Dr. Aaron Blocher-Rubin joins me in Session 232 to talk providing ABA services as a non-profit agency. Aaron is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Arizona Autism United , a multi-site provider of ABA and other therapeutic services. In this conversation, we talk about how Aaron got into Behavior Analysis, what led him to found the agency he now runs, supporting the family along with the client, and the importance of offering a variety of services. We also spent a considerable amount of ...
Jul 19, 2023•2 hr 35 min•Ep 232•Transcript available on Metacast In the 9th installment of the Apollo Case Study Series, I'm joined by Jim Moore , Valencia Harper , Chesley Herring , and Lauren Elliott . And in this show, we discuss all things mentorship, both at Apollo, as well as the guests' other professional experiences. In particular, we got into: Defining mentorship The importance of saying, "I don't know" The importance of asking questions Common needs of mentees Apollo's BAT program Why BCBAs need communities And the idea that, "closed mouths don't ge...
Jul 07, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep 231•Transcript available on Metacast Today's guest is Dr. John Austin, who has been in the OBM trenches as a student, professor, and frontline consultant for over 20 years. Before continuing with the usual opening remarks, I'm going to make a rare ask of you. Two asks actually. This is perhaps one of the most actionable podcasts I've published. If you listen to this show and act on some of the suggestions, you can improve your practice right away. And that's not hyperbole. So the first ask is to make sure you listen to the show in ...
Jun 16, 2023•2 hr 31 min•Ep 230•Transcript available on Metacast This is a conversation I've really been looking forward to sharing with you. Jose Rios is a legend in our field, particularly if you're a behavior analyst in California, where he's based out of. In this conversation, Jose recounts his more than 50 year career in providing ABA services to individuals with developmental disabilities. We cover the following: How he got started in the field at the tender age of 17. What the field of ABA was like in the early 70s. What it takes to provide amazing exp...
Jun 08, 2023•2 hr 38 min•Ep 229•Transcript available on Metacast The Apollo Case Study Series returns with a conversation that many Behavior Analysts will likely resonate with. In this episode, I speak with Kristen Vaughn , Vice President of Clinical Operations of Apollo Behavior . We discuss her career arc, and focus on her transition from providing mainly clinical services to her current role in executive management. We cover her early clinical experiences, what it's like to get direct and perhaps difficult to hear feedback, the challenges of letting go of ...
Jun 01, 2023•56 min•Ep 228•Transcript available on Metacast In the 15th installment of the Inside JABA Series, Editor and Chief Dr. John Borrero and I chat with Drs. Lesleigh Stinson and Jesse Dallery about their novel application of a Contingency Management intervention. In this case, they used CM procedures to reduce excessive social media use. Lesleigh is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Florida's Center for Behavioral Economic Health Research , and Jesse is a Professor of Psychology, also at UF. If you're not sure what Contingency Manag...
May 25, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep 227•Transcript available on Metacast Problemas Pediátricos de la Alimentación con la Dra Varsovia Hernández Eslava Aunque el tema de este episodio se centra en problemas pediátricos de la alimentación, la Dra Varsovia Hernandez Eslava nos comparte una muy interesante trayectoria profesional y un panorama e historia del análisis de la conducta en México. De aquella mirada inicial pasamos a una nueva panorámica muy detallada de los problemas pediátricos de la alimentación empezando por describir qué son y de ahí a conocer los proceso...
May 22, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep 226•Transcript available on Metacast In Session 225, Shira Karpel and Shayna Gaunt from How To ABA return to the show to discuss a recent webinar that they provided for their online community (note: see here for their first appearance on the podcast). Their talk discussed code element 1.10, from the Behavior Analysis Certification Board's Ethics Codes for Behavior Analysts . For a quick recap, it reads as follows: 1.10 Awareness of Personal Biases and Challenges • Behavior analysts maintain awareness that their personal biases or c...
May 15, 2023•54 min•Ep 225•Transcript available on Metacast Many-time guest Dr. Andy Bondy returns to the podcast for a fun chat. Our conversation centered around a recent talk he gave which was titled, "Verbal Behavior: Myths and Misconceptions." What myths and misconceptions are we talking about here? Well, I certainly don't want to spoil the podcast, but we did manage to cover a wide variety of topics, including: PECS' Certified Classroom process. The conceptual rather than data-based nature of the Verbal Behavior book itself. Recall versus recognitio...
May 05, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep 224•Transcript available on Metacast This is a fun conversation to share, not only because it involves chatting with three very smart grad students from my alma mater, Auburn University , but also because the topic tackles an issue that is outside of what we might consider the "mainstream" of Applied Behavior Analysis. A few months ago, Ashley Anderson , Daniel Sheridan , and Anna Kate Edgemon reached out to me, and informed me of the great work they're doing supporting justice-involved youth in a juvenile detention setting. As I l...
