Shows
The How to ABA PodcastThe Role of Trauma and Behavior in ABA with Dr. Camille KoluDr. Camille Kolu is a behavioral scientist from Cusp Emergence in Colorado. Dr. Kolu has about 20 years of autism treatment experience and has collaborated with or worked for nonprofits, families, diverse educational facilities, and groups in Texas and Colorado to provide effective autism treatment and support for those affected by developmental or other disabilities. Dr. Kolu brings together creative service, best practices, and a background in both behavior analysis and behavioral neuroscience to strengthen community fabrics through education, relationships, and behavioral support. She also focuses on TIBA, or trauma-informed behavior analysis, and Shayna recently took Dr. Kolu’s...2025-01-0735 minThe How to ABA PodcastBenefits of Incidental TeachingSome students have difficulty learning words and manding with flash cards at a table. Sometimes the natural world is a much better learning environment, and that’s where incidental teaching comes in. Incidental teaching is a strategy that uses ABA principles to provide structured learning opportunities in the natural environment, and it’s all about motivation. Through incidental teaching, you utilize the child’s natural interests and initiation while still contriving situations. Some of the misconceptions around incidental teaching are that it’s completely child led, and that you don’t get many practice opportunities. Here, we discuss wh...2023-05-2310 minThe How to ABA PodcastFluency-Based InstructionAs ABA practitioners, we have many teaching procedures in our toolbox. Here, we’re discussing precision teaching, which is also called fluency-based instruction, and how we can use it to benefit our students. Many of us remember having to memorize multiplication tables in elementary school. While it was an intimidating task, chances are we still know all the tables by heart as adults, because we learned them to fluency as children. In today’s classrooms, math is taught in a much different manner. Fluency in things like simple multiplication is diminished, which impacts math skills overall. Precision teac...2023-05-1618 minThe How to ABA PodcastAssessing & Teaching Good Learner Repertoires with Steve WardBCBA Steve Ward has been working as a behavior analyst since the mid 1990’s. As the lead behavior analyst for a center school, Steve conducted more than 100 functional assessments and wrote behavior plans to address a wide range of behaviors. He has also worked as a consultant, where he has designed programming for a wide variety of repertoires, including verbal behavior, daily living skills, and academics, among a host of others. Today, he runs Whole Child Consulting along with his partner Terry. Here, Steve shares his story about how he got into the field and how he uses multiple me...2023-05-0938 minThe How to ABA PodcastIntermediate RequestingAs students become more proficient at manding and move to an intermediate requesting phase, their mean length of utterance should increase. The types of mands they use should also expand. Intermediate learners are those who can use phrases of three or more words. When a student moves into a more intermediate phase, we often focus on pre-academic skills and forget to expand their manding repertoire. These learners have a decent receptive vocabulary, but still get stuck on certain aspects of language. They still need help with manding to bring more variety into their requests. Here, we dive...2023-05-0218 minThe How to ABA PodcastEarly Intervention and Play Therapy with Kaylin MossBCBA and play consultant Kaylin Moss is one of our members. She works in the field of early intervention and natural environment teaching. Kaylin started her career as a teacher at a local charter school for children with autism. She was inspired by the behavioral analyst at the school, who was a big resource and began looking into her line of work. Kaylin then began education for behavioral analysis, and her partner at the school became her mentor and supervisor. At first, she focused on behavior therapy but then switched gears to early intervention, mostly due to a helpful...2023-04-2529 minThe How to ABA PodcastUpcoming CEU with Matt Cicoria on Functional Assessments in the ClassroomFunctional assessments are the gold standard of behavior analysis. They’re the best technology we have to show the effectiveness and the function of our antecedent and consequence manipulation. Conducting functional assessments in a school setting comes with its own set of unique challenges, and behavior analyst Matt Cicoria is joining us at our next live CEU event to cover just that. The event takes place on Thursday, April 20th at 12:00pm EST. Matt also hosts the Behavioral Observations Podcast, which is linked below. If you’re anything like us, you have a hectic schedule. The next thin...2023-04-1810 minThe How to ABA PodcastThriving and Succeeding with Autism with Shane FinkelsteinShane Finkelstein is one of Shana’s original ABA clients from 20 years ago and is here to talk about his experience with autism. Ever since Shane was young, he had several social problems and was having trouble fitting in with people outside his family. He was diagnosed with autism at the age of two, which is also when he began ABA therapy. ABA helped Shane develop good social skills as well as a good work ethic. He attended several public schools where he excelled academically, but struggled socially. That changed when he started attending a special needs camp and sc...2023-04-1121 minThe How to ABA PodcastGuiding Parents through Autism with Erin PorterErin Porter is a family autism coach from Ontario, Canada. As a teacher, she noticed some gaps in the school system and began to fill them in. She also noticed there was a parental piece missing, so she applied everything she knew about teaching and programming to supporting parents who have newly diagnosed children with autism. Erin helps parents fill in their own gaps while they wait for funding or to come off waitlists so they can get started with early intervention. Receiving a diagnosis can be an overwhelming time for parents and Erin walks them through the next...2023-04-0429 minThe How to ABA PodcastFCT Functional Communication TrainingFunctional communication, or FCT, is a way to decrease problem behavior through teaching effective communication skills. Shira once had a student who had a ton of language. He would talk all the time in sentences and communicate what he wanted to do, but he didn’t request things. He sometimes engaged in negative attention-seeking behavior but didn’t know how to appropriately get attention. She taught him how to mand for attention by using text cues, which is an FCT technique, and he stopped engaging in aggression.All behavior is communication, and they’re two sides of the sa...2023-03-2816 minThe How to ABA PodcastLinggo: A Picture-Based AAC System for Children with AutismIn preparation for a CEU event we’re hosting all about how to use AAC devices, we are rebroadcasting our Linggo episode with Ling Ly Tan and Jane Button. They are from Linggo, a company that makes communication accessible for people who have difficulty speaking. Linggo is an assistive technology that supports the learning of language, speech, and literacy skills through an AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) platform. Ling’s a BCBA and has been working in the field for almost two decades. Jane worked on the front lines with children in her community and then became a tra...2023-03-2127 minThe How to ABA PodcastSupervision and Tips for New BCBAs with Katerina SavinoBCBA Kat Savino is the Community Manager at How To ABA. If you’re a member, you’ve likely seen Kat in our community, Q&A sessions, and our journal clubs. Kat was one of our first podcast guests and as we learned more about her, we realized we needed her on the team. You can get to know Kat through our membership community board, where she connects members with available resources. Kat also does supervision for those needing fieldwork experience and one-on-one mentorships for newly minted BCBAs. Kat has a ton of supervision experience and here, she...2023-03-1425 minThe How