Have you ever written a social skills goal that looked great on paper but didn’t lead to real-life success? In this conversation, we dive into how to create meaningful social skills goals that build genuine connection, confidence, and independence. We explore why social skills aren't one-size-fits-all and how to align goals with each learner’s personality, preferences, and values—whether that means navigating a busy store, joining a classroom routine, or connecting over a shared interest. We als...
Jul 01, 2025•17 min•Ep. 209
Ever wonder how playful moments like peekaboo or a silly song can support meaningful progress in young children with autism? Here, we explore sensory social routines and how the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) uses them to build engagement, communication, and joint attention through everyday play. These simple, predictable routines can become powerful teaching tools when paired with a child’s natural interests. We share what these routines are, why they work, and how we use them to follow a chil...
Jun 24, 2025•19 min•Ep. 208
Play is a fundamental part of childhood, so what happens when a child struggles to engage in it? In this episode, we explore the many forms play can take, why it's essential for development, and how to support learners who find it challenging. We break down what "play" really means (beyond just pretend scenarios) and include everything from sports and games to musical instruments and picture books. We talk about common barriers to play, such as social challenges, sensory sensitivities, and limit...
Jun 17, 2025•19 min•Ep. 207
Leisure skills, unlike developmental play, support lifelong engagement, independence, and quality of life, whether it's crochet, reading, or structured hobbies. In this discussion, we explore how play skills evolve across ages and how ABA programs can support that progression. We outline the typical stages of play, from exploratory and functional play in toddlers to pretend, constructive, and rule-based games in older kids. We discuss why using outdated play activities (like blocks or shape sort...
Jun 10, 2025•15 min•Ep. 206
An independent activity schedule (IAS) is a tool made up of pictures or written cues that guides a child through a series of tasks on their own. It promotes independence and reduces the need for constant supervision, making it a valuable strategy for both school and home environments. In this episode, we dive into how to design an effective IAS, share creative schedule ideas, and walk you through how to teach it step-by-step. Whether you're looking to encourage more independent behavior at schoo...
Jun 03, 2025•25 min•Ep. 205
When it comes to successful interventions, knowing the “why” behind behaviors is key. As practitioners, we may have learned in school that there are four functions of behavior: escape, attention, tangible, and sensory. However, in practice, things aren’t always so cut and dry. Here, we dive into the roles of antecedents, triggers, and functions so we can better understand what drives challenging behavior. In this conversation, we discuss setting events and how what comes right before a behavior ...
May 27, 2025•18 min•Ep. 204
As BCBAs, each day we walk a fine line between keeping children safe while ensuring our interventions are compassionate, ethical, and effective. Prioritizing safety in behavior management is a non-negotiable and it doesn't have to come at the expense of empathy. Here, we discuss the best ways to balance safety and compassion in our interventions and how to ensure that the individuals we serve are not only protected but also respected and empowered. When developing interventions, it’s important t...
May 20, 2025•16 min•Ep. 203
Challenging behaviors don't just happen out of nowhere. They have patterns, triggers, and underlying causes. The key to success is all about preventing them in the first place instead of reacting to the behaviors when they occur. Here, we discuss how to use both proactive and reactive strategies to effectively reduce challenging behaviors with our learners. When working on challenging behaviors, setting yourself up for success makes all the difference. Proactive strategies are designed to preven...
May 13, 2025•18 min•Ep. 202
When managing challenging behavior, our goal as behavior therapists is to reduce these behaviors and teach new skills. Here, we discuss how to do so without using strategies like extinction and planned ignoring. Through skill-based treatment, we not only reduce challenging behaviors but also replace them with positive functional skills. Challenging behavior is often the result of skill deficits in areas like communication, being able to tolerate discomfort, and handling transitions. Skill-based ...
May 06, 2025•16 min•Ep. 201
Before our learners can independently manage their emotions, they need to first master co-regulation. For children, this looks like a trusted adult helping them to navigate big feelings by offering calm, supportive guidance. Here, we discuss how we can best help our learners master the skill of co-regulation and provide practical tips for making progress. We begin by diving into the difference between terms like emotional regulation, co-regulation, and self-regulation. We discuss how to remain c...
