The How to ABA Podcast

Dr. Paul “Paulie” Gavoni is a renowned behavior scientist and leader and has significantly influenced human performance and organizational leadership for nearly 30 years. He’s a director at PCMA, a keynote speaker, and a WSJ and USA Today best-selling author. Specializing in organizational behavior management, Dr. Paulie addresses critical issues in education with a direct, solution-focused approa...

In school, we learned all about ABA theory and principles, but we may not have learned how to write individualized ABA programming. Many of us wind up in supervision or post supervision not knowing how to choose programs after an assessment and write them so students make real progress. Here, we show you how to choose meaningful programs that include teaching across operants for optimal success. W...

ABA is a data-driven and evidence-based field. The 7 dimensions of ABA are the core principles that ensure effectiveness in each treatment plan. As BCBAs, we had to memorize these 7 dimensions for our exam, but it may have been a while since you last revisited them. Here, we recap each dimension and show you how to apply them in your own ABA programs. The 7 dimensions of ABA are applied, behaviora...

Teaching body parts is an essential skill we must teach our learners. They get hurt just like we do, but often have difficulty expressing when and where they are in pain. Here, we dive into some of the best ways to teach body parts. Sometimes, problem behaviors are a result of our learners being in pain but not being able to explain it. We need to make sure that we’re looking at what they’re tryin...

We turn to crisis intervention plans when our learners show severe problem behavior that could cause harm to themselves or others. Here, we dive into how to best implement a crisis intervention plan and why practicing the associated skills is so important. We start by defining crisis intervention and discuss some of the underlying reasons for challenging behavior. We also discuss why a crisis isn’...

Our main goal when working with our learners is that they make progress and become as happy and independent as possible. Here, we discuss how to choose meaningful goals to help them succeed. The BCBA code of ethics talks about assessments and says that, as professionals, we must implement them before we design any behavior change intervention. However, while many assessments are amazing tools, the...

Many of our learners struggle with rigid behavior and showing flexibility, which is part of the diagnostic criteria for autism. This can impact the lives of our learners in a negative way, but fortunately, there are ways to help them overcome these struggles. Here, we discuss the best ways to incorporate teaching flexibility into our programs. We start by defining rigidity and flexibility and how...

Social skills lessons are designed to strengthen social interaction and communication skills, which can be a challenge for our learners. Here, we discuss how to approach teaching social skills to effectively target social communication goals. Social skills vary depending on personality preferences, and we cover how to determine which ones to focus on with our learners. There’s no one-size-fits-all...

Trauma informed care is a trending topic in our field and here, we discuss how to best incorporate it into our practice. When we talk about trauma, we’re not just referring to the big things, but really anything that happens in our learners’ lives that can make them a bit more sensitive. We want our students’ experience with us to be positive, so we should always go in with a compassionate, holist...

As BCBAs, we know the intake process with our learners sometimes takes up a ton of time. Fortunately, there are ways to streamline the process so you don’t have to spend hours on assessments. What things seem like on paper isn’t always what they are in person, and we should look at things from a place of clinical judgment and relationship building. Establishing trust when teaching someone is super...

We typically use direct instruction programs with some of our advanced learners, especially when working towards academic goals. Direct instruction programs are based on ABA principles and designed around reviewing previously mastered skills and moving in small increments to help our learners feel successful. Here, we cover some of our favorite direct instruction programs and provide tips on how t...

Toilet training is one of the most important skills we can teach our learners. When it comes to our learners with special needs or autism, it means we can promote their dignity. We feel strongly that toilet training should be introduced as soon as a child is ready. Here, we talk about prerequisite skills, intrinsic motivation, and how to build momentum before starting the training. Priming is esse...

Our approach to Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT) today might look a lot different to what we did in the past, or how we were taught in school. In the past, DTT was heavy on memorization, and it often lacked a natural environment component. Here, we discuss the evolution of DTT, what’s changed, and how we can apply it in our current work.  We talk about the three-term contingency model of DTT and disc...