to ABA PodcastAll About Matching with Dr. Alan SchneeDr. Alan Schnee is a Ph.D., BCBA-D, consultant, author, and speaker. Dr. Schnee began his career in the early 90s in the Boston area, where he trained as a pediatric psychologist. A colleague and friend of his had a son on the autism spectrum. This friend brought in consultants to work with her son, and she was astounded at his progress. The experience inspired Dr. Schnee and his colleague to jump into the world of ABA. When the tools of ABA are applied well, it makes a huge difference in the lives of children and their families.2023-03-0746 minThe How to ABA PodcastLife SkillsLife skills are a critical part of the success of our students. They’re needed in order for them to become as independent as possible in their lives. Here, we cover the best ways to assess life skills and how to make a plan of which skills our learners need to know. We spend so much time working on academic goals with our students, like learning to read and write. However, we forget that those goals are such a small part of their overall life and don’t have much of an impact on how they’ll live on their...2023-02-2817 minThe How to ABA PodcastBCBA Burnout with Emily VaronBCBA Emily Varon is a sleep educator. We’ve spoken to Emily in a past episode where we discussed the importance of sleep. Lately, Emily has been diving into a new passion, which is burnout in the field of ABA. There is definitely a strong relationship between burnout and poor sleep and Emily went down the rabbit hole of researching all the data she could. She started talking about this concept more with ABA professionals with the goal of reducing burnout and becoming more well-rested and rejuvenated. Here, we chat with Emily about what burnout is and the domino ef...2023-02-2138 minThe How to ABA PodcastWhat is a Behaviour Contract?When we discuss reinforcement, we usually think of things like token boards and other ABA therapist strategies. However, learners can also be taught to regulate their own behavior and become active participants in their own learning through behavior contracts. Here, we dive into the definition of behavior contracts and how we can use them. A behavior contract is a written agreement that outlines expectations, timeframes, and rewards for specific behaviors.With many students, a behavior contract isn’t the first intervention, it’s something we work towards. Students who are already familiar with and understand a token syst...2023-02-1415 minThe How to ABA PodcastHow to Get Picky Eaters to Eat More Food with Valori NeigerValori Neiger is an autism feeding specialist. For any of us who have been in the field, we know that a lot of the kids we work with really struggle with feeding. When Valori reached out to us, of course, we had to have her join us on the show. She started her ABA journey in undergraduate school in the early 2000s, where she was introduced to psychology. Dr. Greg Madden, a pioneer in behavior economics, was a guest speaker in one of Valori’s classes and wanted to recruit students into an ABA track. Valori left class totally ho...2023-02-0728 minThe How to ABA PodcastFirst Week as a BCBAPassing your BCBA exam is an amazing accomplishment. Although becoming officially certified is something to celebrate, the next task is getting out into the field and putting your new skills to the test. Some new practitioners are faced with impostor syndrome while others believe that just by having the certification, they know everything there is to know. The truth is that getting that piece of paper is just the beginning of your journey as a new BCBA. There’s still so much to learn and experience and here, we’re sharing tips to help you start the journey off on t...2023-01-3115 minThe How to ABA PodcastBCBA Collaboration TipsAs BCBAs, collaboration is a very critical part of our job. However, a lot of us have trouble collaborating effectively. Unfortunately, some of the other professionals we may encounter don’t have a great opinion about ABA, as it does have a bit of a negative reputation. Because of this, it’s important to have the right conversations about what we do and how we can help our clients reach their goals. It’s also important to be open to other disciplines, like speech and OT, as they offer their own unique perspectives.Here, we discuss how we can...2023-01-2413 minThe How to ABA PodcastPreparing for SupervisionMost BCBAs aren’t taught how to supervise others, and many of us are thrown into the role as soon as we get our certification. Right afterward, we’re expected to supervise ABA programs, staff members, and even parents. It’s important to know what steps to take when supervising so we don’t become overwhelmed and experience burnout. It’s common to experience imposter syndrome as a new BCBA, especially when we’re given so many added responsibilities. Here, we define supervision and walk through the various responsibilities and tasks a BCBA is expected to take on.One of t...2023-01-1716 minThe How to ABA PodcastBCBA Work Life BalanceThere 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, Shana shares a story from when she owned several clinics and managed a staff of 25. While it was fun and rewarding, it was a lot to handle. As the owner, she felt constant pressure and her workload was well over 80 hours a week. After COVID forced Shana to step back from her responsibilities, she realized just how overwhelmed she was. Many of...2023-01-1015 minThe How to ABA PodcastFrom Parent to BCBA with Flor De Amelia (Lizette) HoffmanBCBA Flor De Amelia (Lizette) Hoffman is a mom of two and we met at ABAI. She was inspired to get into the field because of her daughter, who is now 13 years old. Lizette’s daughter was diagnosed with autism at 18 months but knew something was wrong as early as 8 months when she began to experience seizures. Lizette struggled to find answers for her daughter, and she shares what her journey was like as a young mom. ABA therapy helped greatly, and Lizette wanted to learn all about the techniques to practice them on her own. Today, she works wit...2023-01-0345 minThe How to ABA PodcastA Look Back at 2022 with Shira and ShaynaWe’re taking some time to look back on 2022, and what a year it has been! Throughout 2022, we continued to host some great CEU speakers in our membership, covering several topics like self-monitoring, parenting, sleep, compassionate care, and ACT. We also covered how to be a better BCBA and how to prevent practitioner burnout. How To ABA started as our side gig as we worked our full-time jobs, and this year, we really strived to be more consistent. Since April, we’ve had a podcast and blog come out every week. We even had the chance to sponsor and spea...2022-12-2709 minThe How to ABA PodcastABA Through the Lens of Psychology with Shobhna SrivastavaShobhna Srivastava is a BCBA working in the school setting who also has a background in clinical psychology and mental health. Before becoming a BCBA, Shobhna was a licensed clinical neuropsychologist. As a psychology practitioner, Shobhna was tasked with diagnosing children on the autism spectrum as well as any comorbid disorders. Once she became a mom, she decided to pause and reevaluate her career. Shobhna had always been curious about the rehabilitation of her patients after they were diagnosed, which led her to explore the field of ABA. Today, she works primarily with children who’ve experienced a traumatic br...2022-12-2031 minThe How to ABA PodcastNavigating Taxes and Accounting with Michelle WardMichelle Ward is the owner of MW Group and Modern CPA. Michelle is a certified public accountant who handles taxes and small business accounting. She started her firm in 2014 after spending time in a larger, regional firm and began to feel unfulfilled. After five years, Michelle’s company grew, and her husband also joined the firm to become her partner. Last year, they launched Modern CPA online, which provides business education to small business owners. Many practitioners in our field might not have the business support or skills needed to succeed on their own, and through her program, Michelle eq...2022-12-1328 minThe How to ABA PodcastCreative Reinforcers and a BCBA’s Journey with Jordyn