As summer starts to get underway, so do the cries of boredom. Summertime activities don’t have to be complicated or expensive. Sometimes it just takes a little bit of creative thinking, and you can turn your backyard into a beach, drive-in movie theater, or ice cream shop. One of my favorite things to do is to create a bucket list… Read More
15 Cheap and Easy Summertime Activities to Fill your Summer Bucket List
My Top Three Ways to Deliver Effective Behavior-Specific Praise
You might be wondering why behavior-specific praise is a topic I often discuss? Well, it happens to be one of the CHEAPEST and MOST EFFECTIVE strategies in your positive reinforcement toolbox? Do you find that saying “good job” all the time feels dull and insincere? All you need are a few key components, and you can step up your praise… Read More
Four Simple Ways to Use a 4:1 Ratio of Positive Praise That Actually Work
Do you use the 4:1 ratio when giving praise? According to Aubrey Daniels, “By definition, the 4:1 ratio is four positives to one negative. What many don’t understand is that in order to shape the behavior you want, you must provide enough positive reinforcement for that behavior to become consistent. This is a great tool to use in business, sports,… Read More
The ABCs of Behavior
Have you ever felt if you could just understand your child (or student’s) challenging behavior, you’d be better able to help them? The ABCs of behavior (also known as the three-term contingency) is one of the easiest ways to discover why a challenging behavior is occurring. What does A-B-C stand for? The ABC in a three-term contingency stands for antecedent, behavior,… Read More
Boom Cards™: A Digital Solution for Student Programming and Materials
I am here to tell you that Boom Cards™, are changing the way I look helping students access learning materials. As a BCBA in a public-school setting, I typically work hand in hand with the special educators on my team. Together we make plans for how to best adapt learning materials for students, modify teaching programs to match IEP objectives,… Read More
Trade a Toy Method for Sharing
Have you tried the “trade a toy” method when teaching your child(ren) how to share? Sharing is a complex skill that requires higher-level thinking; however, with some gentle coaching, you can easily set your child up for success. Before I dive in, I want to explain that this is just ONE of many different schools of thought out there. The “trade… Read More
Behavior Tip Tuesday Roundup | Shaping, Extinction & Teaching Replacement Behaviors
Shaping When you shape a behavior you provide reinforcement for behaviors that are incrementally closer to the targeted behavior. In other words, you reinforce the “baby steps” when teaching a new skill or behavior. If you decided you wanted to run a 5K, but have never run a day in your life (and in fact, you seriously regret signing up.)… Read More
How to Help Your Child Adapt to Wearing a Mask
How can I encourage my child to keep a mask on his or her face? Helping your child adapt to wearing a mask is a topic that has raised concerns with parents everywhere. Whether you are currently living in a state where wearing a mask (for children over age 2) is now mandatory, or you just want to ensure protection… Read More
Translated Behavior Infographics (Spanish | French | Croatian)
I am excited to announce that some of your favorite infographics are now available in Spanish, French, and Croatian. This blog post contains a picture of each translated infographic, along with a link to the original blog post. Just click on the title to read more about each topic. You can also grab a printable PDF version of each by… Read More
Distance Learning Made Easy
Now that we are several weeks into distance learning, I figured it was the right time to ask, “How is it going?” Many of the families I work with are expressing concerns about engagement in addition to wondering how they can ensure that their child’s schoolwork gets completed. There are many different distance learning strategies that I typically suggest, some… Read More
Indoor/Outdoor Scavenger Hunt
Do your children typically display “better behavior” on days with structured activities? For many, free time is not productive. Young children do not have the ability to be self-directed. Unstructured time leads to statements of boredom, extra snack requests, and may even result in challenging behavior. By now, many of us have been home, engaging in social isolation, for approximately… Read More
Availability Cards: A Tool for Parents Working from Home
It has been about a week since our lives drastically changed. Without much notice, many of you found yourself thrust into working from home, while simultaneously homeschooling your children. Like others, I assume you feel pulled in two directions. Families everywhere are in a similar position, trying to conduct Zoom meetings and meet deadlines while also trying to keep their… Read More
