The How to ABA Podcast

Vidya 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 child.Vidya’s advice to a BCBA or practitioner would be to first make sure you’re creating a strong bond with the child. If they get along with you, they’re more willing to learn and succeed. Also, involving the parents as much as possible is important, as consistency across home, school and therapy is a major factor in a child’s progress. As a parent, you can never ask too many questions and you want to make sure you and your child’s support team are always on the same page. Taking things a step further, Vidya went through a 3-year school program where she learned speech, occupational, and ABA therapy. This really enabled her to truly become her son’s best advocate, knowing that the more informed she was would directly benefit her son. Vidya recently started a podcast called Autism Family Story, where she shares information to help other parents on this journey.What's Inside:Vidya’s story of being a mom to an autistic son and becoming a therapist herself.Advice for practitioners on how to best work with parents and children.Why it’s important to involve parents as much as possible.Mentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.comHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramAutism Family Podcast

One 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 important for BCBAs to put themselves in their client’s shoes. Ashley spends a lot of her time translating information into her families’ native language. Even if a BCBA only speaks English, families always appreciate when you can be a human first. Having a genuine interest in your client’s culture, being sensitive to their norms and traditions, and making sure parents are present to observe in sessions with their children are all ways to help bridge the communication gap. Working in a client’s home is the best way to really absorb their culture, and families feel more empowered when you can truly connect with them.   What's Inside:How to help clients navigate information when English isn’t their native language.Ways to connect with your clients if you don’t speak their language.Why making an effort to understand culture makes a big impact.Mentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.comHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram Autism Speaks 

Dayna 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 cold calling professionals to make connections.After finding the sponsorship she needed, Dayna landed her first BCBA job, only to found out that her sponsoring supervisor wasn’t properly credentialed. This meant that most of the hours she accrued now were useless! Instead of giving up, she was able to access the reinforcement she needed to remind herself why this work meant so much to her. She’s made her way into her current director-level position, despite all of life’s twists and turns. Although Dayna’s work now is more operational and administrative than hands-on, being able to empower the BCBAs she works with is extremely rewarding.Dayna’s resilience is really something to be admired. She gave us great advice on what to do when you reach a point of burnout and reminded us that we can’t pour from an empty cup. It’s important to lean on encouraging friends and family, take the time to step back, and seek counseling when appropriate. The path to becoming a BCBA can be a challenging journey, but Dayna is so glad she kept her eye on the prize and never gave up. What's Inside:Dayna’s personal account of what it was like to become a BCBA.What to do when challenges arise during the certification process.Why it’s important to take time to nurture yourself when you’ve reached burnout.Mentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.comHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

In 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, grocery store, and work is way more beneficial for adults since we’re preparing them for life instead of the classroom.Jaime touches on a big gap in caring for adults, and that’s sexuality and self-care. Adults who aren’t well-equipped in these areas can leave themselves susceptible to abuse. It’s not always easy to get parents on board with making sure these skills are solid when their kids reach adulthood, so it’s important to meet them with empathy and compassion. We wrap up by talking to Jaime about some of his favorite ABA resources and go into why Pat McGreevy’s “Essential for Living” should be on every practitioner’s list. We loved having Jaime on the show, and he’s making such a great impact on the way we care for adults.What's Inside:The gaps in adult care and where we should be focusing.Why independence is so important.Ways to get parents to reinforce skills to set kids up for adult success.Using “Essential for Living” as a resource.Mentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.comSantana Behavioural ServicesEssential for LivingHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

Today 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 she makes circle time a time for ABA in a fun way!When listening to Farrah’s strategies to use ABA in the classroom, we realized that best practice teachers are already doing these things, and they just aren't realizing it. BCBAs out there may think that it's ABA or education, but when you're doing it right, ABA IS education. We talk together about how we can take tools and resources teachers are already using to reinforce ABA strategies.We also touch on some differences teachers without a background in ABA might have when working with a BCBA. Farrah gives us some easy solutions and personal experiences on these tough things like collecting data, over prompting and working with families. She proves that it doesn’t have to be fancy, just doable.As a BCBA and a teacher, Farrah has a unique perspective, and she shares some advice for fellow BCBA teachers as well as newly minted BCBAs. She emphasizes something we keep touching on, and that is to never stop learning. No matter where you are in your career, keep asking questions. Whether you’ve been practicing for many years or are just starting out, you don’t know it all, and it's okay to lean on your community of professionals. Meeting with BCBAs and other professionals like Farrah gives us the opportunity to keep learning and to share with others these new ideas, perspectives, and resources!What's Inside:Guest Farrah Benson.ABA and Education.Embedding ABA into the classroom.Advice for new BCBAs.Mentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.comHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

