I once worked with a client who was doing really well with his programs, developing skills, and accomplishing goals. However, he had a “behaviour” that was driving his therapist crazy. She called to ask about targeting this specific behaviour within a protocol to try and reduce it. She said that it was coming up often Read more about When is Behaviour Worth Targeting for Reduction?[…]
Social skills should always be an integral part of any good ABA program right from the start. By social skills, I don’t just mean being able to play with other kids. In typical development, socializing starts very early – a baby making eye contact with his mother, a toddler pointing out an interesting sight to Read more about When is a Child Ready for a Social Skills Group?[…]
We can’t ignore that children have emotions. As behaviourists, we are trained to treat behaviours and not private events like thoughts and feelings. But how can we ignore that some of the little people we work with are struggling with managing how they’re feeling? We need to allow for our students to have these emotions Read more about Teaching Emotional Regulation with a 3-Point Scale[…]
Unless you have seven arms, taking data while trying to manage challenging behaviour is nearly impossible. There are many tools in our toolbox to measure and track behaviour, but the tricky part is knowing which tool to implement when. We might choose to take probe data for some teaching targets and trial-by-trial data for Read more about Using Partial Interval Recording to Track Negative Behaviour[…]
One of my proudest and most shocking moments of being a BCBA/Mom was when my son came home with a self-monitoring form designed by his teacher. Not only was the teacher being proactive in managing my son’s behaviour, but he implemented it almost perfectly! The best part – it worked! The goal of self-monitoring systems Read more about How to Implement a Self-Monitoring System[…]
Something I often discuss with teachers is the concept of intrinsic vs extrinsic reinforcement. At what point can we expect the tangible and outside reinforcement to morph and for the student to begin to actually want to do the right thing (and not just because he/she is rewarded for the right thing)? In my experience, Read more about Using Antecedent Teaching to Manage Challenging Behaviour[…]
Looking back on my years as a teacher, I can now say that ABA was the missing piece in my classroom (see: 5 ABA Principles I Wish I Knew as a Teacher). As a preschool and elementary teacher, I was struggling with the concepts of reinforcement and behaviour management. This is why I find the Read more about How to Use ABA to Manage Challenging Behaviour in the Classroom[…]
One of the most important first steps that a child needs to make in ABA therapy is learning the concept of first/then – “First I do something (fill in demand here), then I get something (fill in reward here)”. The Premack principle states that if high-probability behaviors (more desirable behaviors) are made contingent upon lower-probability Read more about Teaching Compliance with First/Then (Premack Principle)[…]
We know that an ABA program has been successful when we put ourselves out of a job. As difficult as it is to say good-bye to clients and parents that we’ve been working with for so many years, we know that we served them well if the child has successfully transitioned to school and doesn’t Read more about Teaching School-Readiness Skills[…]
During one of my first few experiences as an ABA therapist, I was introduced to “The White Diet”. We had a particular student who would only eat white foods, such as pasta, bread, crackers, and cheese. Since then, I’ve seen many versions of the picky eater – the student who would only eat a certain Read more about Dealing With a Picky Eater[…]