The Autism Helper Podcast

In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Annie McLaughlin, PhD, BCBA-D, LBA, a behavior analyst and owner of Annie McLaughlin Consulting, who blends contemporary ABA with positive behavior supports to improve outcomes for individuals with disabilities. We talk about what collaborative advocacy really looks like, and why collaborative doesn't mean agreeable. Annie shares how behavior-analytic skills like functional thinking and operational definitions make someone a sharper advocate, why teams need to agree on the problem before debating solutions, and how to keep data focused on next steps. She also covers what to watch for in the room, how to make sure follow-through happens after the IEP meeting, and one thing you can start doing tomorrow to make meetings more productive. Find Annie at www.iepadvocacytraining.com and on Instagram at @iepadvocateannie.

Episode resources:

www.iepadvocacytraining.com/collaboration

Episode Transcription.

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Interested in our Year-Long Curriculum Access Subscription? Learn more about it here: https://theautismhelper.com/tah-curriculum-access/

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Stay up to date on all things Autism Helper by downloading our new, FREE app! Available on both the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-autism-helper/id1557724340 & Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mightybell.theautismhelper&hl=en_US&gl=US

Get all updates from The Autism Helper Podcast by clicking subscribe above. Head over to theautismhelper.com for more info. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest @theautismhelper.

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In this episode, Dr. Becca Tagg discusses comorbid or co-occurring conditions in autistic students, what they are, and how things like poor sleep, GI issues, anxiety, and ADHD can act as setting events that reshape a student's day. We dig into the medical conditions that can hide behind challenging behavior or sudden regression, what teachers should know about medications and their side effects, and how to share classroom observations with families and medical teams without overstepping. If you've ever had a student who just seemed "off," this conversation may change how you look at behavior.

About Our Guest: Dr. Becca is a licensed psychologist with prescribing privileges, doctoral-level behavior analyst, and school psychologist, and the founder and Executive Director of Del Mar Center for Behavioral Health. A national speaker and consultant, she's known for translating complex clinical science into practical understanding and for challenging professionals to see students as whole humans rather than a collection of separate parts.

https://delmarbehavioralhealth.com/

https://thebusinessofbehavior.com/

Episode Transcription.

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Interested in our Year-Long Curriculum Access Subscription? Learn more about it here: https://theautismhelper.com/tah-curriculum-access/

Join the waitlist for our Professional Development Membership: https://shop.theautismhelper.com/pages/membership-waitlist

Want more information about The Autism Helper Courses? Visit: https://theautismhelper.com/courses/

Looking for a specific product or resource? Find it in our new Autism Helper Store! https://shop.theautismhelper.com/

Or visit The Autism Helper store on TpT: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Autism-Helper

Stay up to date on all things Autism Helper by downloading our new, FREE app! Available on both the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-autism-helper/id1557724340 & Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mightybell.theautismhelper&hl=en_US&gl=US

Get all updates from The Autism Helper Podcast by clicking subscribe above. Head over to theautismhelper.com for more info. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest @theautismhelper.

Our Sponsors:
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Executive function is one of those terms we hear all the time, but what does it actually look like in the classroom? In this episode, Dr. Nicole Tibbits breaks down executive function in plain language and shows where it shows up in everyday classroom moments that often go unlabeled. We talk about how EF demands differ for our students compared to their neurotypical peers, why a student might be able to do something one day and not the next, and how to tell the difference between true noncompliance and an executive function breakdown. Dr. Tibbits also shares practical, low-lift strategies you can try tomorrow with no new materials, ways to make abstract concepts like time and planning concrete, and how emotional regulation fits into the bigger EF picture. You'll walk away with a fresh perspective and one key mindset shift that can change how you see and support your students.

Dr. Nicole Tibbits, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist at the Child Psychology Center in Carlsbad, CA, specializing in autism, ADHD, learning differences, and executive function support for kids, teens, and their families. Follow Dr. Tibbits on Instagram @dr.nicoletibbits

Episode Transcription.

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Interested in our Year-Long Curriculum Access Subscription? Learn more about it here: https://theautismhelper.com/tah-curriculum-access/

Join the waitlist for our Professional Development Membership: https://shop.theautismhelper.com/pages/membership-waitlist

Want more information about The Autism Helper Courses? Visit: https://theautismhelper.com/courses/

Looking for a specific product or resource? Find it in our new Autism Helper Store! https://shop.theautismhelper.com/

Or visit The Autism Helper store on TpT: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Autism-Helper

Stay up to date on all things Autism Helper by downloading our new, FREE app! Available on both the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-autism-helper/id1557724340 & Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mightybell.theautismhelper&hl=en_US&gl=US

Get all updates from The Autism Helper Podcast by clicking subscribe above. Head over to theautismhelper.com for more info. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest @theautismhelper.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Factor and use my code factormeals.com/sasha50off for a great deal: https://www.factor75.com
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If your class fell apart this week and September felt fine, you're not doing anything wrong - this is the week it always happens. Novelty wears off around week four or five, students start testing the real limits, and it feels like everything you built collapsed. But the spike isn't failure. It's the predictable next phase, and it's information about where the gaps are.

In this episode, I walk through what to do instead of starting over: expecting the spike so you don't take it personally, reteaching your routines instead of scrapping them, fixing the one time of day where behavior slips most, refreshing stale reinforcement, and holding steady. Don't restart - reteach. The teachers who hold steady through October have the calmest rooms in December.

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Interested in our Year-Long Curriculum Access Subscription? Learn more about it here: https://theautismhelper.com/tah-curriculum-access/

Join the waitlist for our Professional Development Membership: https://shop.theautismhelper.com/pages/membership-waitlist

Want more information about The Autism Helper Courses? Visit: https://theautismhelper.com/courses/

Looking for a specific product or resource? Find it in our new Autism Helper Store! https://shop.theautismhelper.com/

Or visit The Autism Helper store on TpT: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Autism-Helper

Stay up to date on all things Autism Helper by downloading our new, FREE app! Available on both the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-autism-helper/id1557724340 & Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mightybell.theautismhelper&hl=en_US&gl=US

Get all updates from The Autism Helper Podcast by clicking subscribe above. Head over to theautismhelper.com for more info. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest @theautismhelper.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Factor and use my code factormeals.com/sasha50off for a great deal: https://www.factor75.com
* Check out Talkiatry and use my code talkiatry.com/SASHA for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com


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In this episode, we're talking about prompt fading and why the start of the school year is the perfect time to plan for it. Those first weeks are naturally full of support, but the prompts we add in August can quietly become the prompts students depend on all year. We'll do a quick refresher on the prompt hierarchy and share five practical steps to take this month: picking priority routines, finding baselines, writing a simple fade plan, getting your whole team using the same prompt language, and building in wait time. We'll also cover the common pitfalls that stall progress, like hovering and repeated verbal prompts. You'll leave with one small challenge to start building independence this week.

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Interested in our Year-Long Curriculum Access Subscription? Learn more about it here: https://theautismhelper.com/tah-curriculum-access/

Join the waitlist for our Professional Development Membership: https://shop.theautismhelper.com/pages/membership-waitlist

Want more information about The Autism Helper Courses? Visit: https://theautismhelper.com/courses/

Looking for a specific product or resource? Find it in our new Autism Helper Store! https://shop.theautismhelper.com/

Or visit The Autism Helper store on TpT: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Autism-Helper

Stay up to date on all things Autism Helper by downloading our new, FREE app! Available on both the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-autism-helper/id1557724340 & Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mightybell.theautismhelper&hl=en_US&gl=US

Get all updates from The Autism Helper Podcast by clicking subscribe above. Head over to theautismhelper.com for more info. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest @theautismhelper.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Factor and use my code factormeals.com/sasha50off for a great deal: https://www.factor75.com
* Check out Talkiatry and use my code talkiatry.com/SASHA for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com


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Sometimes the off-task behavior, the wandering, the "he just won't listen" moment isn't defiance at all - it's confusion. When a direction is unclear, students don't know what we expect, so they fill the gap with something else, and we read that as a behavior problem. Before long, we're in a power struggle over a direction the student never understood. The fix usually isn't a bigger consequence - it's a clearer direction.

