The How to ABA Podcast

ABA professionals play a significant role in helping individuals achieve their goals and improve their quality of life. 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 start out by defining professionalism, which goes beyond simply dressing well and having a fancy title. True professionalism is a wide range of attitudes, behaviors, ethical considerations, and more.One of the core ways of showing professionalism is to leave your personal problems at the door before you walk into a classroom or client’s home. We discuss how to identify and manage those times when you might need a break, as well as 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.  What’s Inside:The definition of professionalism and how it applies to ABA.How to maintain a professional appearance.How to set boundaries with coworkers and families.Mentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramEthical Compliance Code for Behavior AnalystsThe Bx Blueprint

The podcast discusses the importance of generalizing skills to different situations and people, along with maintaining those skills. Real-world examples and techniques are shared to ensure learners can apply skills in various contexts. Stimulus and response generalization, the definition of maintenance, and methods to encourage skill retention post-program completion are also covered.

Dive into the importance of measurement in ABA, focusing on effective data collection methods and analysis. Learn about the significance of baseline data, decreasing overwhelm, and choosing appropriate collection methods. Discover how data helps analyze problem behaviors, assess learning progress, and modify programs. Explore tips on analyzing and understanding data to make informed decisions in ABA practices.

Working with clients is only one aspect of our job. Communicating with parents and making sure they feel comfortable with us is another key skill to master. Here, we provide insights and guidance into how to do this effectively. The most communication with parents is typically through a paraprofessional, ABA therapist, teacher, or support staff. They have the most interaction with both students and parents, so it’s important that any messaging come across as caring and attentive. Even something as simple as starting off a conversation with something personal and positive makes a big difference.Asking parents about their communication preferences is key as well. Some parents prefer minimal communication, while others require more details and frequent touches. 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 why it’s important to keep your main focus on the student.What’s Inside:How to improve your communication with parents,How to set communication parameters and maintain a balance,The importance of communicating changes to scheduling and staffing,Mentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFree Parent Communication Log

RBTs, paraprofessionals, therapists, and aides all work with our learners every single day. We’re introducing a brand-new training course called the Bx Blueprint and it’s been created specifically for these roles. Onboarding new staff takes up a considerable amount of our time as ABA professionals and can often be overwhelming for both new hires and managers. However, our staff is our biggest resource, and we have to put the time in to train them properly.The Bx Blueprint includes everything you need for onboarding and beyond. New staff members want to learn and see their learners succeed but often don’t have the support. The Bx Blueprint eases the burden on BCBAs and walks new staff through all the common terminology and techniques used day to day. In the course, we cover the basics of ABA, including reinforcement, pairing, data collection, and teaching. In this episode, we also discuss who would benefit the most from our new program.What’s Inside:Why it’s so important to properly onboard new staffDetails on our new course, the Bx BlueprintWho benefits from the Bx BlueprintMentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

Tiny Guidry is the owner of Clinician with a Mission. We first connected with Tina during the pandemic, and we hosted a joint webinar together all about telehealth and setting ourselves up for success. She started her career back in the ‘90’s when she became an advocate for her son, who received a mood disorder diagnosis. Tina’s true passion is helping people with disabilities, specifically, mental health. She’s also published research along with some of her professors and eventually became “accidentally self-employed” as a consultant. Today, Tina’s focus is on clinical supervision, case consultations, leadership training, and mentorship. She’s always on the forefront of what’s next, and here, we chat with her about her passion for advocacy and how other people can find their place. We discuss values-based care and why it’s so important for BCBAs to master it. Tina also shares insights into her own business and how it’s growing, information on her membership program, and advice for new BCBAs and established professionals looking to branch out.We’re hosting an upcoming webinar with Tina called Diversifying Your Practice to Include School Contracts. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, September 20th at 12pm EST.  What’s Inside:How Tina built and grew a successful consulting career. Information on Tina’s membership program and our upcoming webinar.Advice for established professionals and new BCBAs.Mentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramClinician with a Mission websitetinaguidryBCBA@gmail.com