Apr 17, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Ep 223•Transcript available on Metacast El Balance entre la Ciencia y la Cultura con la Dra. Corina Jimenez Gomez A la Dra Corina Jimenez Gomez le gusta “echar cuentos”. Ella lo atribuye a como fue criada y a su amor a la literatura. En otras palabras, lo atribuye “al reforzamiento diferencial de su conducta verbal”. Tengo que admitir que como Venezolano tenía un gran interés de hablar con una paisana con quien comparto algunas nostalgias y experiencias de emigrante pero también un orgullo y admiración por alguien que puede navegar en...
Apr 06, 2023•1 hr•Ep 222•Transcript available on Metacast In Session 221, I had the opportunity to talk with Melissa Willa and Colin Davitian. These guys are a husband and wife team who founded the ABA provider, Kyo , formerly known as the Gateway Learning Group. Our conversation focused on two hot-button topics when it comes to providing services to individuals with Autism: Treatment Dosage and Value Based Care. With regard to the former, Melissa and Colin, along with their colleagues, conducted a retrospective analysis of treatment outcomes for learn...
Apr 03, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Ep 221•Transcript available on Metacast Drs. Jason Vladescu, Lauren Schnell, and Jessica Day-Watkins join me in Session 220 to talk about their research in training parents and caregivers on safe sleeping habits for infants. As you'll learn, there are sleeping practices that are recommended by Pediatric groups that reduce the likelihood of Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUIDs) in general, and Accidental Suffocation and Strangulation in Bed (ASSB) incidents. If those are new terms to you, don't worry, we get into what they mean, how ...
Mar 24, 2023•2 hr 35 min•Ep 220•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Greg Hanley returns to Behavioral Observations for another round of fun conversation on the assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior. This show gets into the weeds of the Practical Functional Assessment/Skills-Based Treatment Process right away, so if you have nuanc-ey questions or concerns about PFA/SBT, this is the show for you. In this segment of the show, we discuss the changes his company, FTF, had to roll with over the last few years, what he and his colleagues are up to now...
Mar 11, 2023•2 hr 15 min•Ep 219•Transcript available on Metacast In Session 218 of Behavioral Observations, Troy Fry joins me to talk about his long career in Behavior Analysis helping individuals with disabilities improve their quality of life by learning meaningful skills. In particular, we discussed: How he found his way to Behavior Analysis at a time when it wasn't nearly as seemingly ubiquitous as it is today. What it was like to be mentored by Ray Miltenberger, Don Baer, Barbara Etzel, Montrose Wolf, and more. How Troy became colleagues with Pat McGreev...
Feb 28, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep 218•Transcript available on Metacast En esta segunda sesión de la serie de Behavioral Observations para Hispanohablantes, el Dr. Luis Morales Knight vuelve a compartir su experiencia como Psicólogo Clínico. Esta vez centra su historia de origen en resaltar sus experiencias en el análisis de comportamiento tradicional que lo llevaron a su práctica utilizando ACT y Psicoterapia Analítico-Funcional. El Dr. Knight enfatiza la importancia de una base teórica sólida para mejorar la práctica. Comparte su transición a la telemedicina impul...
Feb 24, 2023•50 min•Ep 218•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Lina Slim joins me in Session 217 for a wide-ranging conversation that is almost impossible to describe in a list of bullet points. But I will try... In this show we discussed: Her pivot from studying animal behavior and language to teaching children with Autism. Her unease with seeing lackluster applications of ABA. Starting her own school while earning her Ph.D., while raising two children. Providing services all over the world. Detecting your own biases when providing services ( please ch...
Feb 21, 2023•53 min•Ep 217•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Sal Ruiz and I recorded a long overdue podcast where we went over all things SAFMEDS, Instructional Design, best practices for online learning, and much more. In this podcast we covered a lot of ground, but I think one of the most interesting things I took from the conversation are the procedural variations that have been explored. It turns out that there are some ways to do SAFMEDS that lead to better results depending on what outcomes you're looking for. We also explore instructional desig...
Feb 13, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep 216•Transcript available on Metacast Editor’s note: A few months ago, my friend Miguel Avila and I thought it would be fun to offer some Behavioral Observations content to Spanish speaking ABA professionals, parents, and other folks who would enjoy it. Thanks to Miguel’s hard work, we have a few shows recorded, and more in the works. Our plan is to release about one episode a month for a few months. If you know folks who would be interested in these episodes, please consider sharing it with them. Lastly, we’d like to thank Essentia...
Jan 31, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep 215•Transcript available on Metacast I've been asked many times to highlight the work of Registered Behavioral Technicians, and in this installment of the Apollo Case Study Series , we do just that. Dr. Jim Moore , Rachel Packiam (Director of Clinical Excellence), Christina Halverson (RBT Training Coordinator), and Emily Jackson (Lead RBT) joined me to discuss Apollo's unique organizational strategies for onboarding and training their RBTs. As you'll learn in this episode, by the time an RBT works 1:1 with a child, they have had th...