In this episode, I break down how to give verbal directions that are clear, concrete, and focused on what to do instead of what not to do: waiting until you have a student's attention, keeping directions positive and specific, not stacking too many at once, avoiding phrasing directions as questions when the task isn't optional, repeating purposefully instead of rewording, giving real wait time, and offering a quick "why" to earn buy-in.

Before your next consequence, ask yourself: was that direction clear, positive, singular - and did I give it time to land? Sometimes the most powerful thing we can change isn't the student. It's the sentence.

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Interested in our Year-Long Curriculum Access Subscription? Learn more about it here: https://theautismhelper.com/tah-curriculum-access/

Join the waitlist for our Professional Development Membership: https://shop.theautismhelper.com/pages/membership-waitlist

Want more information about The Autism Helper Courses? Visit: https://theautismhelper.com/courses/

Looking for a specific product or resource? Find it in our new Autism Helper Store! https://shop.theautismhelper.com/

Or visit The Autism Helper store on TpT: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Autism-Helper

Stay up to date on all things Autism Helper by downloading our new, FREE app! Available on both the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-autism-helper/id1557724340 & Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mightybell.theautismhelper&hl=en_US&gl=US

Get all updates from The Autism Helper Podcast by clicking subscribe above. Head over to theautismhelper.com for more info. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest @theautismhelper.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Factor and use my code factormeals.com/sasha50off for a great deal: https://www.factor75.com
* Check out Talkiatry and use my code talkiatry.com/SASHA for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com


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When is the last time your data actually changed a decision you made? In this episode, we're getting honest about the difference between data collection and data use - and how compliance culture has turned one of our most important tools into busywork. We talk about what meaningful data systems look like, why collecting less is often more effective, and how to build a practice where data actually drives instruction instead of just filling binders.

Cooper, Heron & Heward (2020). Applied behavior analysis (3rd ed.). Pearson.

Stecker et al. (2005). Using curriculum-based measurement to improve student achievement. Psychology in the Schools.

Come join the conversation! Find us on Instagram at @theautismhelper and TikTok at @theautismhelper - drop your hot take in the comments and let us know where you land on this one.

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Interested in our Year-Long Curriculum Access Subscription? Learn more about it here: https://theautismhelper.com/tah-curriculum-access/

Join the waitlist for our Professional Development Membership: https://shop.theautismhelper.com/pages/membership-waitlist

Want more information about The Autism Helper Courses? Visit: https://theautismhelper.com/courses/

Looking for a specific product or resource? Find it in our new Autism Helper Store! https://shop.theautismhelper.com/

Or visit The Autism Helper store on TpT: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Autism-Helper

Stay up to date on all things Autism Helper by downloading our new, FREE app! Available on both the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-autism-helper/id1557724340 & Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mightybell.theautismhelper&hl=en_US&gl=US

Get all updates from The Autism Helper Podcast by clicking subscribe above. Head over to theautismhelper.com for more info. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest @theautismhelper.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Factor and use my code factormeals.com/sasha50off for a great deal: https://www.factor75.com
* Check out Talkiatry and use my code talkiatry.com/SASHA for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com


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Name a student who crushed your social skills curriculum and still eats alone at lunch. In this episode, we're asking why - and the answer has a lot to do with how we're delivering instruction. We talk about why social skills taught in isolation rarely transfer, the important difference between a social skills deficit and a social performance deficit, and what peer-mediated and naturalistic approaches actually look like when done well.

Bellini et al. (2007). A meta-analysis of school-based social skills interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders. Remedial and Special Education.

Koenig et al. (2010). Promoting social skills. In Zager (Ed.), Autism spectrum disorders.

Come join the conversation! Find us on Instagram at @theautismhelper and TikTok at @theautismhelper - drop your hot take in the comments and let us know where you land on this one.