HargraveJordyn Hargrave is a BCBA and a member of the How To ABA community. She lives outside of St. Louis, Missouri and has been in the field for about seven years. Jordyn started her career as an intern at Western Kentucky University and had a class on behavior modification where she was able to shadow a BCBA. She also did a field experience with the Kelly Autism Program and since then, worked in an in-home setting and an early intervention clinic, and also within a school system as an RBT. Today she still works in a school as a...2022-12-0629 minThe How to ABA PodcastOBM and Performance Feedback with Jessica WinneJessica Winne is a BCBA who came to us to talk about OBM and performance feedback, which is a topic we want to dive deeper into. Jessica received her master’s degree in behavioral analysis from the University of North Texas and her thesis was on how to give corrective feedback. Towards the end of her program, she took on more of an OBM focus. A lot of people in management positions are prepared for tasks like creating structures and giving feedback, as it’s easy to become more focused on the content and our to-do lists. When we’re thr...2022-11-2933 minThe How to ABA PodcastGrow Your Happy with Brenda EatonBrenda Eaton is a BCBA, mom, and creator of Grow Your Happy. She has a 27-year-old son on the autism spectrum, which was her inspiration for getting into the field. Prior to becoming a BCBA, Brenda had a career in the fashion industry and spent time in New York before moving back to Pennsylvania where she got her master’s in education at Temple. After her son’s diagnosis, she spent most of her time supporting him and saw that so much more support was needed outside of the traditional ABA and behavioral techniques, especially around building resilience and inde...2022-11-2227 minThe How to ABA PodcastBeing a BCBA within a School System with Natalie ToddNatalie Todd is a BCBA and school-based behavioral consultant in New York State. She currently works in an elementary school where she helps transition students into the classroom. Collaboration is a big part of Natalie’s day to day and coming up with treatment plans for students is always a team-based approach. Being a BCBA within a school system can be challenging, especially if you’re the only resource. Natalie talks about the importance of scheduling and how things can get thrown off. Training other staff on intervention strategies can help you work through unplanned issues, so they don’t take...2022-11-1531 minThe How to ABA PodcastSupervision, Support, and Advocacy with Jessie and SaraJessie and Sara are the Director of Operations and Clinical Director from Family Beeginnings, where they provide family-focused, solution-based, ABA therapy and consulting. Sara is currently mentoring brand-new BCBA candidates for their hours as well as the other providers within her organization. She’s also responsible for quality assurance and programming, making sure everything runs smoothly for their clients. Jessie began her career as an early intervention teacher and then she became an RBT. Her job as an RBT introduced her to OBM (organizational behavior management), which she fell in love with and now specializes in this area. 2022-11-0826 minThe How to ABA PodcastThe Importance of Self-Monitoring with Jamie Salter & Katie CroceJamie Salter and Katie Croce are the co-authors of the Self & Match System. Jamie is a trained school psychologist and BCBA and spent time as an administrator in special education. Katie’s a BCBA and has been working as a behavioral analyst since 2006. She’s worked in public and private schools, inpatient hospitals, and in homes. Today, Katie works at a university within the school of education where she teaches applied behavioral analysis to undergraduate and graduate students. Self & Match is an evidence-based self-monitoring system that’s been manualized. Jamie and Katie noticed that self-monitoring was often left o...2022-11-0132 minThe How to ABA PodcastWhat Are The 4 Functions of Behavior?Every ABA professional should be familiar with the four functions of behavior and how to identify them. Here, we cover those four functions, provide real-life examples, and give you tips on what you can do when you encounter each function. Although the functions of behavior are important, they aren’t always intuitive which makes them hard to spot. We can also accidentally reinforce problematic behavior when we’re unsure. Through their behavior, our students and clients are communicating something to us, and it’s our job to figure out what that is. To remember the four functions of beha...2022-10-2515 minThe How to ABA PodcastReducing Problem Behaviors in Children with ASDAs ABA professionals, a big part of our job is to reduce problem behaviors in our clients. Many times, we’re called in as a sort of fairy godmother, expected to make problematic behaviors disappear by waving a magic wand. It’s also common for problematic behavior to only be addressed when looking for an acceptable punishment or consequence, however, that’s not the best approach. Problem behaviors are always telling us something, and it’s our job to get to the root cause. Stressors can come from a lot of places at home and in the classroom, and it’s imp...2022-10-1824 minThe How to ABA PodcastHow To Use ABA in ClassroomsIt can be difficult to incorporate ABA principles in a classroom setting, and here, we provide tips on how to do so. It can be frustrating when you have children in the classroom that don’t seem to be picking up skills at the same rates as the rest of the class. Fortunately, ABA offers plenty of helpful solutions for those kids who might not fit into the standard boxes. For example, using visuals instead of relying on talking alone during teaching can help better support, certain learners. Timers can be a great aide as well.Using re...2022-10-1126 minThe How to ABA PodcastHow To Create an Independent Activity ScheduleAn independent activity schedule (IAS) is a set of pictures or words that signals a child to complete a group of activities. An IAS enables the child to do activities independently with minimal supervision. It can give a child a chance to engage in purposeful activities at home or at school. Here, we cover the basics of putting an IAS together as well as provide tips on how to teach this to a learner.In addition to the huge benefits an IAS can have in the classroom, it can also work wonders in a home setting. For...2022-10-0418 minThe How to ABA PodcastHow to Use Reinforcement ProperlyThere are several types of reinforcement you can use, and it’s important to know how to use each technique properly. Reinforcement is one of our most common tools, but we often hear from other teachers and practitioners that it isn’t working. At that point, it helps to ask more questions to try to uncover the problem. If reinforcement isn’t set up properly or doesn’t set the client up for success, then of course it won’t work! Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do to ensure success with reinforcement, and we dive into them...2022-09-2725 minThe How to ABA PodcastCreating Task AnalysisWe implement task analysis as a way of teaching skills and taking data. Here, we dive into all things task analysis and how it can help you and your clients succeed. Task analysis doesn’t have to be big, and it’s really about breaking any size task down into smaller steps. We all do this on a regular basis throughout our everyday lives, especially when it comes to tackling a big project or assignment. Breaking things down into smaller parts makes things more manageable and achievable. Many of our students need this type of learning as well as an e...2022-09-2021 minThe How to ABA PodcastWhat Is Scrolling in Kids?Often in an ABA program, we’re teaching kids multiple skills at once. For example, we might be teaching a student to mand for cookie, but we may also be teaching them to identify items, introducing gross motor imitation, and following directions. Students will sometimes engage in multiple responses because they believe that’s what you want to see, and that’s essentially what scrolling behavior is.It's important to be aware of scrolling and know how to deal with it from the very