Sleep challenges are common in children and can cause stress for parents and family members. Some simple straightforward strategies may help your child develop good sleep habits. In some cases, however, intensive treatment strategies are needed. What does the Research Say? Researchers have studied sleep disturbances in the autism population and have found that 52% of Read more about Tackling Sleep Challenges[…]
One of the common concerns we get from parents and therapists is that the child isn’t motivated for anything. Why is this important, you ask? Well, because in an ABA program, we rely on motivation to get things done. It’s the “then” in the “first/then”. It’s the reward at the end of the token board. Read more about How to Keep a Child’s Motivation in ABA[…]
I love the summer. I love the change in seasons, the break from the monotonous everyday routine, the relaxing vacations, and the long days. However, for many of the kids we work with, the changes that come along with summer can be very overwhelming. By the end of the school year, many children are just Read more about How to Prepare a Child with ASD for the Summer[…]
ABA doesn’t have to be an intense, one-on-one intervention that happens in 20-hour-a-week increments. The principles of ABA can be applied to so many everyday events and activities to help shape language and appropriate behaviour. So even if a child isn’t sitting down for 30 hours a week of intensive therapy, there are many tips Read more about How to Encourage ABA in the Everyday[…]
In our last blog post, we discussed expanding language to 2-3 word phrases using verbs and attributes. In this post, we will discuss expanding language even further using one of our favourite materials – sequencing cards. There are various sequencing skills that the ABLLS assessment touches upon: visual performance of putting picture sequences in order Read more about Expanding Language Skills – Part 2[…]
When working with a student who is just acquiring language, we spend a lot of time teaching how to answer questions. “What does a dog say?” “What’s your name?” “What’s this?” “What do you do with a shoe?” The answers to these questions are often simple 1-word answers, which is a great place to be Read more about Expanding Language Skills – Part 1[…]
Direct Instruction is an evidence-based teaching approach that falls under the umbrella of ABA. We use at least one (or a combination of a few) DI programs with many of our students. We even have some students who have loved the books so much that Language for Learning became a leisure activity! Direct Instruction operates Read more about Direct Instruction (DI) Programs[…]
A Behaviour Intervention Plan (BIP) is what takes the observations from a functional assessment and turns them into a concrete plan of suggestions. It is also sometimes known as a behaviour protocol or behaviour treatment plan. It should be based on a functional assessment or a functional analysis so that the suggestions made are function-based. Read more about Writing a Behaviour Intervention Plan (BIP)[…]
Behaviour is communication. It is our students’ way of telling us how they feel or what they need. Behaviour can have many different forms but what it looks like is not as important as what it’s trying to tell us. The function of the behaviour is the part that tells us WHY the behaviour is Read more about Function Over Form: Functional Communication Training[…]