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...
Jan 11, 2022•18 min•Ep. 29
As December comes to a close, we’re spending a lot of time planning for 2022. We’re really excited about some new initiatives, and we wanted to share our plans! Our members have been fabulous, and we are so thankful for each and every one of you. The first thing we’re doing in the new year is a free, three-day ABA virtual event, coming up in February (the 8th through 10th). The pandemic has proven that virtual meetings work and it’s such a great way to get people together to share information. Y...
Jan 04, 2022•18 min•Ep. 28
Leanne Page is a BCBA and the founder of Parenting with ABA, an organization that provides parents with ways to utilize ABA in their everyday lives with their children. She started her career in special education and became inspired to pursue ABA after working alongside a behavioral analyst in her classroom. Leanne moved overseas for a while and then became a full-time stay-at-home mom after returning to Texas. After joining some mommy groups, she was shocked at how many parents were using punis...
Dec 14, 2021•28 min•Ep. 27
Nicole Stewart is a BCBA and the co-founder of Supervision Reimagined, an organization that’s committed to standardizing supervisory best practices for the field. Nicole started her career as a behavioral analyst and a certified special education teacher. She went on to become a clinical director at a private placement group and she is now a full-time entrepreneur. Supervision Reimagined is working to reduce the barriers that restrict access to effective BCBA supervision. Nicole herself has supe...
Dec 07, 2021•38 min•Ep. 26
It’s our 25th episode! To celebrate, we thought we’d talk about the top five things we wish we knew when we were just starting out as newly minted BCBAs. It’s so important to be sensitive to the cultures of our families. Being mindful of cultural competency and where parents are coming from should always be a factor when developing treatment plans. Daily normal activities such as eating can have nuances that are culturally specific, and we should never assume a one-size-fits-all approach when wo...
Nov 30, 2021•14 min•Ep. 25
Latocia Robins is the owner of Auspice ABA Services in Louisiana. Her company provides services for individuals aged two to adult. Latocia’s vision came out of noticing a lack of services being provided to those in the school system who needed support but didn’t have an autism diagnosis. She uses ABA to help clients with mental disorders like ADHD and OD and provides services to those struggling with addiction. When treating adults with addictive behaviors, ABA offers a treatment solution that p...
Nov 23, 2021•27 min•Ep. 24
In the How To ABA community, we’re always looking for ways to support each other. We decided to take some time to share some of our biggest failures to help others learn from our mistakes and perhaps do things differently. Shayna shares that one of her first-ever clients didn’t flourish under her leadership because she felt she had neglected one of his biggest interests. It was a missed opportunity to build up his motivation and today, she would have approached the situation from a different ang...
Nov 16, 2021•19 min•Ep. 23
Staff training is an important part of our jobs. Whether you’re with supervisees, RBTs, or teachers, knowing your audience and having realistic expectations going into the training makes all the difference. Don’t assume that your audience knows as much as you do about the topic you’re presenting on and always start with what they understand. Set easy, attainable goals and consider using breakout groups to make things interactive. Adding video is another great way to mix things up and keep people...
Nov 09, 2021•15 min•Ep. 22
Angie Pickering lives in Portland, OR, and has a lot of interesting things going on. She started her career as a typical 9-to-5 clinic-based ABA in 2006 and has watched the field evolve over the years. Angie sees ABA as being in a sort of reflective period and moving towards more client-centered care, which is exciting. Six months ago, she decided to take a leap and started her own consulting business. Angie delivers focused training for staff at various clinics and teaches at Portland State Uni...
Nov 02, 2021•24 min•Ep. 21
Chris Collins is an RBT and the founder of ABAid Suncoast, a non-profit organization in Florida that helps remove barriers to entry into treatment for autism. Chris had a desire to create something that would offer direct support to clinics and provide financial assistance to families for diagnostics and treatment options. There are many children who can benefit from ABA services but because they don’t have an official diagnosis, insurance won’t cover their treatment, forcing families to pay out...
