The How to ABA Podcast

Chris Topham is a behavior scientist and the owner of Celeration ABA. Along with his wife, who is also a BCBA, Chris founded Celeration ABA in 2020. At first, they mostly focused on supporting families through the COVID-19 pandemic by providing telehealth ABA and academic support while their children weren’t in school. Within a few years of launch, they’ve grown to become a profitable ABA company focused on delivering high-quality, personalized ABA to families in the San Francisco Bay Area.Here, Chris shares his background and how he became focused on precision-based teaching. He also shares how to use a celeration chart and walks through how to use it to measure manding. We also discuss celeration charts and fluency-based instruction, using precision-based teaching in task analysis, why Chris uses a one-tier model at Celeration ABA, and advice for those new to the field of ABA and precision teachingWhat’s Inside:How to use a celeration chartUsing precision-based teaching in task analysisWhy Chris uses a one-tier modelMentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramCeleration ABA WebsiteCeleration ABA on FacebookCeleration ABA on Instagram

Intraverbals are one of the most challenging concepts for our learners. They can also be the hardest to teach. Here, we cover some of the best ways to teach intraverbals so we can set our learners up for success. Ideally, we want our learners to have the comprehension and ability to hold information in their heads and answer questions correctly without visual support.We discuss why intraverbals are so important for conversation skills and the appropriate age at which to teach them. We talk about why we shouldn’t jump to teaching intraverbals too quickly and how to teach across operants. We also discuss how to be flexible in our teaching and how to incorporate WH and safety questions.What’s Inside:How to teach intraverbals to our learnersThe importance of intraverbals for conversation skillsHow to incorporate WH and safety questionsMentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

Dr. Peter Gerhardt is the Executive Director of Epic Programs in New Jersey. Dr. Shanna Bahry is the founder and executive director of Meaningful Hope. Dr. Gerhardt and Dr. Bahry us to discuss their experiences in the field and the gaps they see when it comes to setting up our learners for a successful, independent life. Together, they created a blueprint of how ABA practitioners can help the people they support make lasting, effective changes.Here, Peter and Shanna share their background and what ultimately led to their work to change how we cultivate independence in our learners. We discuss their book, Make It Meaningful and some of the key takeaways. We also discuss tips for talking to parents, the top three independence skills to teach, and creative workarounds to help learners master skills. What’s Inside:How Dr. Gerhardt and Dr. Bahry are working to change how we help our learners achieve independenceAll about Dr. Gerhardt and Dr. Bahry’s book, Make It MeaningfulCreative workarounds to help our learners master independence skillsMentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramBook: Make It MeaningfulMake It Meaningful Website

Functional communication and replacement language are important skills to work on with learners. Are you incorporating appropriate protests into these teachings? Here, we cover what appropriate protests are and some of the best ways to include this skill in our programs.We discuss the reasons why teaching protests is so important and how to break down our teaching into multiple steps. We also talk about the different ways to teach appropriate protesting, recording triggers, and how to teach learners how to tolerate situations where “no” isn’t an option.What’s Inside:How to incorporate appropriate protests into teachingsWhy it’s important to teach protests to our learnersDifferent approaches to teaching protestsMentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramAppropriate Protests Download

Leila Farshchian is the CEO of ABA Toolbox, a comprehensive practice management software system for agencies, schools, and private ABA practices that provide services to individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Leila is a Certified Special Educator and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst with over 27 years of experience working with children with autism and special needs. Since 1997, she has used ABA methods for the treatment of learners with ASD in school, home, and community settings. Leila has designed curricula, conducted workshops, counseled families, and directed small and large teams of educators to provide treatment in public schools and home settings. Here, Leila shares her career journey and how she ultimately came to create ABA Toolbox. She covers all of the features of the ABA Toolbox program, including data collection, onboarding, and more. We also discuss the importance of value-based care, how ABA Toolbox can help professionals overcome on-the-job challenges, and advice for newly minted BCBAs. On Thursday, November 12th, at 12pm EST, Leila is joining us on a webinar focused on value-based care. For more information and to sign up, head to our website!What’s Inside:How Leila developed ABA Toolbox and the problems it solvesDetails of our upcoming webinar with LeilaAdvice for new BCBAsMentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramABA ToolboxLeila Farshchian on LinkedIn

