There isn’t one standard list of ABA therapy treatment goals that every child should complete.
At least, there shouldn’t be.
Treatment goals should come from understanding the individual child and identifying skills that will have a meaningful impact on everyday life.
Communication
Communication goals may include:
- requesting help
- communicating wants and needs
- saying or signaling “no,” “stop,” or “break”
- answering or asking questions
- using AAC or another communication system
- expressing feelings
- advocating for personal needs
- participating in conversations
Independence and Daily Living
Depending on age and developmental level, children may work on:
- toileting
- dressing
- handwashing
- eating routines
- following visual schedules
- preparing for transitions
- organizing belongings
- completing age-appropriate routines
Play and Learning
Children may work on:
- exploring new activities
- independent play
- pretend play
- problem-solving
- flexible thinking
- attending to meaningful activities
- asking for assistance
- persisting when something is difficult
Emotional Regulation
Goals may include recognizing when support is needed, requesting a break, tolerating necessary changes, using individualized regulation strategies, and communicating frustration more effectively.
Regulation does not mean teaching a child to hide distress.
The goal is to give children more tools for navigating difficult situations.
Social Connection
Social goals should be individualized and purposeful.
A child might work on cooperative play, joining an activity, responding to peers, communicating boundaries, handling disagreements, sharing interests, or recognizing another person’s boundaries.
The goal is connection and self-advocacy—not teaching a child to mask autistic characteristics.
Safety
For some children, safety is an important treatment priority.
Goals might address staying near a caregiver in the community, responding to critical safety instructions, identifying unsafe situations, communicating identifying information when developmentally appropriate, or learning safer alternatives to dangerous behavior.
How Does Nest ABA Choose Goals?
At Nest ABA, the question isn’t simply:
“What behaviors can we change?”
We want to know:
What skills would make this child’s life easier?
What would give them more independence?
What would help them communicate more effectively?
What matters to this family?
What is the child communicating to us?
And perhaps most importantly:
Will this goal improve the child’s life—or simply make the child easier for adults to manage?
That distinction matters.
ABA should not be about creating a quieter, more compliant, or more neurotypical-looking child.
It should be about helping an individual child develop communication, independence, safety, regulation, relationships, and skills that allow them to participate more fully in their own life.
That is the standard treatment goals should be measured against.