Oct 26, 2021•26 min•Ep. 20
We received such amazing feedback on our burnout episode that we decided to do a follow-up based on our top five daily habits. Simple things like waking up early or carving out five to ten quiet minutes each day to yourself can make a huge difference in your day. Activities like exercise, enjoying dinner with family, and a daily gratitude practice are non-negotiables for us. Schedules and to-do lists also help us effectively move through the day and we each do them a bit differently. There’s no ...
Oct 19, 2021•19 min•Ep. 19
BCBA Rosa Casali has been practicing ABA for 13 years and is the founder of Behavior Solutions Inc. Her firm provides in-home care for families in the Miami area. Rosa has a master’s degree in mental health counseling and fell in love with ABA after taking an advanced course in the subject. She knew she wanted to help children and their families and becoming a BCBA was a hands-on way of doing so. Miami is a melting pot of cultures and Rosa’s been able to learn from people of all kinds of backgro...
Oct 12, 2021•29 min•Ep. 18
Tammy Kaiser is an RBT with a master’s degree in Jewish education. She’s planning on taking the BCBA exam in the spring and is also working on her Doctor of Science in Jewish studies. Tammy’s goal is to use her diverse background to look at the world of ABA through a lens of faith-based values. As a survivor of a mass shooting, Tammy also had to recover from a traumatic brain injury and PTSD. When she learned about ABA at a previous job, she realized that she had a unique perspective and mindset...
Oct 05, 2021•31 min•Ep. 17
Sonya MacCrimmon is a life coach with a background in ABA. She made her way into ABA after her university program in psychology. Part of her curriculum included a learning disabilities course which piqued her interest and led her to a summer camp job, working with special needs children. Sonya worked as a BCBA at an agency for five and a half years and made her way into a supervisory position. Going through the pandemic made her think more about her own personal development and mindfulness, even...
Sep 28, 2021•31 min•Ep. 16
We’ve read so many books throughout our careers that we’d love to share with our audience. Below is a shortlist of recommended reading within this episode that can help you become a better BCBA. We’d also love to know what’s on your bookshelf, so make sure to connect with us and share! — Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism (Catherine Maurice, Gina Green, et al.) — A Work in Progress (Ron Leaf) — Early Start Denver Model (Sally J. Rogers and Geraldine Dawson) — The Behavior Cod...
Sep 21, 2021•14 min•Ep. 15
Patricia Williams is a BCaBA from Jamaica and a longtime member of How to ABA. She works in an international school on the island and began her career as a high school teacher. After observing students in her classes with behavioral issues, she studied special education and began using the techniques she learned. Patricia eventually began her own private school, with many parents enrolling their autistic children there because it poses fewer challenges than the regular school system. She also ju...
Sep 14, 2021•36 min•Ep. 14
Jeremy Brown (Executive Director) and Jacqueline Thweatt-Burton (Assistant Director) of Certified Behavior Health Services serve rural areas across the states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Demand for services is high in these areas and it can be a challenge for practitioners due to long drive times to and from clients. Most of their work within the community is in-home, and the parents are grateful to be able to have access to professionals. The biggest hurdles for Jeremy and Jacquelin...
Sep 07, 2021•31 min•Ep. 13
The BCBA field can be very demanding, especially when you’re first starting out. If you’re not managing your time properly or creating healthy boundaries, you can easily find yourself heading towards burnout. Fortunately, there are plenty of steps you can take to ease the overwhelm so that you have the energy to do your job well and make the most of your downtime. Learning how to say “no” is an important skill to develop. It can be hard to turn down opportunities, especially with clients who may...
Aug 31, 2021•13 min•Ep. 12
Summer Mingo is the cofounder of South Georgia Behavior Associates. She started her career in marketing and PR and realized she was uninspired by it. Someone close to her received ABA services when they were younger, and she decided to pursue a profession where she knew she could have a positive impact on her community. Summer’s practice focuses on building systems and environments around a family’s lifestyle and involves them heavily in their service model. They plan for generalization and indi...
Aug 24, 2021•35 min•Ep. 11
Early childhood intervention specialist and BCBA Lisa Cvetnich work with children from birth to age 3. After finishing her undergraduate education, she began working in a preschool program for children with emotional and behavioral disorders. Lisa then obtained a master’s degree in early childhood/special education and got her ABA certification in 2016. Her advice for teachers who are just starting out is to not be afraid to ask for help when you don’t have the answers and to know the ethical co...
