Function Junction:Behavior Matters

Laura picks up telling us about dyslexia.  She talks about things we look at as children get into late kindergarten or into first grade.  She says that looking at what they can write can tell us a lot.  She gives us information about decoding and encoding and that those are different skills.  Students can be able to do one and have difficulty with the other.  Have a listen.  We hope you gather new...

Laura Dowdy Northcutt is back, but this time she is talking with Susan and Cissy about dyslexia.  Laura is the director of Responsive Services for a Houston area school district and guides the dyslexia services.  Things are ever changing with dyslexia and you are bound to learn some new things through this conversation.  We appreciate you listening.  stay for the question at the end and be sure to...

Susan and Cissy continue their conversation with David Hays. In this episode, David gives tips about how to remain calm and safe when interacting with a child who is not emotionally regulated. He also talks about helping children (and adults) become more regulated. Have a listen about how visual supports can help students understand the natural consequences to their behavior! His experience with a...

David Hays has been a friend and colleague for decades. Although a bit of a winding road, his career started as a camp counselor before he found his way to special education. He then taught children with significant behavior support needs and retired as an assistant director to a large school district. In this conversation, David talks about the importance of remaining calm, gentle, kind, respectf...

Educators or therapists may be the expert on math, reading, strategies, etc., but parents are the experts on their child.  Cissy shares a story about a really fun student with an expert parent.  She learned as much from the parent as she did the student.  She and Susan talk about another student and the idea of keeping your word when you tell a student that you are going to give them a reward for...

Susan and Cissy continue their conversation with Mary Fitzgerald.  She gives great advice like watching peers of the same age as the individuals you are working with to see what makes for fun social activities.  Uno can be fun, but if no one in their school is doing that, we should do something else.  They also talk about the impact inclusion has had such that individuals with special needs partic...

Mary Fitzgerald is a master educator.  She has worked with school districts, educational service centers, and with business partners for many years making education better for many, many students.  In this conversation, she emphasizes the importance of presuming competence with students as we interact with them and around them.  In this first half of the conversation, she talks about a student who...

The conversation continues with Dr. Gray Atherton as she moves into a discussion of video games.  She talks about finding ways to incorporate similarities to video games in activities, but make the activities involve others and social interaction.  It could be games that create a "battle" with figurines or something like paintball.  She suggests trying to channel their interests into som...

Dr. Gray Atherton received her Ph. D. at the University of Houston, but is working at Edge Hill University in England now.  She is a professor and researcher interested  in many areas related to autism.  One especially interesting topic is anthropomorphism.  A simple explanation of this is when someone implies human characteristics to nonhuman things such as cartoons or animals.  She talks about h...

Susan and Cissy talk all the time about how behavioral concepts are involved in everything we do.  It is even involved when we make decisions about how to help ourselves with medical issues like hip pain.  Susan shares about the journey to getting a hip replacement.  From the way the doctor talks with her to the way she prepares herself for the surgery and even to the necessary things after the su...

Dr. Amanda Gray continues her conversation with Susan and Cissy about executive functioning.  You don't have to be on the spectrum to have executive functioning problems.   We have almost all had moments of executive dysfunction when hurried or under stress.  This could look like being late for an appointment because after an out of order kind of morning, you could not find your keys.  They t...

Amanda Gray is back!  She has a practice in the Dallas area called "Gray Area".  She helps individuals with ADHD and related challenges work on homework, study skills, and strategies that will help them at school and in life.  She talks with Susan and Cissy about Executive Functioning and working to find  what works.  This can be very individualized.  The skills needed may be the same su...

Susan shares about her day that started a little crazy and got crazier.  Having one of those days made her think about how important self-regulation is.  She related the importance of explicitly teaching self-regulation skills to students.  She talked about a student who yells, name calls, and hits furniture or the wall when upset.  The staff working with her have been doing a great job counting t...

Susan and Cissy continue their conversation with Dr. Todd Savage, former president of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) and international speaker.  He shares important information about warning signs for suicide.  He helps our listeners see the connection between school violence and suicidal ideation and attempts.  Being mindful of these behaviors can help school staff engage...

Susan and Cissy had the wonderful opportunity to talk with Dr. Todd Savage about school safety and crisis prevention as well as gender diversity.  Dr. Savage is a psychologist and professor who speaks nationally on these topics as well as culturally responsive practice and LGBTQ+ matters in education.  The statistics he shares about suicide should serve as a wake up call to us all.  He advocates f...

Cissy's husband, Joe, joins her on this episode to talk about the legend Toby Keith.  Joe has worked in the music business for a very long time and has had the opportunity to meet and speak with some of the greats.  He shares about a few of those people, but seeks to highlight the kind of person Toby Keith was.  They end with  more of a comment than a question talking about the behavioral asp...

Susan and Cissy continue their conversation with Michael Soria.  He uses his experience as a parent and educator to help families and schools create plans and find tools that will help students make progress.  He has a positive approach to help families have their concerns heard as well as positive ways to help educators reach students.  Have a listen and gather ideas about being heard in any kind...

Michael Soria is an educator who went from the classroom to other companies like Pearson, Touch Math, and PCI.  He has a passion for helping individuals with special needs achieve and be included.  He has been the father of two sons one of whom had autism.  He honors the memory of that son in Matthew's Corner.  He has started a company, IEP Curriculum and Consulting.  Through this company, he...

A year ago, Cissy talked about the fact that she did not finish the marathon at Disney World and how she wanted to have a redemption run. In this episode, Susan and Cissy talk about the ABA concepts behind trying for a comeback.  It is food for thought as we work with individuals with disabilities and setting goals for them that they may achieve or not.  It is important to consider why they were n...

Bryce Kaiser is back with Susan and Cissy to finish the rest of their conversation.  In this second half, he talks about some of the challenges supervisors face and how Hoom House has helped with those challenges.  He also talks about how he has helped people in fields that others may not think about ABA as being applied.  He has worked with a certified mermaid who is using ABA in her practice.  C...

Bryce Kaiser is one of the co-founders of Hoom House.  Hoom House started because Bryce and his co-founder (and wife) saw that those seeking ABA services were on long waiting lists for services.  They wanted to shorten the wait.  They started with providing ABA services online even before Telehealth became so popular.  They have expanded to connecting people pursuing supervision for their BCBA stu...

Susan and Cissy talk about finishing up 2023 and making plans for 2024.  They share some of their own goals for the coming year as well as ways to help reach those objectives.  The science of behavior analysis certainly comes into play when we try to learn or achieve something new.  They also reminisce about goals from the past and ways their own New Year's resolutions have morphed over time....

Susan and Cissy talk about holiday memories and the potential behavior concepts behind those memories.  Listen for the level of stimulus discrimination Cissy's Mom showed.  Also, listen for some magic Susan had one year. We hope you enjoy these stories of sweet times from the past.  There is not a question this week.  We want to be sure to thank Troy Payne for all the work he does for us gett...

Susan and Cissy continue their talk with Gary Moore of the nonPareil Institute.  He talks about some of the creative projects the crew from nonPareil have been responsible for.  They have done a great job teaching others about playing to their strengths.  The conversation is a reminder about how hard parents work for their children.  That work, for nonPareil, has turned into people from all over t...

Gary Moore, co-founder, President, and CEO of the nonPareil Institute, spends time talking with Cissy and Susan about his grassroots efforts with his co-founder, that set out to help their two sons and that has become a nationally known organization geared at supporting "Crew Members" in the areas of technology, soft skills, and social engagement. He is such an inspiration.