Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is based on the idea that what we think (cognition), what we feel (emotion) and what we do (behavior) are all connected. Specifically, it holds that our thoughts determine our emotions and behavior. So, if you can change how/what a person thinks about something (a situation, a person, an event, etc.), that person's emotions and behavior will change.
A lot of therapies and techniques that have been developed for working with autistic individuals use principles of CBT, even though they might not ever use that term explicitly. Such programs are designed to help autistic individuals learn to recognize and regulate their emotions, cope with sensory issues, and improve social interaction, and increase communication.
A few of these techniques/programs include:
The Incredible 5 Point Scale
The ALERT Program (aka "How Does Your Engine Run?")
The Social Thinking Curriculum
Social Stories
The Hidden Curriculum
Social Skills Autopsy (Note: it's not as morbid as it sounds.)
Power Cards
The Way to A
Some of these are more appropriate for specific age groups. For very young children, Social Stories are good. Many respond positively to "How Does Your Engine Run?" or to Power Cards. The Social Thinking Curriculum has stages for every age group, starting with very young children and continuing though adulthood. The 5 Point Scale is easy to use, and for a child who does not yet have number sense, can be reduced to a three point scale of small, medium, and large.
CBT differs in ABA in what it teaches and how it teaches. In ABA the goal is to change the child's behavior (I'm going to say "child" here, because IME it's unusual to use ABA with an adult) and teaching new behaviors. But it doesn't encourage the child to think about his own behavior. Any analysis of what motivations and rewards might drive the behavior is done by the therapist; the child generally is not asked to give input about his own thoughts or feelings.
Many of the above programs were developed by educators, SLPs, and/or developmental specialists. This is probably why they do not explicitly use the term CBT, although the principles are there. These strategies can be integrated into classrooms and therapy settings, as well as home.
As with everything else, some techniques are better for some kids and others for other kids. We use some of the above strategies with good success, and others backfired on us (sometimes humorously, in retrospect). And some we are continuing to use with slow progress.
Gena
DS, age 11 and always amazing
“Autistics are the ultimate square pegs, and the problem with pounding a square peg into a round hole is not that the hammering is hard work. It's that you're destroying the peg." - Paul Collins, Not Even Wrong