Today, 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. She shares with us what seem to be the biggest hurdles when working with a multidisciplinary team, including finding that other specialties may feel more dominant and also apprehensiveness to new ideas.However, we talk about how new ideas can be one of the best parts of working in a team of multiple disciplines. Kat emphasizes that regardless of your work setting, clinic or private, creating a network of various services is so important, whether it to be to learn from or reach out to for cases and situations outside your professional scope.We also outline and advise you on how to deal with different approaches and different opinions when creating a plan for your clients with your team. Kat tells us how she maintains communication and makes compromises through the process.Throughout the episode, we are focusing on being open and being humble. These attitudes are key when taking on a multidisciplinary approach. Kat also gives us her best advice, an important way of thinking she has picked up along her career journey, to be a lifelong learner. As a BCBA working on a multidisciplinary team, it's important to be confident and know your stuff, but also learn from others. We remind you that in every aspect of this field, whether it be with your team or with a specific client, it is about what you are doing now, not what you were doing before.What's Inside:Multidisciplinary Team.Networking to create a team beyond your professional scope.Plans to maintain communication with your team.How to deal with different approaches and opinions.Mentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.comHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

We’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-reach children and the professionals around me unable to help, I wanted to do more. A family member told me about ABA and connected me with Shayna. After getting a ton of resources for her, I did all I could and was excited about the field. After a lot of volunteering and soaking up information about ABA, I gave birth to my third child and was able to find a job with a family, where I again reconnected with Shayna. It was then she pushed me to become a BCBA. I had three children under 5, and I was still working and pursuing my BCBA all the same time, receiving it in 2014. Throughout my early time as a BCBA I’ve worked as a home-based consultant, and now I am the director of behavior services for a private school where we have really merged ABA and education. As I kept working with Shayna, I was always so amazed by her ability to write these programs. It took me back to discovering the field and not knowing anything and having to search all over the place for information and resources. We knew we needed to share these tools and in 2017 we started How to ABA. On our main blog, we share our unique resources and programs with our members to benefit our professional community.I think it is so important to broaden the scope of ABA and make it more accessible for all of our caregivers and teachers. If you’re a new BCBA out there, be open-minded and try all of the resources you can. To achieve good ABA, just keep learning, keep trying new things, be fun, and be prepared.What's Inside:About Host Shira Karpel What is ABA?Making ABA more relevant and accessible.The importance of unique resources and approaches.Merging ABA and Education.Mentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.comHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

Welcome 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 that it wasn’t for me. I really needed to find something different but wasn’t sure what career would be good for me. While away at a friend’s cottage, I was talking with her aunt about my dilemma and how I was looking for a new field, and she asked me if I’d ever heard of autism or ABA. This sounded like something I would love to be involved with, so I applied for a volunteer position with ABA, which turned out to be a paid position. I absolutely loved what I was doing and really saw an impact on the children I was working with. I eventually became the director of another ABA program but didn’t get a master’s degree in it until later. After getting my master’s I’ve been a private consultant, working in people’s homes, and now I have a social skills center that also does one-to-one therapy. I really try to keep things simple when working with children and their parents. The most important thing at the end of the day is that kids are progressing and learning. My best advice for a new BCBA is to keep your enthusiasm and be confident. We need to be compassionate to our patients as well as their parents, and we need to remember that we are doing ABA to try and improve lives and give our patients the life skills they need to be successful. What’s Inside:The importance of really getting in there and being hands-on as a BCBA. Our main goals as BCBAs.What do parents need more than anything? Practical ABA resources.Mentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.comEarly Start Denver ModelBook: Early Start Denver ModelBoardmakerHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

Hello 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 is How to ABA? We provide real, practical ABA support and resources. We have program materials and curriculum that we’ve put together that we are here to share with you. Our goal with the How to ABA podcast is to bring the ABA community together so we can collaborate and share our knowledge and resources with each other. Our focus is on providing practical resources for everyday use. As practitioners dealing with patients every day, practical resources are essential. How can we learn from each other? How can we help each other and collaborate? This is the goal of How to ABA. We share resources through our blog, our YouTube channel, and our various social media, as well as our monthly membership. We want to hear from you! What would you like to hear about? What ideas do you have? What kind of ABA professional would you like to hear from? Let us know about it! We are all about community and sharing the resources we’ve gathered. Welcome. We are so glad you are here. What’s Inside:What does our monthly membership include?Who can benefit from joining our community?Mentioned In This Episode:Our blog!How to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram