ABA on Tap

Send us Fan Mail The brew continues in Joint Attention Part II. Mike and Dan review research on the correlation between joint attention, imitation, language development (verbal/vocal behavior) and play. From this, they focus on a specific research-based method designed to promote joint attention--namely following a point (both proximal and distal) as well as gaze shift, then leading others with po...

Send us Fan Mail Better late than never,  Mike and Dan kick off the 3rd season of ABA on Tap. Thank you all out there for your continued support and listenership. In an effort to advance the 'lab to living room' approach, Mike and Dan give a historical account of their current practices in early intervention. Given that these particular programs take a 'preventative' edge in th...

Send us Fan Mail Mike and Dan discussed collaboration with SLP and OT. Now they explore current and prospective efforts with psychiatric care, use of medication from said psychiatric care, as well as future efforts in primary medical care, an 'off-label' use of ABA, per the current treatment model. ABA provision and related data could easily provide a wealth of information to treatment w...

Send us Fan Mail Behavior encompasses a wide range of activity from talking, to moving around to just about anything that makes us animate as human animals. Yet ABA is often quickly boiled down to the 'bad behavior' science, addressing the tantrums, excessive crying, dropping to the ground, self-injurious behavior, etc. This general overview can be so pervasive that we can easily forget...

Send us Fan Mail "Let's make some visuals" or "that child would benefit from sensory" are two commonly heard phrases in ABA intervention yet they sound strange and overall lack meaning. In this episode, Mike and Dan take time to explore technologies like 'sensory,' 'visuals', social stories, tangible/edible reinforcement and more. These technologies wer...

Send us Fan Mail Ready to learn more and engage in philosophic doubt, Mike and Dan take on a recent opinion published by the well-known education writer, Alfie Kohn. Kohn lends an eloquent criticism of ABA, pointing to recent meta-analyses that aim to question, if not eliminate, any socially significant effects and benefits of ABA-based interventions, as used with individuals with Autism Spectrum...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Season 2 of ABA on Tap--Happy New Year! Mike and Dan jump right back in where they left off. Following the natural progression and discussion thus far, they happen upon differential reinforcement in order to promote a more multivariate application of ABA than seems the norm. Given the perpetuation of 3-part contingencies, the so-called ABCs of behavior, ABA in practice...

Send us Fan Mail The brew continues to mature as Mike and Dan evolve the discussion naturally into the next flavor, antecedent based strategies. Given ABA has been driven largely by a consequence base, the discussion leads into how to prepare for certain behaviors ahead of time, knowing they are actively being emitted. The idea becomes not to preempt or avoid the behavior, but to prepare for it in...

Send us Fan Mail After entertaining Chloe's criticisms and doing so seriously, Dan and Mike take a chance to explore ABA clichés--all those little overused misconceptions and stereotypes we hear out in our daily work about why ABA doesn't work. All the while, ABA touts empirical validation. How do we reconcile  between what is proven and the possibility of user-error--how does ABA work f...

Send us Fan Mail Dan and Mike take time to reflect further on criticisms of ABA as lent by Chloe Everett in her TedTalk, The Problem with Applied Behavior Analysis (https://youtu.be/pCqEb0aG7tg). More importantly, in part II of this episode, they respond on said criticisms. Lastly, future directions and changes to ABA practice are discussed, from the lab to the living room. Sit back, relax, enjoy...

Send us Fan Mail While ABA rightfully touts empirical validation, social validity may not always reflect as strongly. One need not go further than Google to find a plethora of harsh criticism against ABA. Such a vocal critic is found in Chloe Everett and her TEDTalk entitled "The Problem with Applied Behavior Analysis" (https://youtu.be/pCqEb0aG7tg). Chloe is a well-spoken young woman wh...

Send us Fan Mail ABA on Tap excitedly welcomes our first guest ever to the podcast. Kadi Jones is a longtime practitioner and licensed BCBA residing and working in Arizona. Unlike some practitioners in California (e.g., your esteemed hosts Mike and Dan), Kadi has been practicing as usual throughout the entire pandemic thus far, delivering in-home ABA services and adapting essential safety paramete...

Send us Fan Mail As people prepare to re-enter the workplace, having been 'sheltered-in-place,' ABA professionals, educators and parents alike are compelled to consider the past 4 months. What have we learned? Prior episodes have examined the exciting advancements made for our understanding of 'TeleHealth' as it pertains to ABA, especially as surfaced by quarantine. So as we co...

Send us Fan Mail After several weeks of working with parents and clients alike, all under quarantine, Dan and Mike offer points of relief for listeners learning to balance several roles under one roof. Specifically, today's pour is rich with redefining ingredients in our day to day routines and schedules. In order to soon arrive at a smooth and successful 'finish' to the day, parent...

Send us Fan Mail Quarantine, or perhaps more accurately stated 'shelter in place,' has certainly put a new spin on our daily lives, to phrase it mildly. We find ourselves taking stock and placing new value on every day stimuli. In this episode, Mike and Dan work to redefine 'screen time' for parents now contending with school content, as well as for professionals considering as...

Send us Fan Mail In only their second published episode, Mike Rubio and Daniel Lowery are compelled to deal with quarantine and the current COVID-19 circumstance as they keep their distance and connect remotely. They posit many topics for discussion and consideration, covering new 'levels of service' in ABA during this era of social distancing, as well as suggesting many themes for futur...

Send us Fan Mail Mike and Dan take you back to the beginning of ABA on Tap to share a studio out-take not published at the time of production. After some review, they have decided the information in this previously unreleased episode needs to be heard. In "More than MORE ", a thorough discussion regarding the use of some 'starter' verbal behaviors like signing 'more',...