I didn't get to all of the story, but I am familiar with Applied Behavioral Analysis. What I read is wonderful.
I used this approach with one of my clients over the summer (she used ABA) and it was very interesting to see her improvements in a very short time. That article did say that it was intense, and it is. I would do a two hour session with my client, and I was super encouraged if I could get four, yes four words the entire two hours. It is based on reinforcers and rewards and lots and lots of repitition.
I learned quickly that I needed to be firm and so she could improve. I will comment more later.