beginning. Teaching skills "cleanly” is key so the student doesn’t run through any other...2022-09-1314 minThe How to ABA PodcastHow To Use Baseline DataBaseline data is so important and as an ABA professional, it’s key that we know how to use it effectively. Whenever we’re working with a client and we don’t seem to be getting anywhere in terms of changing a behavior, it’s helpful to return to the baseline and compare it to post-treatment. This gives you a really good picture of whether or not that treatment is working. Even when working with a challenging case, going back to reference the baseline data reveals a lot about that particular intervention.Baseline data can refer to data rel...2022-09-0618 minThe How to ABA Podcast7 Steps to Instructional Control with Robert SchrammRobert Schramm is a behavioral analyst and education and parenting specialist who’s really doing some necessary and valuable things for the field of ABA. Robert was an educator first and started out in physical education in California. He then moved into special education and became an occlusion specialist and was tasked with helping disabled children in regular classrooms. Robert eventually found his way to behavioral analysis in pursuit of finding a method of instructional motivation. He and his wife then moved to Germany for children with ASD. They also helped trained parents in behavioral analysis so they could us...2022-08-3037 minThe How to ABA PodcastABA Speech with Rose GriffinToday, we’re excited to be hosting Rose Griffin. She’s a speech-language pathologist (SLP) and BCBA and the founder of ABA Speech. Rose has 20 years of experience and there are less than 500 professionals that are dual-certified. Ever since her graduate placement, she’s really felt the pull to work with autistic children and others who have been deemed hard to reach. Rose realized that this work changes lives after working in an ABA center and seeing so many great success stories. We’ve known Rose for a couple of years now and we’re working on some projects together...2022-08-2322 minThe How to ABA PodcastVerbal Operants with Shira and ShaynaToday, we’re talking all about verbal operants, as they’re one of the most components parts of work in the field that are often quite confusing. We’ll show you what you might want to teach and in what order. Verbal operants can be tough to understand, especially when you’re new. There are so many components to language, above and beyond the words we’re saying. How we use and understand words play a huge role as well as actions, images, and how we absorb all the information and teach it to our students.We’ll take you thr...2022-08-1630 minThe How to ABA PodcastAnimal Training with Barbara HeidenreichBarbara Heidenreich is an expert exotic animal trainer. We met Barbara in Boston at ABAI and we were fascinated by the way she uses ABA and behavioral principles in animal training. Barbara specializes in working with animals and she works mostly with zoos and facilities that care for exotic species. She also works with veterinary professionals and conservationists. Veterinary medicine is now becoming more focused on cooperative care, reducing animal stress, and making the animal care experience fear-free. Behavioral analysis fits perfectly with this new focus, and like traditional ABA, it’s centered around compassion.Just like wi...2022-08-0924 minThe How to ABA PodcastABC's of Behavior with Shira & ShaynaIn behavior analysis, we love our acronyms! Today, we’re talking about what the ABC’s of behavior are. We’ll share how you can take ABC data, why it’s so important, and so much more. All too often, we’re faced with compiling ABC data from a large amount of information, which can be overwhelming. Data is ultimately supposed to make our lives easier and help us do a better job as practitioners. ABC stands for antecedent, behavior, and consequence and when we refer to behavior, that includes the surrounding environment and what’s happening as well. The...2022-08-0216 minThe How to ABA PodcastWhat Not to Do as an ABA Professional with Shira and ShaynaToday, we’re talking about what not to do as an ABA practitioner. We’re going to review our top five don’t-dos as a professional in the field. When we were preparing, it was difficult to narrow it down to just five, but we discuss what we believe are the most important things to keep in mind. It’s also difficult to talk about what not to do without speaking about what you should do, so we’ll offer you some tips to help you in your jobs.First, you want to avoid using technical jargon. Dumbing th...2022-07-2614 minThe How to ABA PodcastRBT and Autistic Advocate with Michelle VinokurovToday, we are talking with Michelle Vinokurov, who is a paraprofessional and RBT autistic advocate. She was diagnosed with autism at the age of two and was non-verbal until age six. Michelle’s parents advocated for her early on and got her involved with speech therapy, ABA, occupational and physical therapy. As she got older, she gained a lot more skills, including handwriting, and her services were gradually reduced. Today, she works with elementary school students with disabilities and started working as an RBT this year. Michelle’s own personal experiences inspired her to work in the field and it’s...2022-07-1930 minThe How to ABA PodcastHow To Build Good Behavior and Self-esteem in ChildrenOur guest today is Dr. Hank Schlinger. He’s a professor at California State University in Los Angeles. Hank got into the field through working with kids with autism through his undergraduate program. He practiced ABA techniques, which were then known as behavioral modification, and the results he witnessed in the children he worked with made a lasting impact on him. Today, Hank is a successful author of several books, including “How to Build Good Behavior and Self-Esteem in Children”, which puts ABA in practical terms for readers. There’s a misconception amongst teachers and parents that bad behavior needs to...2022-07-1235 minThe How to ABA PodcastPicture-Based AAC System for Children with AutismFinding solutions for families who deserve the best treatment is not easy to come by. Ling Ly Tan and Jane Button from the Linggo team are here to share all about the organization. Linggo is a company that makes communication accessible for people who have difficulty speaking. It is an assistive technology that supports the learning of language, speech, and literacy skills through an AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) platform. Ling’s a BCBA and has been working in the field for almost two decades. Jane is a BCBA who has worked with children with autism and other social com...2022-07-0527 minThe How to ABA PodcastAutism and Sleep Challenges with Emily VaronSo many of us have experienced challenges with sleep and children, whether from personal experience or professionally in the field. Emily Varon is a sleep expert who’s been working in ABA since 2000. Sleep has always been of interest to Emily with her own kids and she saw the opportunity to provide solutions for clients in her job as a practitioner. With the encouragement of her agency, she started taking additional coursework and began thinking beyond the typical extinction strategies used to correct sleep issues. Emily currently offers CEUs to companies, so everyone is speaking the same language when it...2022-06-2847 minThe How to ABA PodcastThe Literacy Epidemic with Michael MaloneyWe are very excited to have Michael Maloney as a guest today. He’s the founder of Quincy Learning Center and an expert in precision teaching and direct instruction. Along with other professionals, Michael started sharing his methodology with other teachers and practitioners. Today, it’s becoming a sizable force within the field. We’re seeing several challenges related to literacy within the educational system and ten million students within the U.S. public school system are illiterate. So many adults fail to thrive because they don’t have the fundamental literacy skills needed to get jobs, and Michael refers t...2022-06-2128 minThe How to ABA PodcastReinforcement: Sneak Peek into Mentorship with Shira and KatOne of our community members asked a question about reinforcement, and