Apr 29, 2025•14 min•Ep. 200
For many children, understanding and expressing emotions can be a challenge. They may struggle with recognizing their own feelings, reading emotions in others, or knowing how to respond appropriately in different situations. The good news is that emotional awareness is a skill that can be taught, modeled, and practiced with the right strategies. In this conversation, we discuss the best ways to teach emotions to kids. We dive into how to assess a learner’s baseline and where to start teaching. W...
Apr 22, 2025•13 min•Ep. 199
Leanne Page is a mom, a BCBA, and the founder of Parenting with ABA. When she became a mother, Leanne realized how her training and education in behavior analysis gave her a leg up on discipline issues. She’s worked as a special education teacher in self-contained to inclusive settings, from elementary to high school. She also managed a center providing ABA services to children in 1:1 and small group settings. Through Parenting with ABA, Leanne leverages her extensive experience in school and te...
Apr 15, 2025•30 min•Ep. 198
Self-regulation is a challenge for many of our learners. Having a personalized regulation toolbox makes a huge difference in a child's ability to navigate their emotions and daily challenges. This toolbox is made up of a set of calming strategies tailored to each person’s unique needs. Here, we discuss how we can help learners develop the skill of self-regulation and a set of tools that works for them. We start by talking through the importance of having an emotional regulation toolbox and how t...
Apr 08, 2025•15 min•Ep. 197
Emotional regulation is a foundational skill that influences how we manage stress, handle challenges, and connect with others. Here, we define emotional regulation and dive into all the reasons why it’s so important for our development and well-being. We also discuss how we, as BCBAs and practitioners, can help our learners strengthen this essential skill. The term emotional regulation refers to the ability to recognize and manage one’s emotions in a way that supports appropriate behavior and we...
Apr 01, 2025•18 min•Ep. 196
Amanda Wilson is a school psychologist, BCBA, and the founder of Navigating Behavior Change. She has over 18 years of experience within the public school setting, and as a military wife, she has had the opportunity to work in various regions across the United States. She also has significant experience in conducting assessments, developing comprehensive, individualized behavior intervention plans, and ensuring compliance with special education law. Amanda is well versed in assisting school teams...
Mar 25, 2025•27 min•Ep. 195
When a learner has multiple diagnoses, it has a significant influence on treatment approaches, behavioral changes, and intervention planning. Therefore, it’s essential to determine whether a skill is a “can’t do” or a “won’t do” when we’re developing our treatment strategies. Here, we discuss the impact more than one diagnosis has on treatment and the steps we can take to provide our learners with the best support possible. When someone can’t do something, it’s usually due to them not having the...
Mar 18, 2025•15 min•Ep. 194
Autism rarely occurs in isolation, and many individuals face additional health challenges. Understanding these challenges can help us provide more compassion and effective support. Here, we discuss the common comorbidities we may encounter with our learners. We also dive into the behavioral implications of those comorbidities as well as the medical challenges that may arise. Comorbidities are conditions that happen alongside autism and may even be undiagnosed. They can have a major impact on a l...
Mar 11, 2025•19 min•Ep. 193
Comorbidities or multiple diagnoses like anxiety and ADHD are common in our learners. These overlapping challenges on top of ASD can make day-to-day life overwhelming for both the children and the adults supporting them. Kids with ADHD may be inattentive and hyperactive. Anxiety may manifest as intense worrying, avoidance behaviors, and even physical symptoms. Here, we share some actionable strategies we can use to support learners with anxiety and ADHD. We cover the importance of looking at our...
Mar 04, 2025•13 min•Ep. 192
Many of our learners struggle with being unable to communicate their basic wants and needs. In some cases, this can cause challenging behavior. Functional communication training, or FCT, is an effective way to build those important communication skills in our learners. Here, we discuss how to incorporate FCT within skills-based treatment. We touch on why behavior doesn’t just serve a single function and how to introduce healthy communication as a replacement skill. We discuss Dr. Gregory Hanley’...
Feb 25, 2025•17 min•Ep. 191
When our learners lose a game or have to share a toy, they can become extremely frustrated. To help them adapt to new routines and expectations, we teach them social flexibility. When we’re socially flexible, we can adjust our behavior and communication based on the situation and people involved. Social flexibility greatly improves our learners’ social interactions, helps them manage their emotions, and allows them to deal with daily challenges. Here, we discuss how to successfully teach social ...