Aug 17, 2021•36 min•Ep. 10
Vidya Banerjee is the mother of an autistic teenager. At 18 months, she noticed her son was no longer hitting his milestones and experiencing some behavior regression. During a visit to the US, Vidya’s mother-in-law suggested that they seek out information on autism. Although it would take about a year to get an official diagnosis, Vidya and her husband learned all that they could. Her advice to parents is to seek out professional advice as soon as you can, because the sooner you’re able to acce...
Aug 10, 2021•29 min•Ep. 9
One of the challenges we can face as BCBAs is a difference in culture between us and the families we work with. We can also sometimes encounter language barriers. Ashley Cabral is a BCBA from Massachusetts who works at an in-home agency, primarily with Portuguese-speaking clients. As a bilingual BCBA, she’s able to help her families navigate through a new diagnosis in the language they know best. The biggest gap when working with culturally diverse clients is access to information. Much of the m...
Aug 03, 2021•28 min•Ep. 8
Dayna Parker is the Director of ABA at Peak Behavioral Health, a multidisciplinary clinic in Oklahoma. Her journey is inspiring and relatable to those of us in the field who know things don’t always come easy. Starting out in elementary education, she later changed her major to special education after getting an opportunity to work with an autistic boy from her church. Dayna then went on to pursue her master’s degree and struggled to get the hours needed for BCBA certification. Having moved from...
Jul 27, 2021•41 min•Ep. 7
In today’s episode of How To ABA, we’re talking to Jaime Santana, owner of Santana Behavioural Services. We were so excited to chat with him because he knows so much about caring for adults. We talk about how important it is to focus on these services since most of what’s available are geared towards children. We discuss the need for a shift in focus from generalized instruction towards skills training specific to each person’s environment. It’s important to get adults to a place of independence...
Jul 20, 2021•32 min•Ep. 6
Today we are talking with Farrah Benson, a BCBA and preschool teacher, from her classroom in South Carolina. Farrah has a lot to share about the importance of ABA in the classroom and what she and teachers like her can do to make that happen. Embedding ABA into the classroom is all about blending it into daily activities. Farrah gives us some great examples of how she does this in her day to day. Working with 3-year-olds, she has to make sure ABA is worked in simultaneously and not relying on ta...
Jul 13, 2021•37 min•Ep. 5
Today, we are talking with a guest, Katerina “Kat” Savino. As a BCBA working in a multidisciplinary clinic and as a mentor to future BCBA’s with Simmons University, Kat has a lot of advice and insight to share. Her background started very similar to Shira’s, moving into ABA from Special Education, she notes how impactful that background has been on her career as a BCBA. As a former Special Education teacher, Kat has worked with multiple disciplines since early on in her career, giving her the op...
Jul 06, 2021•27 min•Ep. 4
We’re back, and we are highlighting How to ABA’s other half, Shira. Shira is sharing what brought her to the field of ABA and the journey of creating How to ABA, as well as advice for fresh BCBA’s. I (Shira) started off on a not so straight path in my career. I was very interested in working with kids and early interventions, but the options out there just weren't for me. After leaving a physical therapy program, I began a master’s in Special Education and became a teacher. After so many experie...
Jun 29, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Welcome to the second episode of How to ABA! Today, we start off with a spotlight on Shayna, and we hear a little bit about her background and start in ABA, where she is now, as well as some practical tips she has for new BCBAs. I (Shayna) have been a BCBA since 2005 but I’ve been working in the field of ABA since 1997. After graduating in 1997 with a degree in psychology, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I ended up getting a job in sales and marketing, but it wasn’t long before I found that i...
Jun 21, 2021•26 min•Ep. 2
Hello and welcome! We are Shira and Shayna and we are so excited to bring you our first podcast episode of How to ABA ! We are both BCBAs with over twenty years of experience, and as you can imagine, we have created and gathered so many resources in that time. We want to share them with you! That’s why we are here, and that’s why we created this podcast. If you are new to the world of ABA, are looking for new resources, or just looking for a fresh perspective, you’re in the right place! What is ...
Jun 17, 2021•9 min•Season 1Ep. 1
