The holidays are fast approaching and we’re starting to plan for the upcoming busy season. Here, we dive into ways we can help decrease stress throughout the holiday season. We share tips on how to use visual schedules, how to say no to invitations, how to handle transitions smoothly, and more.
Chris Collins is the Executive Director of Ability to Include. Here, Chris shares insights into inclusion, which he believes extends beyond kids with autism. Our conversation with Chris also includes how he obtains funding, his thoughts on the future of ABA, and why we need better training and development for RBTs.
With some learners, we have to go beyond simple contingency management and reinforcement techniques. We’ve been exploring using ACT when teaching social skills and relational frame theory, which allow us to build skills that require indirect experiences and abstract thought. Here, we discuss how ACT works, share real world examples, and provide information on an upcoming webinar.
An important part of our jobs as ABA professionals is to communicate with supervisors, parents, co-workers, and stakeholders. Here, we discuss giving and receiving feedback and how to approach those interactions appropriately. We also talk about common communication obstacles, what to do if you feel defensive when receiving feedback, and tips for communicating with parents.
Being a fantastic ABA instructor goes way beyond the duties listed on the job description. Here, we cover the qualities that help you move from good to great. We discuss how to stay open to feedback and how to deliver it to others. We also talk about the importance of being detail-oriented, using your intuition and thinking on your feet, and how to be fun and creative.
In ABA, we typically use social stories as a piece of a larger treatment puzzle. Here, we discuss why we use social stories and how to utilize them correctly. We also share some real-life examples and how to measure progress and collect data.
We should all be aware of what an appropriate level of professionalism is and how we can show it in our roles as ABA therapists, RBTs, and paraprofessionals. Here, we define professionalism and how to put together a professional appearance. We also talk about showing professionalism towards families, how to maintain boundaries with coworkers and clients, and the importance of communicating effectively.
Here, we cover the best ways to incorporate generalization and maintenance into our learners’ programming. We discuss some real-world examples of generalization and helpful techniques to include in your practice. We also talk about stimulus and response generalization, the definition of maintenance and how it ties into generalization, and how to encourage maintenance once a program is closed.
ABA is all about data. Here, we dive into why measurement is so important and how to make sure we’re taking and reporting accurate data. We cover how to collect baseline data and how data collection helps us analyze problem behaviors. We also discuss how to decrease data collection overwhelm, how to choose appropriate collection methods, and how to analyze and understand data.
As ABA professionals, communicating with parents and making sure they feel comfortable with us is a key skill to master. Here, we provide insights and guidance into how to do this effectively. We discuss how to place parameters and boundaries around parental communication and how to maintain a balance. We also talk about how to keep things simple, how to communicate changes in scheduling or staffing, and more.