A high-quality ABA program treats clients with dignity and respect. Here, we cover how to make sure that we’re maintaining that dignity in ABA sessions. Simple gestures like knocking on a door before entering go a long way in helping clients feel comfortable and respected. The needs of our learners and clients always come first and we have to think about treating them the way we would want to be treated ourselves. We discuss client assent and getting consent from our clients as a way to maintain dignity and how to look for nonverbal cues that things are going well. As ABA therapists, we often teach kids basic life skills like dressing and toileting and these skills require respect for privacy and proper boundaries. We also talk about how to foster dignity within a classroom setting, how to use “televisibility” as a gauge for how our sessions go, how to discuss clients outside of work, and how to offer choices. What’s Inside:The importance of maintaining a client’s dignity.How to foster dignity in a classroom setting.How to discuss clients outside of work.Mentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

We recently sat down with Lisa Gelberman, the founder and creator of Literacy Decoded. For the first 15 years of her career, she taught in an elementary school and then went into special education. She became a resource teacher where she pulled kids out for specific subject areas, and she eventually started teaching an ASD community class. There, Lisa began her ABA journey, where she used techniques to help those in her class succeed. For the last four years, she’s been the principal at a school, therapy clinic, and camp for children with special needs.Lisa is a literacy specialist but felt she couldn’t get her students to learn to read as well as she knew they could. She began exploring different curricula and teaching practices, spoke to various professionals, and got additional certifications. Here, Lisa shares her experience with direct instruction and the Orton-Gillingham (OG) Approach and how she uses them with students. We also discussed how to use the OG approach with different types of learners, how Lisa used the OG approach with her son, and information on Lisa’s program, Literacy Decoded.What’s Inside:All about the OG Approach and how to use it with students.How to use the OG Approach with different types of learners.Information on Lisa’s program, Literacy Decoded.Mentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramLiteracy DecodedLiteracy Decoded on FacebookLiteracy Decoded on Instagraminfo@literacydecoded.com

Errorless teaching is an instructional strategy that ensures a student responds correctly. Here, we discuss why errorless teaching is important and how we can use it to benefit our learners. It’s essentially a way to prompt before a response so that an error is not made. In other words, the prompting happens right after the instruction, even before the learner can make any kind of response, so they get to the correct one.The goal here is to avoid having our learners practice errors so they get things right on the first try. The first step in the process is to establish a baseline to assess where the student is at and what they’re capable of. We provide some examples of what errorless teaching looks like and tips to help learners succeed. We also discuss how to choose the right prompt, why it’s important to make sure your prompt matches your SD, and how to fade prompts within sessions.What’s Inside:The importance of errorless teaching and how it benefits learnersHow to choose the right promptsHow to fade prompts while in sessionsMentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramVideo - Hierarchy of PromptingPrompt Hierarchy Definitions

Reinforcement is one of our most common and useful tools, and it’s just as important to know how to fade reinforcement. Reinforcement involves presenting a preferred item or activity that’s delivered after a positive response to increase the future likelihood of that response. One of the biggest misconceptions about reinforcement is that offering something to a learner will make them want it every time. The truth is that many reinforcements fade naturally or intentionally after a behavior is learned. Here, we dive into fading reinforcement through different schedules.Fading reinforcement is important because we want our learners to want to do things on their own. We discuss different types of reinforcement, including one-to-one and intermittent. As skills get mastered, we introduce new skills, so the introduction and fading of reinforcement is a continual process. Instead of using technical terms, we share examples of how you can fade reinforcement in the real world. Our conversation also includes tips on how to use behavior contracts and self-monitoring as well as how to naturally fade reinforcement in the classroom.What’s Inside:How to fade reinforcement through different schedules.Real world examples of how to fade reinforcement.How to naturally fade reinforcement in the classroom.Mentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramVideo – How to Use Reinforcement ProperlyFree Reinforcement Checklist