We are baaaaaack! Kelly, BCBA for 21 years, and Jen, mom to Dylan and Ethan talk through the best way to approach doctor's appointments with your autistic child. With nearly 40-80% of autistic individuals having medical co-morbidities, going to the doctor is not for the faint of heart for families. Listen to a caregiver's perspective over the years and how ABA providers can help support these appointments. The Association for Science in Autism Treatment has fantastic resources to share with medical providers. You can find them here: For Medical Professionals - Association for Science in Autis ..read more

Studies show that individuals with ASD have greater medical fears as compared to their peers. Kelly & Jen share their experience, strategies and research related to blood draws from their perspectives with their children who are now fully comfortable and independent in getting their blood drawn after years of stress! Information: ⁠A pilot study to improve venipuncture compliance in children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders - PMC (nih.gov)⁠⁠Blood Work Parents.pdf (autismspeaks.org)⁠ Sponsored by: ⁠Cite Pro ..read more

Kelly and Jen do I deep dive into the video, Assume That I Can, released on World Down's Syndrome Day, and talk about how our ethics code, 2.09, Involving Clients and Stakeholders and this video intersect into preference assessments for the purpose of assent and goal development ..read more

Kelly and Jen are joined by Meghan Herron, Director of Research and Development from Easterseals, Southern California to discuss her research looking at measuring Quality of Life as an outcome for ABA services and discuss how this can be considered by any ABA practitioner, working alongside families. Questionnaires - kidscreen.org Sponsored by: Cite Pro ..read more

There is research that suggests that individuals on the autism spectrum experience a much lower quality of life than nonautistic individuals across the lifespan. Quality of Life can be measured by happiness, which is considered a private event by behavior analysts. Indices of happiness are those observable behaviors that likely signal happiness, including smiling, laughing, and the absence of challenging behaviors. Both leisure skills and recreational skills are all ways to be happy yet are not often taught or included in programming or households living with autism. Kely & Jen dive into ..read more

Kelly talks about her new book, including programming social skills intentionally to include group learning for children, and the difference between curriculum-based and activity and individualized learning. Buy her book here: The Group Experience – Different Roads (difflearn.com) Sponsored by Cite Pro ..read more

Kelly and Jen talk with long-time RBT's Stephanie and Salvador about how they have managed to stay in the field for so long, and the real ways BCBA's and families can help support and prevent burnout. It's pretty real concrete and not rocket science ..read more

A new trend in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis is for parents to be the Behavior Therapist/RBT for their child while being supervised by a BCBA. Kelly and Jen discuss this trend from their perspective of their 20 years of experience. Article referenced: https://bhbusiness.com/2024/01/09/parents-are-desperate-parent-led-aba-provides-tantalizing-remedy-to-autism-therapys-challenges/ Sponsored by: Cite Pro ..read more

Kelly and Jen talk about each of their perspectives regarding fulfilling the recommended hours of authorization. Some ABA companies often refer a family there to another agency if they do not commit to being able to use all of the hours. What do you think ..read more

Families raising a child on the autism spectrum are faced with many different types of therapy and alternative options to try and help their child. Most are not evidence-based, some may even be harmful, while others may have a different, yet positive outcome than intended. Kelly & Jen talk about how families may make decisions and how BCBAs can follow their ethics code with kindness to help support and make decisions. Sponsored by: Cite Pro ..read more