Jan 23, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep 214•Transcript available on Metacast Thanks so much for checking out installment number 14 in the Inside JABA Series on Behavioral Observations. Dr. John Borrero, JABA's Editor in Chief, and I are joined by Drs. Brett Gelino and Derek Reed to discuss a novel study that they and their colleagues conducted on the University of Kansas campus. The study, which culminated in the paper, "Tobacco-free policy reduces combustible tobacco byproduct," shows how a group Behavior Analysts teamed up with university policy-makers to craft and eva...
Jan 17, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Ep 213•Transcript available on Metacast This was a really fun episode. Dr. Tim Hackenberg joined me to discuss both what we know, and what we don't know about token economies. This conversation was inspired by my interview with Dr. Matt Brodhead in Session 205, where in listening to that show, Tim picked up on a misstatement of mine. We get into the specifics of this in our interview, but in brief, I made an off-the-cuff comment about token economy research. Thankfully, Tim reached out to me and offered to discuss this issue in more d...
Jan 11, 2023•2 hr 36 min•Ep 212•Transcript available on Metacast It's that time of year again folks. If you're new to the show, every year, I get together with my friends from ABA Inside Track for a Year in Review show, and this year was no different. In this podcast, we went over a handful of happenings in the world of Applied Behavior Analysis. In this episode, we covered: The changes in leadership of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and the Association for Professional Behavior Analysis. What shows from each of our pods resonated with our respectiv...
Dec 28, 2022•52 min•Ep 211•Transcript available on Metacast If you're a long-time listener, you've likely heard me talk about the Verbal Behavior Conference at various points over the last few years. If you're not familiar with the event, it's a two-day workshop that my friends at the Central Texas Autism Center have been putting on for years. What you're about to hear is the panel discussion from the 2022 event, which was the first post-pandemic live event for the conference, which took place, as always, in Austin, Texas. This panel discussion included ...
Dec 21, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep 210•Transcript available on Metacast I'm really excited to chat with Dr. Paulie Gavoni again on the podcast. As long time listeners know, he's been on the show many times, and always brings a down-to-earth, practical point of view to what we do as Behavior Analysts. In preparation for a talk at the recent Hoosier Association for Behavior Analysis event, Paulie did a deep dive on characteristics of bad leadership. It went over very well, and we thought it would make for an informative podcast episode. And Paulie presents his finding...
Dec 02, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep 209•Transcript available on Metacast Editor's Note: I generally publish three episodes a month, but I wanted to share this bonus, fourth episode with you as I know there will be a lot of people embarking on road trips in the coming days. As such, I’ve chosen one of my earliest interviews to re-release, and it’s my first interview with Dr. Pat Friman (originally released in August of 2016!?!?), who as many of you know, went on to appear in several more Behavioral Observations Episodes. What I will say though is that if you’re listen...
Nov 23, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep 207•Transcript available on Metacast In the 6th installment of the Apollo Case Study Series, I'm joined by my regular conversation partner, Dr. Jim Moore , along with Christina Nylander. Christina is a BCBA who works at Apollo's Lawrenceville, GA clinic. In this episode, Christina opens up quite a bit and describes how she encountered Applied Behavior Analysis, her early experiences as an RBT, the mentoring and supervision she's received as a BCBA in the early stages of her career, the value of learning about typical child developm...
Nov 18, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Ep 207•Transcript available on Metacast In Session 206, I spoke with Dr. Melissa Gonzalez, BCBA-D , about Pediatric Feeding Disorders, and what Applied Behavior Analysis can offer in this area. Melissa is the Clinical Therapy Director at the Siskin Children's Institute in Chattanooga, Tennessee, arriving there by way of Louisiana State University's Clinical Psychology program and the Kennedy Krieger Institute , amongst other waypoints. In this episode, we discussed how she got into working with individuals with Pediatric Feeding Disor...
Nov 10, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Ep 206•Transcript available on Metacast After a long hiatus, Dr. Matt Brodhead returns to Behavioral Observations. In this episode, we discuss the use of punishment in the context of creating effective, ethical behavioral interventions. Of course, pursuant to the Behavior Analysis Certification Board's Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts , punishment should only be considered, "only after demonstrating that desired results have not been obtained using less intrusive means, or when it is determined by an existing intervention team that t...
Nov 01, 2022•2 hr 42 min•Ep 205•Transcript available on Metacast On November 26th, 2019, the first Inside JABA Series podcast was published. This series was the brainchild of Dr. Linda LeBlanc, who at the time was the incoming Editor in Chief, and I have to say, doing these shows has been a highlight of producing this podcast. As I remind people often, I'm not involved in the production or publication of Behavior Analytic research, so you can imagine how much I've learned about this process in making what is now 13 Inside JABA Series podcast episodes. At the ...
Oct 26, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep 204•Transcript available on Metacast 