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Interested in our Year-Long Curriculum Access Subscription? Learn more about it here: https://theautismhelper.com/tah-curriculum-access/

Join the waitlist for our Professional Development Membership: https://shop.theautismhelper.com/pages/membership-waitlist

Want more information about The Autism Helper Courses? Visit: https://theautismhelper.com/courses/

Looking for a specific product or resource? Find it in our new Autism Helper Store! https://shop.theautismhelper.com/

Or visit The Autism Helper store on TpT: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Autism-Helper

Stay up to date on all things Autism Helper by downloading our new, FREE app! Available on both the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-autism-helper/id1557724340 & Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mightybell.theautismhelper&hl=en_US&gl=US

Get all updates from The Autism Helper Podcast by clicking subscribe above. Head over to theautismhelper.com for more info. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest @theautismhelper.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Factor and use my code factormeals.com/sasha50off for a great deal: https://www.factor75.com
* Check out Talkiatry and use my code talkiatry.com/SASHA for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com


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We have calm-down kits for our students, co-regulation protocols, and zones of regulation posters on the wall. But nobody talks about what happens when the teacher is the dysregulated one. In this episode, we get into the neuroscience of why you cannot co-regulate from a flooded nervous system, why special ed teachers are especially at risk, and practical strategies for regulating yourself in the middle of a really hard classroom moment.

Porges, S.W. (2011). The polyvagal theory. W.W. Norton & Company.

Herman et al. (2021). Teacher emotion regulation and student behavior outcomes. Journal of School Psychology.

Come join the conversation! Find us on Instagram at @theautismhelper and TikTok at @theautismhelper - drop your hot take in the comments and let us know where you land on this one.

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Interested in our Year-Long Curriculum Access Subscription? Learn more about it here: https://theautismhelper.com/tah-curriculum-access/

Join the waitlist for our Professional Development Membership: https://shop.theautismhelper.com/pages/membership-waitlist

Want more information about The Autism Helper Courses? Visit: https://theautismhelper.com/courses/

Looking for a specific product or resource? Find it in our new Autism Helper Store! https://shop.theautismhelper.com/

Or visit The Autism Helper store on TpT: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Autism-Helper

Stay up to date on all things Autism Helper by downloading our new, FREE app! Available on both the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-autism-helper/id1557724340 & Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mightybell.theautismhelper&hl=en_US&gl=US

Get all updates from The Autism Helper Podcast by clicking subscribe above. Head over to theautismhelper.com for more info. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest @theautismhelper.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Factor and use my code factormeals.com/sasha50off for a great deal: https://www.factor75.com
* Check out Talkiatry and use my code talkiatry.com/SASHA for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com


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What happens to behavior in your classroom when you forget the reinforcers? If the answer is 'everything falls apart' - that tells you something important about your system. In this episode, we're talking about the difference between reinforcement and bribery, how well-intentioned reward systems create dependency, and what it looks like to build toward natural reinforcers so students aren't permanently tethered to a token board or prize box.

Deci, Koestner & Ryan (1999). A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards. Psychological Bulletin.

Cooper, Heron & Heward (2020). Applied behavior analysis (3rd ed.). Pearson.

Come join the conversation! Find us on Instagram at @theautismhelper and TikTok at @theautismhelper - drop your hot take in the comments and let us know where you land on this one.

----------------------------------------------

Interested in our Year-Long Curriculum Access Subscription? Learn more about it here: https://theautismhelper.com/tah-curriculum-access/

Join the waitlist for our Professional Development Membership: https://shop.theautismhelper.com/pages/membership-waitlist

Want more information about The Autism Helper Courses? Visit: https://theautismhelper.com/courses/

Looking for a specific product or resource? Find it in our new Autism Helper Store! https://shop.theautismhelper.com/

Or visit The Autism Helper store on TpT: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Autism-Helper

Stay up to date on all things Autism Helper by downloading our new, FREE app! Available on both the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-autism-helper/id1557724340 & Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mightybell.theautismhelper&hl=en_US&gl=US

Get all updates from The Autism Helper Podcast by clicking subscribe above. Head over to theautismhelper.com for more info. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest @theautismhelper.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Factor and use my code factormeals.com/sasha50off for a great deal: https://www.factor75.com
* Check out Talkiatry and use my code talkiatry.com/SASHA for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com


Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy