Lovaas used to say that the most important thing to establish at the outset of discrete-trial training is “You are the boss.” To make clear that his tough-minded approach was not about being pleasing and supportive, he added, “People whose voices are very tender, who have difficulty asserting themselves, or who are obsessive about right and wrong, just don’t make good teachers of developmentally disabled children.” He described the ideal ABA therapist as “assertive, confident, and outgoing”—all