Feb 18, 2025•12 min•Ep. 190
When our learners are faced with an uncomfortable situation or presented with something they don’t want, they don’t always have someone there to advocate for them. Because of this, it’s critical for us to teach them how to advocate for themselves at an early age. Here, we discuss the importance of self-advocacy and how to best teach it to our learners. We cover the differences between self-advocacy and appropriate protesting and how to teach learners to know what’s safe and what isn’t. We also d...
Feb 11, 2025•11 min•Ep. 189
When things don’t go as planned or we experience sudden schedule changes, we become disappointed or frustrated. For children with autism, unexpected disruptions in routine or a person’s actions often lead to them demonstrating challenging behaviors. In order to help our learners become more flexible, we can use these moments to teach tolerance. Here, we discuss how to help our learners tolerate the stress that comes with things not going their way. Many become stuck and have trouble moving on fr...
Feb 04, 2025•15 min•Ep. 188
Whenever we feel on edge, frustrated, or exhausted, taking time out for a moment of mindfulness helps us hit the pause button and relax. Incorporating mindfulness and relaxation techniques in our programs can help our learners do the same. Here, we approach mindfulness from a behavioral analytic perspective and walk through how to bring more present-moment awareness into our work with clients. Our thoughts really do have a strong impact on our behaviors, and mindfulness helps create a space betw...
Jan 28, 2025•16 min•Ep. 187
Emily Varon is a BCBA, a sleep educator, and the founder of Ready Set Sleep. Ready Set Sleep is also home to the Sleep Collective, the first sleep certification program for BCBAs. Emily returns to the podcast to share more of her passion for sleep and give us an update. Since we last spoke, Emily’s certified 111 behavioral sleep specialists and is coming up on the first recertification cycle! No matter how experienced you are as a BCBA, sleep can be an intimidating task to tackle, and Emily prov...
Jan 21, 2025•41 min•Ep. 186
Individuals with trauma histories often feel on edge or misunderstood. As practitioners, it’s important to take trauma into account when designing behavior interventions for our learners. It’s our job to ensure we’re not only shaping behavior but taking an approach that focuses on long-term healing and empathy. Here, we discuss trauma-sensitive behavior interventions and how to incorporate trauma-informed care in our roles as BCBAs. We talk about the difference between trauma-informed care and t...
Jan 14, 2025•15 min•Ep. 185
Dr. Camille Kolu is a behavioral scientist from Cusp Emergence in Colorado. Dr. Kolu has about 20 years of autism treatment experience and has collaborated with or worked for nonprofits, families, diverse educational facilities, and groups in Texas and Colorado to provide effective autism treatment and support for those affected by developmental or other disabilities. Dr. Kolu brings together creative service, best practices, and a background in both behavior analysis and behavioral neuroscience...
Jan 07, 2025•35 min•Ep. 184
Can you believe we’re wrapping up another year? As we approach the end of 2025, we wanted to reflect on some of the highlights of 2024 in a How To ABA year in review. We share some major personal and professional wins and look back on some of the best topics and guests we’ve had on the podcast. Our favorite highlights include our work with Dr. Alan Schnee, conferences we’ve attended, and our collaboration podcast with ABA Inside Track. Our favorite guests include Dr. Peter Gerhardt, Jenna Mazzil...
Dec 31, 2024•19 min•Ep. 183
After our students learn to answer WH questions, the next step is to teach them inferencing skills. Students need to learn how to make inferences, or to predict future events and what will happen next. However, understanding the hidden meaning in stories and social interactions can be challenging, especially for those on the autism spectrum. Here, we discuss the best ways to teach inferencing to these learners. Before we start to teach inferencing, it’s important to look for certain prerequisite...
Dec 24, 2024•14 min•Ep. 182
Attention-seeking behavior is quite common; however, our learners often don’t know how to wait to receive attention. They also may not know how to properly seek attention, and it’s our job to teach them. Here, we discuss the value of attention and effective strategies to teach our learners how to request and gain attention. We start by defining attention-seeking behaviors and how to assess them, including how to identify more subtle behaviors and the importance of identifying the function of the...
Dec 17, 2024•19 min•Ep. 181
Sequencing is an intermediate language skill, and it can be found in just about everything we do. In ABA, you’ll find sequencing skills on lots of different assessments, including the ABLES. Sequencing also helps learners with other skills, including how questions, before and after, telling stories, predicting, and remembering household tasks. Here, we discuss the best ways to teach sequencing to our learners. We start by defining sequencing and talking about how it shows up in our everyday live...
Dec 10, 2024•16 min•Ep. 180
