Leticia Moreno is the Clinical Director and CEO of Within Me Therapy in Maryland. Before becoming a BCBA, she was a special education teacher working in an early intervention setting. Her aunt introduced her to ABA, inspiring her to blend it with early learning in her own practice. She works to incorporate the natural environment into her treatment strategies and helps parents continue the learning outside of the classroom. Leticia uses a coaching model to work with parents instead of a direct approach, which encourages buy in and builds rapport. 

Leticia also works with underserviced populations, providing families with resources, especially in the case of a new diagnosis. She also works with Spanish-speaking families and strives to make ABA information accessible so that they can understand it beyond a language barrier. It’s not always easy to incorporate the natural environment into teaching. Leticia recommends having a strong pairing with a child to make it work. Having instructional control sets you up for success in the natural environment. Following the child’s lead in terms of preferences is also a prerequisite. When you’re just starting out as a new BCBA, it’s important to manage your thoughts. Having a positive mindset and living in the moment not only helps you be a better practitioner, but it also helps you achieve your own personal goals.

What’s Inside:

• How Leticia collaborates with parents to reinforce learning outside the classroom.
• Why staff training is a focus within Leticia’s organization.
• Tips on natural environment teaching.
• Why mindset is important, both professionally and personally.
  
  

Mentioned In This Episode:

HowToABA.com/join
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Within Me Therapy
Within Me Therapy on Instagram
Within Me Therapy on Facebook

Today, we’re discussing contingent and non-contingent reinforcement, including the difference between the two and how to know which one to use. Reinforcement is a huge focus as an ABA practitioner. It can also be a slippery slope. When all reinforcement becomes contingent, a child can feel like they have to earn everything.

Parents often get confused with the two types of reinforcement as well. It’s helpful to always keep the difference between contingent and non-contingent in our heads so we can let kids know what they should and shouldn’t be expected to earn. As adults, we have plenty of non-contingent rewards in our lives – like that glass of wine or chocolate after a long day. Kids should have them as well and they’re essential for their well-being. When setting up contingent reinforcement, make sure you’re staying consistent.

What’s Inside:

• How and why the two types of reinforcement become confusing.
• The difference between contingent and non-contingent reinforcement.
• Why it’s beneficial for kids to have plenty of non-contingent opportunities.

Mentioned In This Episode:

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Today, we’re discussing behavior, more specifically, how to develop a functional behavior plan (FBA) and assessment. While behaviors often seem random, there’s always a reason behind them. A good FBA helps you figure out what those reasons are so you can replace undesired behavior with new skills. Many times, a behavior is learned because, at some point, a child realized they can use it to get what they want. It’s never because they want to misbehave on purpose.

Before you get started with an FBA, it’s important to determine the behavior and consider its nature. Sometimes there are medical reasons or changes in habits that are the cause. When defining behavior, be specific as possible. Measuring the behavior uncovers more information for you to work with and gives you a good baseline before intervening. Once you determine the function, you can then move towards developing a plan of action.

What’s Inside:

• Why behavior isn’t random and how to uncover the reasons.
• What to assess before creating an FBA.
• The 5 steps to creating a successful FBA.

Mentioned In This Episode:

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Part three of our “sneak peek” series showcases more from our monthly mentorship meetings. In this session, we share our thoughts on using timers for transition periods. We also share resources on addressing challenging behaviors around tolerating peers. To wrap up, we discuss working with the PECS system.

This series has been loaded with great tips and insights and we’re looking forward to doing more of these! We love being able to brainstorm and problem solve with our community, which includes some of the most intelligent, supportive individuals.

You can also be a part of this monthly mentorship meetings and we guarantee these will be very helpful to you whether you’re a parent, carer or educator. For more information on becoming a member so you can join us on the next call, head to our website by clicking the link below.   

What’s Inside:

• Thoughts around using timers for transitions.
• Resources for dealing with clients who have trouble tolerating peers.
• How to assess if working with PECS is right for your client and how to use it.
  
  

Mentioned In This Episode:

HowToABA.com/join
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Welcome to Part 2 of our “sneak peek” series where we give you a behind-the-scenes look into our monthly mentorship meetings. Every month, members of the How To ABA community get together to discuss what’s going on in the field. It’s a great place to share resources and connect with other professionals.

In this second session, we’ll cover techniques to help kids tolerate losing, treating oppositional behavior, and different assessment tools for social skills. We break down our strategies and share insights, such as reinforcement, that will help you with your students or kids. There are a lot of gold nuggets in this part and we’re so excited to be able to share them with you!

Want to join us on our next call? Head to our website by clicking the link below to become an official member!

What’s Inside:

• How to teach a child to tolerate losing.
• Strategies for working with oppositional behavior.
• Assessment tools for social skills.

Mentioned In This Episode:

HowToABA.com/join
How to ABA on YouTube
Find us on Facebook
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In these next few podcasts, we wanted to give you a sneak peek into our monthly mentorship meetings. These meetings are dedicated to answering questions from How To ABA members. Every month, we meet to discuss a variety of different issues as it relates to being a BCBA in today’s environment. During this first sneak peek, some of the topics include working with attention-seeking learners, tips to help RBTs to stay engaged with clients, and ideas for sensory social routines.

To join us on the next monthly membership call, become a member of the behavior resource by visiting our website below. 

What’s Inside:

• How to work with attention-seeking learners.
• How to help RBTs stay energized and engaged.
• Suggestions for sensory social routines.

Mentioned In This Episode:

HowToABA.com/join
How to ABA on YouTube
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The field of ABA is constantly growing and evolving. After being in the field for several years, we wanted to share our perspectives on what has changed and what still needs to change. Our field is making great strides in moving from the perception that ABA “fixes” kids to honoring who they are as people. Shayna has been in the field since 1997 and shares what it was like when she was first starting out. Nobody really knew what autism really was, let alone ABA. Supervision looked a lot different, and treatment was focused heavily on language and making kids “seem normal”.

Referring to ABA as therapy and treatment makes it seem like our main goal is still to fix people. Moving towards having it be known as education or skill acquisition could help us frame the field in a more positive way. Even those who work in the field might still think about it as a rigid system. ABA is much more compassionate than it used to be and much more focused on positive reinforcement.  Cultural competence and a client-centric approach is coming more to the forefront, as well as being more oriented towards client goals. The perception starts with us as practitioners.

What’s Inside:

• What the field of ABA was like 25 years ago. 
• How ABA has grown into a more positive, student-focused approach.
• How we can change the perception of ABA.

Mentioned In This Episode:

HowToABA.com
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Rachel Torrance is a BCBA and the Assistant Regional Vice President at Cultivate Behavioral Health and Education. She’s also the co-owner of a company called Supervision Academy, a remote supervision training agency. ABA was a huge component of her special education studies and gained a lot of hands-on experience through teaching in the classroom. She eventually left the classroom to become a consultant and a BCBA.

If you’re a new BCBA, Rachel recommends that you always ask questions and be open to learning. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is important to be successful in the field and helps you avoid burnout. She also has some great suggestions for how the field can improve going forward, especially within the realm of positive reinforcement and a richer assessment process.

We collaborated with Rachel and her business partner, Rose, to create the ABA forum last year in March. It was a great success, and we are so excited to do it again this year! We’ll be hosting the 2022 ABA forum on February 8, 9, and 10. This year, we have six phenomenal speakers lined up. It’s free to attend, with an extra fee if you would like to receive CE credit.

Head to the website below for all the details on this year’s ABA Forum!

What’s Inside:

• Rachel’s advice for new BCBAs.
• Suggestions for improvements within the field and supervision.
• Information on the upcoming ABA Forum.

Mentioned In This Episode:

HowToABA.com
How to ABA on YouTube
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Cultivate Behavioral Health and Education
Supervision Academy
TheABAForum.com

Today, we’re going to be talking about ABA principles that we use in our homes. In addition to being professionals, we’re also moms. It’s so interesting how much we can learn from our kids and how they help us to become better BCBAs. Non-contingent reinforcement works really well with kids, letting them know that not everything in the household needs to be earned. Scheduling, predictability, and expectations are key. Laying down the family ground rules and consistently reinforcing them goes a long way.

If your follow-through isn’t consistent, it creates an environment of intermittent reinforcement that’s hard to break. Follow-through builds trust, predictability, and safety. Setting yourself up for success to make things easier helps tremendously when trying to implement behavioral strategies. For example, making lunches at night instead of the morning can eliminate stress and cut down on chaos. Reinforcement can be as simple as a “thank you” or a subtle, teachable moment. As professionals, we tend to oversimplify behaviors, but the reality is that it’s not so simple. As parents and practitioners, we are lifelong learners. Focusing on the good things and recognizing our kids makes a positive experience for them at home.

What’s Inside:

- Strategies that worked and didn’t work so well for Shira and Shayna.
- How our kids can teach us how to become better professionals.
- Why follow-through is the key to making strategies work.

Mentioned In This Episode:

HowToABA.com
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Tamar Finkelstein is an RBT who recently finished school and is working in the field. What brought her to the field was her own diagnosis of autism when she was two. Her mother got her involved in early intervention and because of that, she’s had a life full of opportunities. Getting into ABA was sort of like a “thank you”, as well as the chance to share the impact it’s had on her with others.

The biggest obstacle she’s encountered so far was not doing more research in the beginning. Being eager to get started can sometimes prevent you from taking the time to look into what centers are the best to work at. In some places, agencies can focus on quantity over quality and try to serve too many clients. A big gap is a lack of training as a new professional, and you can get into trouble if you’re not properly informed on rules and regulations.

Changes within the field are hard to standardize because there are so many nuances within different families, centers, cultures, etc. Getting client buy-in when coming up with treatment strategies is so important. One of the key things Tamar has learned is to be critical and have an open mind. We all have our own beliefs and experiences that affect our own practices, and we can all learn from each other.

What’s Inside:

• How Tamar’s experience with ABA as a child inspired her to get into the field.
• Obstacles in the field as a new professional.
• How ABA principles are applied in everyday life.

Mentioned In This Episode:

HowToABA.com
How to ABA on YouTube
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Instagram