An ABA program starts with an assessment, and includes on-going data collection.
It is often our goal to get our students away from needing 1:1 support for learning to being able to learn in a group setting. When students are ready for a social skills group (check When is a Child Ready for a Social Skills Group?), it can be challenging to figure out how to put Read more about Data Collection for Social Skills Groups[…]
What motivates you? I know for myself any kind of hazelnut chocolate is a favourite. But what happens when I am sick of chocolate? I have my back up motivators – like sour candies, pretzels, cookies, and more! Not everyone can tell us what motivates them, and sometimes what we think will motivate us does Read more about Preference Assessments[…]
“Assessment” can be a scary word no matter who you are – a parent of a young child, a new employee in the workplace, a student in the classroom, self-assessments for New Years resolutions, or other. When people hear the term ‘assessment’, they may think oh no, someone is going to criticize me. But without Read more about ABA Assessments[…]
We were recently observing a student working and he had the right pieces in place – classroom rules, behaviour contract, etc. but his lack of attending was really interfering with his ability to keep to the rules and get his work done, especially in the classroom. Even with positive behaviour supports in place, there was Read more about Momentary Time Sampling and Data Collection[…]
We BCBA’s love our acronyms! Here’s another one for you: DRO. This stands for the Differential Reinforcement of Other (behaviour). It essentially means that we are providing reinforcement for THE LACK of a behaviour. Why would a DRO be useful? Many problem behaviours have a positive opposite that we can reinforce. So instead of telling Read more about What is a DRO and How to Implement One[…]
When we get asked for a quick and easy fix for a behavioural problem (eg: “What do I do when…”) our answer is usually, “It depends”. The solution to behaviour management lies not in the topography of the behaviour, but in the function that the behaviour serves. There can be two children who both engage Read more about How To Do A Functional Behaviour Assessment[…]
Data is a big part of what we do. We are bound to make data-driven decisions and update or revise programs based on what the data tell us. However, it is possible to be so consumed with data that it interferes with learning. How well can a person engage and think on their feet if Read more about Choosing the Right Data Collection Method[…]
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 others. Read more about Using Partial Interval Recording to Track Negative Behaviour[…]