Let's face it, one-to-one ABA is awesome, but it's not realistic forever and ever. We really want our learners to start paying attention, responding and learning in group situations. Therefore, at some point we need to practice some whole group instruction. Here, we cover how to do it and how to come up with the best way to initiate and facilitate whole group instruction.In this discussion, we define whole-group instruction and talk about the benefits of choral responding. We also discuss why groups are so beneficial for younger kids, how to have more experienced learners model new skills, and how to incorporate direct instruction techniques.  What’s Inside:How to initiate and facilitate whole group instructionBenefits of choral respondingHow to incorporate direct instructionMentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramDirect Instruction Programs

In order for children to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks, they need good executive functioning skills. Many children with autism and other developmental delays lack these critical skills that come naturally to other kids. Here, we discuss how to teach executive functioning skills effectively to our learners. Executive functioning skills include time management, emotional control, working memory, and task initiation.When it comes to executive functioning, the earlier we can introduce these skills to our learners the better. We break down the various skills so they’re easier to teach. In many cases, we teach our kids valuable life skills, but it’s important to build in the foundation of executive functioning so they’re more successful. We also talk about visual and auditory memory, setting up the right situations to teach skills and introduce concepts, and more. What’s Inside:Examples of executive functioning skills and why they’re importantThe importance of including executive functioning when teaching basic life skillsHow to set up the right situations to teach skills and introduce conceptsMentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

Teachers have so much to manage in their roles. As BCBAs, how can we support them and gain their buy in without adding more to their plates? Here, we discuss the importance of respecting a teacher’s classroom and how to pair yourself with positive reinforcement. It’s also important to start small and identify something you can help them with as a quick win.We discuss how to incorporate a teacher’s values and what they want for their classroom. This will help you create meaningful goals. Our conversation also includes how to be mindful of your body language, how to incorporate an easy-to-follow data collection system, and why modeling strategies yourself helps obtain teacher buy in.What’s Inside:How to pair yourself with positive reinforcementHow to choose an easy-to-follow data collection methodWhy modeling strategies yourself creates buy-inMentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram

A member of our Bx Resource membership community raised a question about teaching receptive language skills, specifically receptive labels, as the strategies she tried weren’t working. Here, we cover how to teach receptive language skills and discrimination to our learners. We go over the steps to take when building a receptive language program, starting with finding things that are meaningful to our learners.We discuss the importance of teaching across categories and how to mix things up so our learners don’t get stuck. We also talk about how to customize programs for different types of learners and hacks we’ve used to overcome challenges. What’s Inside:How to teach receptive language skills The importance of teaching across categoriesHacks to overcome program challengesMentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramReceptive Labels Data Sheet

All ABA programs require us to take data, but what does that mean? The data we collect is only worth something when it’s properly analyzed. Once we have a program in place for our learners, it’s important to ensure that we’re using the information we collect to make data-based decisions. Here, we discuss how to make the best data-based decisions to achieve progress.When we look at data, we’re looking for trends so we can troubleshoot programs and ensure success for our learners. We also look at reasons why data is stagnant, including scheduling issues and consistency in running programs. Here, we touch on what to look for in the data so you get the full story. We also discuss how to ensure data collection accuracy.In last month’s CEU, we covered how to choose the right data collection method to uncover what we want to know. In October’s CEU, we’re doing a deep dive into how to supervise ABA programs and make data-based decisions. It will be held on Thursday, October 10th, at 12pm EST. Head to our website to sign up!What’s Inside:How to make data-based decisions to ensure progress How to analyze trends and identify issuesHow to ensure data collection accuracyMentioned In This Episode:HowToABA.com/joinHow to ABA on YouTubeFind us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramJoin Our Next CEU!