ABA Inside Track

Post-pandemic school attendance issues are soaring, with many students opting out entirely. The discussion dives into the complexities of school refusal, emphasizing the role of parents in understanding their children's fears. Behavior analysts are called to navigate the challenges of chronic absenteeism, exploring the socio-emotional factors at play. Innovative treatment strategies and comprehensive data collection are essential for addressing these problems. Collaboration among parents, schools, and analysts emerges as key to fostering effective solutions.

Boo! Welcome to the spookiest bunch of episodes about behavior analysis that you ever did see. First, we trick your podcast feed with a recording of our presentation at last year’s Thompson Center conference all about school attendance problems. After that, it’s guests, guests, guests as we talk with Dr. Erin Leif about promoting client rights, talk with Dr. Cory Whelan about conducting skill based treatment, and then respond to BCBA ethical questions with Shayna Gaunt and Shira Karpel from “How to ABA”. And an update on behavior analysis from around the globe. Well, from Australia, Canada, and Massachusetts at least. Plus: the return of the Beer-haviorist! Articles for October 2024 Promoting Client Rights w/ Dr. Erin Leif Leif, E.S., Subban, P., Sharma, U., & Fox, R. (2023). “I look at their rights first”: Strategies used by Australian behaviour support practitioners’ to protect and uphold the rights of people with disabilities. Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders. doi: 10.1007/s41252-023-00355-0 Leif, E.S., Fox, R.A., Subban, P. & Sharma, U. (2023). ‘Stakeholders are almost always resistant’: Australian behaviour support practitioners’ perceptions of the barriers and enablers to reducing restrict practices. International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 69, 66-82. doi: 10.1080/20473869.2022.2116908 Skill-Based Treatment w/ Dr. Cory Whelan Slaton, J.D, Davis, M., DePetris, D.A., Raftery, K.J., Daniele, S., & Caruso, C.M. (2024). Long-term effectiveness and generality of practical functional assessment and skill-based treatment. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 57, 635-656. doi: 10.1002/jaba.1090 Rajaraman, A., Whelan, C.J., Jessel, J., & Gover, H.C. (2024). Promoting safety while addressing dangerous behavior via Telehealth: A clinical case investigation serving the family of an autistic adolescent living in India. Clinical Case Studies. doi: 10.1177/15346501241243103 (ETHICS) Discussing Ethical Scenarios w/ How To ABA Britton, L.N., Crye, A.A., & Haymes, L.K. (2021). Cultivating the ethical repertoires of behavior analysts: Prevention of common violations. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 14, 534-548. doi: 10.1007/s40617-020-00540-w Glodowski, K.R., Hockenberry, N.L., Anthony, D., & Hinckley, C. (2024). Disseminating ethical applied behavior analysis within a human-service organization: A tutorial. Behavior Analysis in Practice. doi: 10.1007/s40617-024-00966-6 Zayac, R.M., Van Stratton, J.E., Ratkos, T., Williams, M., Geiger, A., & Paulk, Amber. (2021). A preliminary assessment of the qualities and behaviors of exemplary practitioners: Perspectives from U.S.-based behavior analysts. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 14, 342-351. doi: 10.1007/s40617-020-00522-y BONUS: Why behavior analysts should study attendance: The example of school refusal. Parry-Cruwys, R., Parry-Cruwys, D., MacDonald, J. (2023, September 14-15). Why behavior analysts should study attendance: The example of school refusal [Conference presentation]. Thompson Center for Autism Conference 2023. St. Charles, MO, United States.

Explore innovative approaches to workplace discipline that emphasize empathy and accountability. The discussion critiques traditional punitive measures while highlighting strategies for effective supervision. Light-hearted anecdotes about workplace antics provide a humorous contrast to serious topics. Key concepts from 'Discipline Without Punishment' are dissected, focusing on the importance of positive reinforcement and clear expectations. The episode also delves into practical performance management techniques and navigating difficult conversations to create a supportive work environment.

The conversation dives into the evolution of remote supervision in behavior analysis, highlighting challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The hosts explore the effectiveness of in-person versus virtual supervision methods, offering insights into participant preferences. Strategies to overcome barriers in telehealth supervision are discussed, emphasizing the importance of technology and communication. The episode also touches on measuring supervision effectiveness and wraps up with a light-hearted look at nostalgic pairings related to the theme.

This engaging discussion focuses on the essential soft skills needed for compassionate care in behavior analysis. Listeners learn about innovative training methods, like clicker training, to enhance relationship-building abilities. The challenges of teaching empathy and cultural humility are explored, along with effective strategies for supervision. Personal anecdotes illustrate the multifaceted nature of professional development, while research findings emphasize the importance of supportive training environments. Get ready to rethink how care is cultivated!

