Emily Varon is a BCBA and sleep specialist who has been diving into a new passion: burnout in the field of ABA. We discuss some of the things that contribute to burnout, like a lack of supervision and being stretched too thin. We also talk about how to tap into our reinforcers, the challenges new and seasoned BCBAs face that can lead to burnout, and potential strategies and solutions to ease overwhelm.
A behavior contract is a written agreement that outlines expectations, timeframes, and rewards for specific behaviors. Behavior contracts give students ownership over their lives and access to their own reinforcers. We discuss the benefits of this strategy, how to introduce the concept to students, and tips for making your behavior contracts a success.
Valori Neiger is an autism feeding specialist who started a blog as a way to help families and providers serving the population. We chat with Valori about how feeding falls under ABA, the biggest challenges to feeding when working with kids with autism, and suggestions on how to work on feeding flexibility. We’re also hosting a webinar with Valori on Friday, February 24th at 12pm EST – head to our website for more details.
Becoming an official BCBA is a huge accomplishment, but getting your certification is just the beginning of the journey where there’s so much more to learn. We dive into CEUs and how to make a plan to track them. We also discuss understanding your strengths, being open to new experiences, goal setting, and how to stay grounded when working with parents and other professionals.
As BCBAs, collaboration is a very critical part of our job. However, a lot of us have trouble collaborating effectively. We discuss how we can collaborate with other professionals and incorporate them into some of our programming. Tips include fostering open communication, being open to new ideas, and sharing training sessions.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