we discuss it in today’s mentorship sneak peek. Even though the term “reinforcement” is used often and seems simple, it can be tough to figure out what a good reinforcer is. This member’s client is a little verbal but barely communicates, and his main behavior is task avoidance. The functions of the behavior are mostly escaped and attention and so far, they haven’t been able to come up with a reinforcer that motivates him. With so many options available, it can be hard to know where to b...2022-06-1411 minThe How to ABA PodcastNewly Minted Burnout with Julie TewellToday, we’re discussing burnout with one of our members, Julie Tewell. She’s a clinical BCBA in Louisville, KY. Julie works with kids ranging from two to twelve years old. She originally wanted to be an occupational therapist but stumbled into the field after getting the opportunity to shadow at a clinic from a family member who worked in ABA. Her favorite thing about working as a BCBA is the connections she makes with families. It's important for clinics and organizations to be mindful of employee burnout. When an organization doesn’t adhere to the values they c...2022-06-0734 minThe How to ABA PodcastSupervision and Creativity with Kailani BartleyToday, we’re hosting one of our members, Kailani Bartley. She’s a case manager at CABS, the Chicago Autism and Behavior Specialists. Kailani landed in the field sort of by accident. She originally wanted to become a music therapist, but after working at a tech job for a year while she was in college, she decided she wanted to work within ABA. Today, Kailani just graduated with her master’s degree and is taking the BCBA exam in August. Kailani spent time in several jobs searching for high-quality supervision and finally found it at CABS. Networking with o...2022-05-3122 minThe How to ABA PodcastQuestion From Audience: Automatic ReinforcementA member of our audience brought a situation to us that involves a three-year-old non-speaking autistic child. He has a tendency to open and close sliding doors and also a tendency to hurt other children. He’s the same across all environments. This type of behavior is worth targeting, especially since other kids are being injured. Based on the details we have, it seems like the behavior is getting automatically reinforced. Sensory or automatic behaviors often become the catch-all for things that have no antecedents. Kids will sometimes engage in automatic behaviors just because they feel good.Af...2022-05-2416 minThe How to ABA PodcastData Collection for Behavior ManagementAs behavior analysts, we have to know what the function of a problematic behavior is and why the client is doing it. When you’re confronting challenging behavior, you’re going to be capturing it in a behavior plan. It’s important to understand the data collection process around behavior reduction goals. The first step should be defining the behavior you’re looking to collect the data on and getting as specific as possible so everyone’s on the same page. Then, you can collect specific ABC data on the behavior you’re targeting. Sometimes data collection can go on lo...2022-05-1825 minThe How to ABA PodcastMentorship Meeting Sneak Peek - Replacement Skills and NETWe’re giving you another sneak peek into our mentorship meetings where we share some questions from our members. One member is working on spontaneous manding with a three-year-old student. The student has an advanced verbal repertoire and is strong in several areas but doesn’t always verbally request items. The child also has trouble calming down in public settings and the member asked if ACT or AIM would help. No child is ever too young for these strategies, however, it’s important to figure out what your primary goal is when applying them. We suggest introducing alternative replacement skills...2022-05-1115 minThe How to ABA PodcastTeaching Asking and Answering Questions with Shira and ShaynaIn our community, we get a lot of questions from our members and the question for this episode is: “When would be a good time to teach a client to ask questions, or what are some of the prerequisite skills before teaching to ask questions?”There are a couple of options you want to look at which usually are asking questions and answering questions. If you’re teaching the latter, you need to make sure that comprehension is there. We share how we approach it in the most tactile way by teaching the most motivating, relevant, and simple...2022-05-0313 minThe How to ABA PodcastParent Stressors and Self-Reg with Dr. Laura CesaroniDr. Laura Cesaroni is the Clinical Director of FERN in Toronto. FERN stands for Family Education Resource Network. They assist parents, grandparents, and teachers who require specialized resources for teaching, managing, and parenting children who experience challenges. Laura saw a number of children in her practice that were dysregulated and started seeking out effective strategies to deal with big behaviors. Self-regulation is all about understanding stress and the importance of relationships. Over the last several years, Laura has been facilitating courses around self-reg at FERN, and one of them focuses strictly on parents. The goal of self-regulation...2022-04-2648 minThe How to ABA PodcastStaff Hiring and Training with Shira and ShaynaToday, we cover all things related to staff hiring and training. When hiring, sometimes personality means more than what’s on a resume or how many years of experience a person has. How someone presents themselves and how prepared they are going a long way. Asking the right questions in an interview is key. When interviewing for a new job, try your best to let your personality shine through. As an interviewer, having a candidate interact with a potential student could uncover valuable information on how successful they’d be in the real position. Staff training is super...2022-04-1921 minThe How to ABA PodcastACT and AIM with Shira and ShaynaWe’re answering another question from the community regarding our opinions on ACT and AIM. ACT stands for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. It’s a branch of behavioral psychology that’s been adopted by the field of ABA. AIM is an acronym for Accept, Identify, Move, which is an ABA curriculum that’s based on the principles of ACT. We’re no experts on these modalities, but we’ve used them in the field and have encountered them in training and at conferences. We discuss the ACT Values Matrix and how it can be applied in practice. ABA doesn’t...2022-04-1223 minThe How to ABA PodcastScrolling Responses and Echolalia with Shira and ShaynaWe received a question from a member on echolalia and scripting and wanted to share our thoughts in this episode. They were wondering if there were any practical tips to help reduce scrolling responses, as their current treatment methods weren’t working. First, it’s important to identify if the behavior is associated with specific operants. Therapist responses are important to note as well. With imitation, if we’re not doing enough mixing and varying, the student may resort to the one action they’re most comfortable with. When we add variety, the student is forced to look and imitate...2022-03-2921 minThe How to ABA PodcastQuestion From a Member with Shira and ShaynaOne of our members came to us for advice on how to address separation anxiety with a client. The anxiety turns aggressive while the mother is leaving, but then subsides and the session can continue normally. The data they collected indicated that the problem was attention maintained, but the emotional component seems very compelling. We discuss similar situations we’ve encountered in our own practices. In one example, the parents were phased out gradually until the child was comfortable. The “rip the band-aid” approach or withholding reinforcement strategies don’t always work when there’s an emotional component...2022-03-2213 minThe How to ABA PodcastCompany Culture, Underserved Populations, and Natural Environment Teaching with Leticia MorenoLeticia Moreno is the Clinical Director and CEO of Within Me Therapy in Maryland. Before becoming a BCBA, she was a special education teacher working in an early intervention setting. Her aunt introduced her to ABA, inspiring her to blend it with early learning in her own practice. She works to incorporate the natural environment into her treatment strategies and helps parents continue the learning outside of the classroom. Leticia uses a coaching model to work with parents instead of a direct approach, which encourages buy in and builds rapport. Leticia also works with underserviced p...2022-03-1525 minThe How to ABA PodcastContingent and Non-Contingent Reinforcement with Shira and ShaynaToday, we’re discussing contingent and non-contingent reinforcement, including the difference between the two and how to know which one to use. Reinforcement is a huge focus as an ABA practitioner. It can also be a slippery slope. When all reinforcement becomes contingent, a child can feel like they have to earn everything. Parents often get confused with the two types of reinforcement as well. It’s helpful to always keep the difference between contingent and non-contingent in our heads so we can let kids know what they should and shouldn’t be expected to earn. As adults...2022-03-0818 minThe How to ABA PodcastDeveloping a Functional Behavior Plan (FBA) with Shira and ShaynaToday, we’re discussing behavior, more specifically, how to develop a functional behavior plan (FBA) and assessment. While behaviors often seem random, there’s always a reason behind them. A good FBA helps you figure out what those reasons are so you can replace undesired behavior with new skills. Many times, a behavior is learned because, at some point, a child realized they can use it to get what they want. It’s never because they want to misbehave on purpose.Before you get started with an FBA, it’s important to determine the behavior and consider its natu...2022-03-0117 minThe How to ABA PodcastA Sneak Peek into Monthly Mentorship Meetings Part 3 with Shira and ShaynaPart three of our “sneak peek” series showcases more from our monthly mentorship meetings. In this session, we share our thoughts on using timers for transition periods. We also share resources on addressing challenging behaviors around tolerating peers. To wrap up, we discuss working with the PECS system. This series has been loaded with great tips and insights and we’re looking forward to doing more of these! We love being able to brainstorm and problem solve with our community, which includes some of the most intelligent, supportive individuals. You can also be a part of thi...2022-02-2223 minThe How to ABA PodcastA Sneak Peak into Monthly Mentorship Meetings Part 2 with Shira and ShaynaWelcome to Part 2 of our “sneak peek” series where we give you a behind-the-scenes look into our monthly mentorship meetings. Every month, members of the How To ABA community get together to discuss what’s going on in the field. It’s a great place to share resources and connect with other professionals. In this second session, we’ll cover techniques to help kids tolerate losing, treating oppositional behavior, and different assessment tools for social skills. We break down our strategies and share insights, such as reinforcement, that will help you with your students or kids. There are a lot...2022-02-1526 minThe How to ABA PodcastA Sneak Peek into Monthly Mentorship Meetings Part 1 with Shira and ShaynaIn these next few podcasts, we wanted to give you a sneak peek into our monthly mentorship meetings. These meetings are dedicated to answering questions from How To ABA members. Every month, we meet to discuss a variety of different issues as it relates to being a BCBA in today’s environment. During this first sneak peek, some of the topics include working with attention-seeking learners, tips to help RBTs to stay engaged with clients, and ideas for sensory social routines.To join us on the next monthly membership call, become a member of the behavior resource by...2022-02-0919 minThe How to ABA PodcastHow The Field of ABA Has Changed in 25 Years with Shira and ShaynaThe field of ABA is constantly growing and evolving. After being in the field for several years, we wanted to share our perspectives on what has changed and what still needs to change. Our field is making great strides in moving from the perception that ABA “fixes” kids to honoring who they are as people. Shayna has been in the field since 1997 and shares what it was like when she was first starting out. Nobody really knew what autism really was, let alone ABA. Supervision looked a lot different, and treatment was focused heavily on language and making kids “seem n...2022-02-0125 minThe How to ABA PodcastRachel Torrance and The ABA ForumRachel Torrance is a BCBA and the Assistant Regional Vice President at Cultivate Behavioral Health and Education. She’s also the co-owner of a company called Supervision Academy, a remote supervision training agency. ABA was a huge component of her special education studies and gained a lot of hands-on experience through teaching in the classroom. She eventually left the classroom to become a consultant and a BCBA. If you’re a new BCBA, Rachel recommends that you always ask questions and be open to learning. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is important to be successful in the fiel...2022-01-2529 minThe How to ABA Podcast7 ABA Strategies We Use (Or Don't Use!) in Our Homes with Shira and ShaynaToday, we’re going to be talking about ABA principles that we use in our homes. In addition to being professionals, we’re also moms. It’s so interesting how much we can learn from our kids and how they help us to become better BCBAs. Non-contingent reinforcement works really well with kids, letting them know that not everything in the household needs to be earned. Scheduling, predictability, and expectations are key. Laying down the family ground rules and consistently reinforcing them goes a long way. If your follow-through isn’t consistent, it creates an environment of intermit...2022-01-1834 minThe How to ABA PodcastA Conversation with an RBT - Tamar FinkelsteinTamar Finkelstein is an RBT who recently finished school and is working in the field. What brought her to the field was her own diagnosis of autism when she was two. Her mother got her involved in early intervention and because of that, she’s had a life full of opportunities. Getting into ABA was sort of like a “thank you”, as well as the chance to share the impact it’s had on her with others. The biggest obstacle she’s encountered so far was not doing more research in the beginning. Being eager to get started ca...2022-01-1117 minThe How to ABA PodcastOur Plans for 2022 With Shira & ShaynaAs December comes to a close, we’re spending a lot of time planning for 2022. We’re really excited about some new initiatives, and we wanted to share our plans! Our members have been fabulous, and we are so thankful for each and every one of you.The first thing we’re doing in the new year is a free, three-day ABA virtual event, coming up in February (the 8th through 10th). The pandemic has proven that virtual meetings work and it’s such a great way to get people together to share information. You’ll hear from exper...2022-01-0418 minThe How to ABA PodcastParenting with ABA with Leanne PageLeanne Page is a BCBA and the founder of Parenting with ABA, an organization that provides parents with ways to utilize ABA in their everyday lives with their children. She started her career in special education and became inspired to pursue ABA after working alongside a behavioral analyst in her classroom. Leanne moved overseas for a while and then became a full-time stay-at-home mom after returning to Texas. After joining some mommy groups, she was shocked at how many parents were using punishment techniques and jumped at the opportunity to start sharing ABA techniques as an alternative. Leanne also...2021-12-1427 minThe How to ABA PodcastSupervision Reimagined with Nicole StewartNicole Stewart is a BCBA and the co-founder of Supervision Reimagined, an organization that’s committed to standardizing supervisory best practices for the field. Nicole started her career as a behavioral analyst and a certified special education teacher. She went on to become a clinical director at a private placement group and she is now a full-time entrepreneur. Supervision Reimagined is working to reduce the