Through our ABA education, we learned a lot about rules and procedures around behavior management. However, sometimes rigid traditional methods fail to work, and we need to turn to an empathetic, person-centered approach instead. Acknowledging how our learners are feeling in the moment can sometimes be far more effective than trying to push ahead. Here, we discuss how the person-centered approach...

Here at How to ABA, we get a lot of questions regarding Hanley’s approach to tolerance and delay. We’ve created our own user-friendly data sheet based on Hanley’s course that you can download and reuse. Here, we walk through our data sheet and show you how to use it in your practice. We also provide tips to help you and your learners have a successful treatment experience. Our membership space con...

David Celiberti, Ph. D., BCBA, is the part time Executive Director of the Association for Science in Autism Treatment (ASAT) and Past-President of its Board of Directors, a role he served from 2006 to 2012. He is the Co-Editor of ASAT’s newsletter, Science in Autism Treatment. Dr. Celiberti has served on a number of advisory boards and special interest groups in the fields of autism, applied behav...

Extinction is a buzzword we hear frequently in the world of ABA; however, what does it truly mean? Many people may think extinction is the same thing as ignoring, which is a misuse and misunderstanding. Extinction really means to stop providing reinforcement where it once was. It does not mean ignoring or following through on demands in spite of what else may be going on with our learners. Here, w...

For learners who can understand delayed reinforcement, we often use behavior contracts. These tools can be a great way to help learners understand and integrate those unwritten rules we see in places like school and the workplace. Behavior contracts are also a form of agreement between practitioners and learners, or even parents and children. Here, we define behavior contracts and talk about when...

Life skills are critical to a learner becoming independent. Here, we cover why teaching life skills is important and how we can do it effectively. Life skills include executive functioning skills, personal care, daily living skills, occupational skills, and so much more. The ability of an individual to enhance their life skills has a direct impact on their quality of life as they grow into adultho...

As ABA practitioners, we use a lot of datasheets. It can be tough to know which ones to use in specific situations, and here, we break things down. Data is only as helpful as how we use it, and datasheets can be as basic as simply writing things down. Datasheets should reflect the environment they’re used in, for example, a classroom datasheet will look much different than one used in a one-on-one...

Iveth Aguilar is a BCBA and women’s empowerment coach. She’s the founder of Empower Her, a coaching program that helps women to stop settling, overcome fear and insecurities, heal scarcity mindsets, and cultivate the confidence to step fully into their power. Iveth combines nervous system regulation and embodiment practices with ABA for a holistic approach to true and sustainable empowerment. Here...

Annie McLaughlin is a BCBA and IEP advocate. Annie started her career as a special education teacher, where she met a consultant who introduced her to behavioral analysis. From there, she went back to school for her BCBA and got her doctorate in special education. Down the road, she received the opportunity to assist a family navigate the special ed process and became inspired to start a career as...

Payam Moghaddam and Shadi Hortamani are the founders of Behaview, a staff training and supervision solution for ABA providers. Behaview simplifies staff training and supervision for BCBAs with its comprehensive scheduling, remote supervision, data tracking, individualized progress reports, and BCBA fieldwork tracking. Behaview is built with ABA’s unique needs of data collection, supervision, and s...

It can be tough for our learners to understand what they may have done wrong and how they can do it better. One of the best ways to guide them is with a contingency map. Here, we walk through the ins and outs of ABA contingency maps and how to utilize them in practice. We often use contingency maps in two ways: as a reflection of something that happened in the past and as a way of priming for some...

Steve Ward is back on the show, along with his co-authors, Madelyn Vickery and April Dyal. They’re coming out with their most recent book, which includes over 2,100 inexpensive ideas for play and intrinsic motivation. Steve is the founder of Whole Child Consulting, and his work is mainly focused on social repertoires and shaping behaviors. We recently received a question in our mentorship group re...