Oh, snap! It’s Supervision September! An entire month of episodes dedicated to improving our ability to supervise using the best behavior analysis and management trainings have to offer. Seriously, if you listen to every episode this month, you’ll meet your minimum bi-annual supervision CE needs! And this cycle, every supervision topic has NEVER BEFORE BEEN DISCUSSED (by us). We’re talking remote supervision. We’re talking compassionate care supervision. We’re talking discipline in supervision. PLUS the Girl’s Squad takes over with Rob still sick in bed. Articles for September 2024 Training Supervisees in Compassionate Care Practices Canon, L.F. & Gould, E.R. (2022). A preliminary analysis of the effects of clicker training and verbal instructions on the acquisition of relationship-building skills in two applied behavior analysis practitioners. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 15, 383-396. doi: 10.1007/s40617-021-00555-x Rohrer, J.L. & Weiss, M.J. (2023). Teaching compassion skills to students of behavior analysis: A preliminary investigation. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 16, 763-782. doi: 10.1007/s40617-022-00748-y Denegri, S., Cymbal, D., & Catrone, R. (2023). A multilevel framework for compassionate care in ABA: Approaches to cultivate a nurturing system. Behavior Analysis in Practice. doi: 10.1007/s40617-023-00828-7 Remote Supervision Simmons, C.A., Ford, K.R., Salvatore, G.L, & Moretti, A.E. (2021). Acceptability and feasibility of virtual behavior analysis supervision. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 14, 927-943. doi: 10.1007/s40617-021-00622-3 Sipila-Thomas, E.S. & Brodhead, M.T. (2024). A survey of barriers experienced while providing supervision via telehealth: Implications for future research and practice. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 17, 70-86. doi: 10.1007/s40617-023-00860-7 Ninci, J., Colic, M., Hogan, A., Taylor, G., Bristol, R., & Burris, J. (2021). Maintaining effective supervision systems for trainees pursuing a behavior analyst certification board certification during the COVID-19 pandemic. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 14, 1047-1057. doi: 10.1007/s40617-021-00565-9 Fronapfel, B.H. & Demchak, M. (2020). School’s out for COVID-19: 50 ways BCBA trainees in special education settings can accrue independent fieldwork experience hours during the pandemic. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 13, 312-320. doi: 10.1007/s40617-020-00434-x Discipline Without Punishment Book Club Grote, D. (2006). Discipline without punishment: The proven strategy that turns problem employees into superior performers (2nd edition). Amacom.

Despite strong evidence as to the efficacy of ABA services in supporting meaningful outcomes of clients across a number of relevant dimensions, do we actually know if the ABA service industry is actually any good? This week we dive into the paucity of research on measuring and developing quality ABA services and discuss whether the business of ABA is anywhere near as good as the science of ABA at solving meaningful problems. Hot take: It’s probably not! This episode is available for 1.0 LEARNING CEU. Patrons, don’t forget to get your code for a free CE for listening to this episode. Articles discussed this episode: Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2024). US employment demand for behavior analysts: 2010–2023. Littleton, CO: Author. Max, C. & Lambright, N. (2022). Board certified behavior analysts and school fidelity of applied behavior analysis services: Qualitative findings. International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 68, 913-923. doi: 10.100/20473869.2021.1926854 Silbaugh, B.C. & Fattal, R.E. (2022). Exploring quality in the applied behavior analysis service delivery industry. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 15, 571-590. doi: 10.1007/s40617-021-00627-y If you're interested in ordering CEs for listening to this episode, click here to go to the store page. You'll need to enter your name, BCBA #, and the two episode secret code words to complete the purchase. Email us at abainsidetrack@gmail.com for further assistance.

We just wanna say to you all tonight, we’re very, very grateful to be here. A lot of people told us that we’d never podcast about behavior analysis again and that's all we do. You know, if you live hard and play hard and you burn the candle at both ends, you pay the price for it. You know in this life you can lose everything that you love, everything that loves you." Now we don't hear as good as we used to, and we forget stuff. And we ain't as pretty as we used to be. But darn it, we’re still standing here and we’re "ABA Inside Track." You know as time goes by -- as time goes by, they say: "We’re washed up." “We’re finished.” “We’re losers.” “We’re all through.” You know what? The only one that's going to tell us when we’re through doing our thing is you people here. You people here -- You people here are the ones who are worth bringing it for because you're our family. We love all of you! Thank you so much! This episode is available for 1.0 LEARNING CEU. Articles discussed this episode: Vargo, K. & Brown, C. (2020). An evaluation of and preference for variations of the Good Behavior Game with students with autism. Behavioral Interventions, 35, 560-570. doi: 10.1002/bin.1740 Kemp, J. M., Ethridge, A. N., Richling, S. M., Drummond, C. Z., & Soto, J. A. (2024). Is “M&M therapy” a misnomer or a concerning truth? A descriptive analysis of the use of edible reinforcers in applied behavior analytic research. Behavioral Interventions, 39, online first publication. doi: 10.1002/bin.2005 Price, R. A., Martin Loya, M. R., Folkerts, R., & Haidar, B. S. (2024). The ethical landscape of behavior analysis forums on Reddit. Behavior Analysis in Practice, online first publication. doi: 10.1007/s40617-024-00921-5 If you're interested in ordering CEs for listening to this episode, click here to go to the store page. You'll need to enter your name, BCBA #, and the two episode secret code words to complete the purchase. Email us at abainsidetrack@gmail.com for further assistance.

UNLOCKED from our Patreon page, it’s the “Walden Two” Book Club! Interested in more Book Clubs? Want to vote on what we read next? Feeling FOMO at getting this a full year late? Wish your 2 CEs for listening to the episode were FREE??? Join us on Patreon to get all of our episodes a week early, access to these bonus episodes, plus other goodies. Are you mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore enough to move out to the country to a semi-anarcho-communist society where the prinicples of human behavior have created a utopia? Well, then you’ll probably enjoy our Summer 2023 discussion of B.F. Skinner’s novel, “Walden Two”. We talk for over two hours about the historical context, plot, and our impressions of this optimistic view of how behavior science might just be able to save the world from your own backyard. Plus, Rob makes a potentially groundbreaking discovery about Skinner’s comic-book collection. Come for the four-hour workdays, stay for the 50 amateur piano concertos! This episode is available for 2.0 LEARNING CEUs. Content discussed in this episode: Skinner, B.F. (1948). Walden two. Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. Altus, D.E. & Morris, E.K. (2009). B.F. Skinner’s utopian vision: Behind and beyond “Walden Two”. The Behavior Analyst, 32, 319-335. doi: 10.1007/BF03392195 Todd, R. (1970, March 15). Walden two: Three? Many more? The New York Times. If you're interested in ordering CEs for listening to this episode, click here to go to the store page. You'll need to enter your name, BCBA #, and the two episode secret code words to complete the purchase. Email us at abainsidetrack@gmail.com for further assistance. Want these CEs for FREE? Just subscribe to our Patreon at the $10+ levels and go to the original post for a discount code.

Feeling hot, hot, hot? Cool off with these refreshing topics! The Summer of Book Club comes to a close with our unlocked Walden Two discussion. Then we bring our beach party to a close just in time for a good, old-fashioned Grab Bag and our summer Listener Choice all about measuring quality of ABA as a service. Put them all together and do we find ourselves in a behavior analytic utopia or a dystopia? Articles for August 2024 (UNLOCKED) Walden Two Book Club Skinner, B.F. (1948). Walden two. Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. Altus, D.E. & Morris, E.K. (2009). B.F. Skinner’s utopian vision: Behind and beyond “Walden Two”. The Behavior Analyst, 32, 319-335. doi: 10.1007/BF03392195 Todd, R. (1970, March 15). Walden two: Three? Many more? The New York Times. Grab Bag Summer Slam Vargo, K. & Brown, C. (2020). An evaluation of and preference for variations of the Good Behavior Game with students with autism. Behavioral Interventions, 35, 560-570. doi: 10.1002/bin.1740 Kemp, J. M., Ethridge, A. N., Richling, S. M., Drummond, C. Z., & Soto, J. A. (2024). Is “M&M therapy” a misnomer or a concerning truth? A descriptive analysis of the use of edible reinforcers in applied behavior analytic research. Behavioral Interventions, 39, online first publication. doi: 10.1002/bin.2005 Price, R. A., Martin Loya, M. R., Folkerts, R., & Haidar, B. S. (2024). The ethical landscape of behavior analysis forums on Reddit. Behavior Analysis in Practice, online first publication. doi: 10.1007/s40617-024-00921-5  (LISTENER CHOICE) Quality Control in the ABA Service Industry Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2024). US employment demand for behavior analysts: 2010–2023. Littleton, CO: Author. Max, C. & Lambright, N. (2022). Board certified behavior analysts and school fidelity of applied behavior analysis services: Qualitative findings. International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 68, 913-923. doi: 10.100/20473869.2021.1926854 Silbaugh, B.C. & Fattal, R.E. (2022). Exploring quality in the applied behavior analysis service delivery industry. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 15, 571-590. doi: 10.1007/s40617-021-00627-y