barriers that restrict access to effective BCBA supervision. Nicole herself has supervised over 100 people throughout her career and has seen new professionals come in at a wide range of experience levels. Having a standardized pr...2021-12-0738 minThe How to ABA PodcastTop 5 Things I Wish I Knew as a New BCBA with Shira and ShaynaIt’s our 25th episode! To celebrate, we thought we’d talk about the top five things we wish we knew when we were just starting out as newly minted BCBAs.It’s so important to be sensitive to the cultures of our families. Being mindful of cultural competency and where parents are coming from should always be a factor when developing treatment plans. Daily normal activities such as eating can have nuances that are culturally specific, and we should never assume a one-size-fits-all approach when working on skills. Being an open communicator with everyone we work with i...2021-11-3013 minThe How to ABA PodcastABA – Not Just for Autism with Latocia RobinsLatocia Robins is the owner of Auspice ABA Services in Louisiana. Her company provides services for individuals aged two to adult. Latocia’s vision came out of noticing a lack of services being provided to those in the school system who needed support but didn’t have an autism diagnosis. She uses ABA to help clients with mental disorders like ADHD and OD and provides services to those struggling with addiction. When treating adults with addictive behaviors, ABA offers a treatment solution that puts words into practice. Putting a plan together and taking small steps day by day will shap...2021-11-2327 minThe How to ABA PodcastBiggest Failures and Successes as a BCBA with Shira and ShaynaIn the How To ABA community, we’re always looking for ways to support each other. We decided to take some time to share some of our biggest failures to help others learn from our mistakes and perhaps do things differently. Shayna shares that one of her first-ever clients didn’t flourish under her leadership because she felt she had neglected one of his biggest interests. It was a missed opportunity to build up his motivation and today, she would have approached the situation from a different angle. Shira learned from a particular case that aligning with parents is more...2021-11-1619 minThe How to ABA PodcastStaff Training with Shira and ShaynaStaff training is an important part of our jobs. Whether you’re with supervisees, RBTs, or teachers, knowing your audience and having realistic expectations going into the training makes all the difference. Don’t assume that your audience knows as much as you do about the topic you’re presenting on and always start with what they understand. Set easy, attainable goals and consider using breakout groups to make things interactive. Adding video is another great way to mix things up and keep people engaged.Having your trainees walk away with handouts and visuals helps make things concre...2021-11-0915 minThe How to ABA PodcastMaking Improvement to ABA Supervision with Angie PickeringAngie Pickering lives in Portland, OR, and has a lot of interesting things going on. She started her career as a typical 9-to-5 clinic-based ABA in 2006 and has watched the field evolve over the years. Angie sees ABA as being in a sort of reflective period and moving towards more client-centered care, which is exciting. Six months ago, she decided to take a leap and started her own consulting business. Angie delivers focused training for staff at various clinics and teaches at Portland State University. She also offers remote supervision services as well, and she encourages our listeners to...2021-11-0224 minThe How to ABA PodcastNon-profit Organization for ABA and Other Services with Chris CollinsChris Collins is an RBT and the founder of ABAid Suncoast, a non-profit organization in Florida that helps remove barriers to entry into treatment for autism. Chris had a desire to create something that would offer direct support to clinics and provide financial assistance to families for diagnostics and treatment options. There are many children who can benefit from ABA services but because they don’t have an official diagnosis, insurance won’t cover their treatment, forcing families to pay out of pocket. Chris partners with treatment organizations in his community who refer families to him that are a good...2021-10-2625 minThe How to ABA Podcast5 Daily Habits with Shira and ShaynaWe received such amazing feedback on our burnout episode that we decided to do a follow-up based on our top five daily habits. Simple things like waking up early or carving out five to ten quiet minutes each day to yourself can make a huge difference in your day. Activities like exercise, enjoying dinner with family, and a daily gratitude practice are non-negotiables for us. Schedules and to-do lists also help us effectively move through the day and we each do them a bit differently. There’s no one way to create daily habits, as each of us...2021-10-1919 minThe How to ABA PodcastCultural Sensitivity with Rosa CasaliBCBA Rosa Casali has been practicing ABA for 13 years and is the founder of Behavior Solutions Inc. Her firm provides in-home care for families in the Miami area. Rosa has a master’s degree in mental health counseling and fell in love with ABA after taking an advanced course in the subject. She knew she wanted to help children and their families and becoming a BCBA was a hands-on way of doing so. Miami is a melting pot of cultures and Rosa’s been able to learn from people of all kinds of backgrounds. Different ethnicities approach autism and disa...2021-10-1228 minThe How to ABA PodcastValues-Based ABA with Tammy KaiserTammy Kaiser is an RBT with a master’s degree in Jewish education. She’s planning on taking the BCBA exam in the spring and is also working on her Doctor of Science in Jewish studies. Tammy’s goal is to use her diverse background to look at the world of ABA through a lens of faith-based values. As a survivor of a mass shooting, Tammy also had to recover from a traumatic brain injury and PTSD. When she learned about ABA at a previous job, she realized that she had a unique perspective and mindset that could greatly benefi...2021-10-0531 minThe How to ABA PodcastBCBA Turned Life Coach with Sonya MacCrimmonSonya MacCrimmon is a life coach with a background in ABA. She made her way into ABA after her university program in psychology. Part of her curriculum included a learning disabilities course which piqued her interest and led her to a summer camp job, working with special needs children. Sonya worked as a BCBA at an agency for five and a half years and made her way into a supervisory position. Going through the pandemic made her think more about her own personal development and mindfulness, eventually leading her to become a certified life coach.Sonya uses...2021-09-2831 minThe How to ABA PodcastBook Recommendations with Shira and ShaynaWe’ve read so many books throughout our careers that we’d love to share with our audience. Below is a shortlist of recommended reading within this episode that can help you become a better BCBA. We’d also love to know what’s on your bookshelf, so make sure to connect with us and share!— Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism (Catherine Maurice, Gina Green, et al.) — A Work in Progress (Ron Leaf) — Early Start Denver Model (Sally J. Rogers and Geraldine Dawson) — The Behavior Code (Jessica Minahan and Nancy Rappaport, MD) — Beyond Behavi...2021-09-2113 minThe How to ABA PodcastBCaBA in an International School in Jamaica with Patricia WilliamsPatricia Williams is a BCaBA from Jamaica and a longtime member of How to ABA. She works in an international school on the island and began her career as a high school teacher. After observing students in her classes with behavioral issues, she studied special education and began using the techniques she learned. Patricia eventually began her own private school, with many parents enrolling their autistic children there because it poses fewer challenges than the regular school system. She also just completed her master’s degree in education, which compliments her behavioral knowledge very well.Caribbean culture te...2021-09-1435 minThe How to ABA PodcastServing Rural Communities with Jeremy Brown and Jacqueline Thweatt-BurtonJeremy Brown (Executive Director) and Jacqueline Thweatt-Burton (Assistant Director) of Certified Behavior Health Services serve rural areas across the states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Demand for services is high in these areas and it can be a challenge for practitioners due to long drive times to and from clients. Most of their work within the community is in-home, and the parents are grateful to be able to have access to professionals. The biggest hurdles for Jeremy and Jacqueline are that their states were some of the last to pass reform laws and that their clients don’t...2021-09-0731 minThe How to ABA PodcastHow to Prevent BurnoutThe BCBA field can be very demanding, especially when you’re first starting out. If you’re not managing your time properly or creating healthy boundaries, you can easily find yourself heading towards burnout. Fortunately, there are plenty of steps you can take to ease the overwhelm so that you have the energy to do your job well and make the most of your downtime.Learning how to say “no” is an important skill to develop. It can be hard to turn down opportunities, especially with clients who may want to continue with you after the end of your...2021-08-3112 minThe How to ABA PodcastBridging the Gap with Summer MingoSummer Mingo is the cofounder of South Georgia Behavior Associates. She started her career in marketing and PR and realized she was uninspired by it. Someone close to her received ABA services when they were younger, and she decided to pursue a profession where she knew she could have a positive impact on her community. Summer’s practice focuses on building systems and environments around a family’s lifestyle and involves them heavily in their service model. They plan for generalization and individualization right from the start.After experiencing some sensory issues, Summer sought out a therapist and...2021-08-2435 minThe How to ABA PodcastEarly Intervention and Parental Support with Lisa CvetnichEarly childhood intervention specialist and BCBA Lisa Cvetnich work with children from birth to age 3. After finishing her undergraduate education, she began working in a preschool program for children with emotional and behavioral disorders. Lisa then obtained a master’s degree in early childhood/special education and got her ABA certification in 2016. Her advice for teachers who are just starting out is to not be afraid to ask for help when you don’t have the answers and to know the ethical code inside and out.When Lisa does her first home visit with a family, she obse...2021-08-1735 minThe How to ABA PodcastA Parent’s Perspective with Vidya BanerjeeVidya Banerjee is the mother of an autistic teenager. At 18 months, she noticed her son was no longer hitting his milestones and experiencing some behavior regression. During a visit to the US, Vidya’s mother-in-law suggested that they seek out information on autism. Although it would take about a year to get an official diagnosis, Vidya and her husband learned all that they could. Her advice to parents is to seek out professional advice as soon as you can, because the sooner you’re able to accept the situation, the sooner you can get on the road to helping your...2021-08-1029 minThe How to ABA PodcastCultural Competency (Portuguese) with Ashley CabralOne of the challenges we can face as BCBAs is a difference in culture between us and the families we work with. We can also sometimes encounter language barriers. Ashley Cabral is a BCBA from Massachusetts who works at an in-home agency, primarily with Portuguese-speaking clients. As a bilingual BCBA, she’s able to help her families navigate through a new diagnosis in the language they know best.The biggest gap when working with culturally diverse clients is access to information. Much of the material on autism and developmental disabilities is written in English, so it’s impo...2021-08-0328 minThe How to ABA PodcastHer Personal Journey with Dayna ParkerDayna Parker is the Director of ABA at Peak Behavioral Health, a multidisciplinary clinic in Oklahoma. Her journey is inspiring and relatable to those of us in the field who know things don’t always come easy. Starting out in elementary education, she later changed her major to special education after getting an opportunity to work with an autistic boy from her church. Dayna then went on to pursue her master’s degree and struggled to get the hours needed for BCBA certification. Having moved from Las Vegas to Oklahoma, opportunities were few and far between. She even resulted in c...2021-07-2741 minThe How to ABA PodcastSupporting Adults with ASD with Jaime SantanaIn today’s episode of How To ABA, we’re talking to Jaime Santana, owner of Santana Behavioural Services. We were so excited to chat with him because he knows so much about caring for adults. We talk about how important it is to focus on these services since most of what’s available are geared towards children.We discuss the need for a shift in focus from generalized instruction towards skills training specific to each person’s environment. It’s important to get adults to a place of independence. Doing things with them in places like their gym...2021-07-2032 minThe How to ABA PodcastUsing ABA in a Preschool Classroom with Farrah BensonToday we are talking with Farrah Benson, a BCBA and preschool teacher, from her classroom in South Carolina. Farrah has a lot to share about the importance of ABA in the classroom and what she and teachers like her can do to make that happen.Embedding ABA into the classroom is all about blending it into daily activities. Farrah gives us some great examples of how she does this in her day to day. Working with 3-year-olds, she has to make sure ABA is worked in simultaneously and not relying on table time exercises. She shares how...2021-07-1337 minThe How to ABA PodcastWorking with a Multidisciplinary Team with Katerina SavinoToday, we are talking with a guest, Katerina “Kat” Savino. As a BCBA working in a multidisciplinary clinic and as a mentor to future BCBA’s with Simmons University, Kat has a lot of advice and insight to share. Her background started very similar to Shira’s, moving into ABA from Special Education, she notes how impactful that background has been on her career as a BCBA.As a former Special Education teacher, Kat has worked with multiple disciplines since early on in her career, giving her the opportunity to see the benefits and struggles of this approach...2021-07-0626 minThe How to ABA PodcastAbout Us: Shira KarpelWe’re back, and we are highlighting How to ABA’s other half, Shira. Shira is sharing what brought her to the field of ABA and the journey of creating How to ABA, as well as advice for fresh BCBA’s.I (Shira) started off on a not so straight path in my career. I was very interested in working with kids and early interventions, but the options out there just weren't for me. After leaving a physical therapy program, I began a master’s in Special Education and became a teacher. After so many experiences with hard-to...2021-06-2925 minThe How to ABA PodcastAbout Us: Shayna GauntWelcome to the second episode of How to ABA! Today, we start off with a spotlight on Shayna, and we hear a little bit about her background and start in ABA, where she is now, as well as some practical tips she has for new BCBAs. I (Shayna) have been a BCBA since 2005 but I’ve been working in the field of ABA since 1997. After graduating in 1997 with a degree in psychology, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I ended up getting a job in sales and marketing, but it wasn’t long before I found...2021-06-2126 minThe How to ABA PodcastIntro to How to ABA PodcastHello and welcome! We are Shira and Shayna and we are so excited to bring you our first podcast episode of How to ABA! We are both BCBAs with over twenty years of experience, and as you can imagine, we have created and gathered so many resources in that time. We want to share them with you! That’s why we are here, and that’s why we created this podcast. If you are new to the world of ABA, are looking for new resources, or just looking for a fresh perspective, you’re in the right place!What...2021-06-1709 min