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 approach grounded in behavioral science. He advocates for high performing, engaging environments, extending his influence beyond education.

Here, Dr. Paulie shares all about his background and his journey to where he is today. He shares his insights into looking at organizational dynamics through a behavioral lens and the similarities between ABA and OBM. We also discuss the importance of creating buy in from teachers when adhering to behavior plans, the power of internal motivation and values-based systems, tips for BCBAs transitioning into leadership positions, and more.

What’s Inside:

• Why it’s important to get buy-in from teachers and staff 
• Tips for BCBAs transitioning into leadership positions
• Dr. Paulie’s 5 step process for accurate and honest assessments

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Book – Quick Wins!: Using Behavior Science to Accelerate and Sustain School Improvement
Book - Positional Authority Ain't Leadership

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.

We discuss the purpose of assessments and why it’s important to take a step back to identify skills, challenges, and what’s meaningful to our learners and their families. We also discuss how to figure out what’s appropriate to teach, using multiple targets at a time, and information on our upcoming CEU event. 

What’s Inside:

• How to choose meaningful programs and teach across operants
• How to use multiple targets at once
• Information on our next live CEU event

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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, behavioral, analytic, technological, conceptually systematic, effective, and generality. Our walkthrough of each dimension includes real-world examples so you can picture them in action in your own practice with your learners. 

What’s Inside:

• The importance of using the 7 dimensions of ABA in practice
• A walkthrough of the 7 dimensions
• How to use the 7 dimensions with your learners

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Must-Have ABA Programs

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 trying to tell us and not letting their behaviors cover up their physical needs.

The first step is for our learners to name their own body parts and we start by helping them receptively identify them. Then, we move on to labeling those body parts. We discuss how to begin the teaching process and what to consider for each particular learner. We also discuss how to avoid overgeneralization, how to teach body parts to mastery, and how to teach pain through play.

What’s Inside:

• The importance of teaching body parts to learners
• What to consider when starting a body parts teaching program
• How to teach pain through play and modeling

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Free Body Parts Program

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’t a teachable moment, how being proactive can prevent a crisis in the future, and reinforcing lower-level negative behaviors.

What’s Inside:

• How to define crisis intervention and when it's appropriate
• Why a crisis isn’t a teachable moment
• When to reinforce lower-level negative behaviors

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Applying Universal Protocol Cheat Sheet

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, they shouldn’t take the place of curriculum. It’s important to focus on the big picture and choose the appropriate assessment for the learner.

We discuss the importance of building relationships with students and families to get a feel for the skills a learner needs in the long run. We also discuss how to incorporate a learner’s preferences, the importance of choosing goals in preschool, and teaching across operants. 

What’s Inside:

• How to choose meaningful goals for our learners
• How to incorporate a learner and family’s preferences
• The importance of teaching across operants

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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 to determine when rigid behaviors are normal or problematic. We talk about how to obtain ascent and buy-in, how to work through healthy stress and discomfort, being mindful of anxiety when targeting rigidity, and more.

What’s Inside:

• How to incorporate teaching flexibility in our programs
• How to determine whether rigid behaviors are normal or problematic
• How to be mindful of anxiety when targeting rigid behaviors

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Tolerating Transitions 

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 approach, so it’s important to understand your learners’ values. We discuss how to balance caregiver input with a child’s own preferences, how to determine when it’s beneficial for a learner to develop specific social skills, and how to make teaching social skills fun and positive. 

What’s Inside:

• How to approach teaching social skills
• The importance of a learner’s values when teaching social skills
• How to make teaching social skills fun

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ACT Values Matrix

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, holistic approach.

We define the different types of trauma and stress and discuss why relationship building should be your first priority. Trauma is often a function of behavior or a setting event, and we discuss that as well. We also talk about working with parents through a trauma informed lens, putting yourself in your learner’s shoes, and using empathy and validation.

What’s Inside:

• How to incorporate a trauma informed approach in ABA
• Using a trauma informed approach with parents
• How to utilize empathy and validation

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Applying the Universal Protocol

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 important, so it’s important to build this into your intake process.

Here, we discuss our streamlined intake process, starting with our first interactions with a new learner. We also discuss how to assess a learner’s skill level and profile, how to go through assessments during play, and how to troubleshoot when things don’t go by the book.

Starting in June, we’re hosting a series of CEUs on streamlining the intake process. For more information and to sign up, head to our website!

What’s Inside:

• Why it’s important to look at the intake process from a place of clinical judgment
• A walkthrough of our streamlined intake process
• Information on our upcoming intake process CEU series

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Join our Intake Process CEU Event