What is Happy Relaxed Engaged in ABA?
HRE is a more recent term in ABA that says a learner should be happy, relaxed, and engaged during ABA therapy. But what exactly does it mean?
How To ABA
Episode 081: Preparing for Supervision as a BCBA
We define supervision and walk through the various responsibilities and tasks a BCBA is expected to take on. We discuss how to collect and analyze data, how to share it with your supervisees, the importance of looking at things from a big picture perspective, and how to model and make suggestions.
Episode 080: BCBA Work-Life Balance
There is a lot of staff turnover in our field. It’s important to take care of ourselves to avoid burnout but figuring out how to manage a work-life balance can seem like a mystery. Here, we discuss the importance of prioritizing your own unique needs, setting healthy boundaries, and why you should make time to fill up your tank and recharge.
What is ABA Chaining and How Do We Use It?
We often talk about breaking skills down into smaller steps to be able to teach our learners. But once they’re broken down, how do we teach them? Where do we go from here? Today’s topic is all about ABA chaining.
Episode 079: From Parent to BCBA with Flor De Amelia (Lizette) Hoffman
Flor De Amelia (Lizette) Hoffman is a mom of two and a BCBA and we met at ABAI. She was inspired to get into the field because of her daughter who suffers from seizures and was diagnosed with autism at 18 months. We discuss how depression, anger, and denial affect parents on this journey, what’s next on Lizette’s career journey, and advice for practitioners working with parents and families.
What Does a BCBA Do?
We’ve been in the field of ABA a long time. But let’s review the basics. What does a BCBA do? When I first got into the field of ABA, my mother thought that I babysat kids with autism. I’ve always been told that I need a good elevator pitch. If someone asks you what you do, an elevator pitch would be something like a 30 second synopsis that you would tell somebody in an elevator before they got out on the third floor.
Episode 078: A Look Back at How to ABA in 2022 with Shira Karpel and Shayna Gaunt
We’re taking some time to look back on 2022, and what a year it has been! Throughout 2022, we hosted many great speakers, covered several key topics, and hosted and spoke and industry conferences. In our lookback, we share some personal growth stories and accomplishments as well. We’re looking forward to 2023 and would love to hear feedback from our listeners on what you’d like to see.
Why is the Premack Principle Important?
The Premack Principle is one of the first things that I look for in a student. So we’re going to talk about why it’s so important. For example, if money is reinforcing, we are more likely to do our jobs if we get paid. It’s the same for the kids that we work with. We refer to this as the first/then contingency, which is another term for Premack Principle.
Episode 077: ABA Through the Lens of Psychology with Shobhna Srivastava
Shobhna Srivastava is a BCBA with a background in clinical psychology and mental health and here, she shares her unique perspectives and experience. We talk about the caregiver’s burden and why it’s important to address it with families, and the differing needs between older and younger children. Shobhna also shares tips on how to build rapport, suggestions for improvement in the field of ABA, and her favorite go-to resources.
Episode 076: Navigating Taxes and Accounting for Therapists with Michelle Ward
Michelle Ward is a certified public accountant (CPA) and the owner of MW Group and Modern CPA. Michelle shares some of the major tax and accounting challenges she sees with therapists and practitioners who start their own practices. She also provides tips on how to keep track of expenses, how write-offs work, and the pros and cons of being an employee versus an independent contractor.