was a need for a place that could provide hands-on Applied Behavior Analysis/Verbal Behavior services for children on the Autism Spectrum.

With the help of donors, the autism community, friends and family their brainchild became a reality with Tomorrow’s Voices – Bermuda Autism Early Intervention Centre officially opening its doors to clients in October 2007.

Tomorrow’s Voices is designed to meet the individual needs of people who are diagnosed with Autism or on the Autism Spectrum starting at the age of 2 years old.

Autism is characterized by severe and pervasive impairment in several areas of development: reciprocal social interaction skills, communication skills, or the presence of stereotyped (repetitive) behavior, interests, and activities. Our language based programme provides therapy within a Verbal Behavior (VB)/ Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) environment with a maximum of 1:2 therapist-to-child ratio for our clients.

Within Tomorrow’s Voices’ unique generalization framework, our general curriculum teaches each child critical language skills, functional activities, socialization, initiation/spontaneity and generalization of mastered concepts/skills.

These skills are built into every child’s program and individualized to meet his or her learning style and unique needs. The overall goal of Tomorrow’s Voices is to provide our clients with the skills to assist with their reintegration into their neighborhood schools with minimal supervision and to provide all of our clients with a better quality of life through intervention.

Since opening in 2007, Tomorrow’s Voices has grown to an internationally renowned clinical centre providing a range of behavioural and therapeutic treatments and services to individuals with autism spectrum disorders as well as support and training services to their families and the wider community. It has also expanded it services to assist those persons with developmental differences. As the clinic continues to evolve, it has expanded its mission to assist all individuals with autism and developmental differences over their life span. As such, Tomorrow’s Voices has removed restrictions on the age of clients it assists and now provides services into adulthood.

Tomorrow's Voices, through the help of our donors, grants and community support are able to subsidize the cost of therapeutic one-on-one ABA services to the parents & guardians of our clients by an estimate 80%. This gives those parents and guardians the ability to access high end, research based, medically necessary services at an affordable cost to ensure their children access the clinical services they need.