Behavior Tip Tuesday: Positive Reinforcement
What if I told you that positive reinforcement involves more than just rewards? Positive reinforcement is the addition of a stimulus, which increases the likelihood of a behavior happening again in the future. It is one small part of a larger concept – operant conditioning. In my experience, the concepts of reinforcement and punishment are the hardest to understand in… Read More
Tips for Avoiding or Defusing a Power Struggle
A few days ago, I posted an infographic that provided twelve tips for avoiding or defusing a power struggle. My goal for this poster was to give parents (and professionals) multiple strategies that they could use if they found themselves entrenched in a power struggle with their child. Often, I hear people say the best way to avoid a power… Read More
Premack Principle
Premack Principle sounds like a complex concept, however, it is a contingency that you encounter every day. Everyone knows that grandma’s rule is to eat your veggies before you can have dessert. But did you know that this simple theory can also apply to many other situations? In fact, many of you are probably already using this strategy without realizing… Read More
FBA’s vs. BIP’s: A Quick Reference Guide
When you have a child with academic, social, or behavioral challenges, your goal is to provide them with the best support available. But how do you ensure that teachers and therapists effectively meet the needs of your child? For many families, the creation of an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) accomplishes this goal. An IEP is a legal document that outlines… Read More
Behavioral Momentum
What is behavioral momentum? Do you ever have one of those days where you think to yourself; “If I could just get the ball rolling, I would be able to get so much more done.”? Enter BEHAVIORAL MOMENTUM. Behavioral momentum (which is also known as a high-probability request sequence) is “an antecedent intervention in which two to five easy tasks… Read More
Let’s Achieve Interactive Book Series
Does your child or student benefit from repetition, or are they typically more successful when work activities look “fun”? Interactive books are just the thing you need! An interactive book is a great way to teach and practice basic skills. These books feature 16 pre-academic and fine-motor tasks. Use interactive books to keep your children or students actively engaged in… Read More
Follow Through
If you feel as though your children are frequently pushing boundaries, making it difficult to set limits, you may need to work on your follow through? When you follow through, you show your child that they can trust you because you mean what you say. In the ABA world, this concept is often linked with having instructional control. When you… Read More
The Pairing Process
The pairing process or “building rapport” is a topic that I love teaching to others. For teachers and other school professionals, it is a quick and effortless way to gain instructional control; however, it is a concept that parents can utilize as well. Day-to-day life can be stressful. Parents balance the struggle of having to maintain order within their households… Read More
Functions of Behavior
If you have worked with a BCBA in the past, it is likely that you have heard the term FUNCTIONS OF BEHAVIOR. BCBAs look at functions in order to determine WHY specific behaviors are occurring. Then they develop a document called a Behavior Support Plan or BSP. It contains the definitions of challenging behavior, antecedent strategies, replacement behaviors, and consequence… Read More
Snap Together Stories
Snap Together Stories are the perfect addition to the millions of building bricks you have scattered around. Do you have a child who enjoys playing with LEGOs? A few years ago when I was working as a special education teacher, I had a classroom full of boys who LOVED LEGOs. I searched high and low for brick design cards to… Read More
Behavior Specific Praise
Behavior specific praise is an important aspect of positive reinforcement. Children are constantly looking for attention from the adults in their life. Yet, that attention is often delivered following a negative behavior. For example: A child who follows their bedtime routine on the first request will often get less attention than the child running around refusing to go to bed…. Read More
Offering Controlled Choices
Arguing with your child about every little thing can be exhausting, am I right? Enter CONTROLLED CHOICE-MAKING. Giving your child the power to make choices is an important strategy for any parent. It allows children to have some control over their own lives. Which in turn can help you avoid those dreaded power struggles. With controlled choices, children are given… Read More
