This month’s ASAT article comes to us from Mi Trinh, BA, and Executive Director David Celiberti, PhD, BCBA-D, Association for Science in Autism Treatment. To learn more about ASAT, please visit their website at www.asatonline.org. You can also sign up for ASAT’s free newsletter, Science in Autism Treatment, and like them on Facebook! Description Learning how to interact and engage with other children is among the many social challenges that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) confront, with some finding even minimal social interaction difficult. Including siblings ..read more

By Kelly (McKinnon) Bermingham, MA, BCBA, author of The Group Experience and co-author of Social Skills Solutions: A Hands-on Manual There is a long history of evidence and research indicating that early intervention is one of the most successful measures of autism spectrum disorder symptom reduction (ASD). In 2001, The National Research Council convened a panel of many of the most well-recognized national experts in the treatment of autism at the time. This panel was charged with integrating scientific literature and creating a framework for evaluating the scientific evidence concerning the ..read more

This article was reposted with permission from Stages Learning Life is filled with constant multi-step directions and processes. That’s why a common elementary project is to have students write exact directions to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Their peers are then told to only do exactly what the directions say. As you might imagine, hilarity ensues—inevitably some steps are missing, like “Open the jelly jar” or “Spread the peanut butter evenly across (one or both slices) of bread.” Peers will stare confusedly at jars or pile massive amounts of peanut butter on the bread ..read more

This month’s ASAT article comes to us from Preeti Chojar, MCA, ASAT Parent Board Member. To learn more about ASAT, please visit their website at www.asatonline.org. You can also sign up for ASAT’s free newsletter, Science in Autism Treatment, and like them on Facebook! I am a parent who has a home-based ABA program. We are fortunate to hold monthly meetings with all of the providers that work with my child. I am looking for some ideas on how to make the most of these meetings. Any suggestions? It is terrific that your team meets monthly! Collaboration and consistency among ..read more

This article has been reposted with permission from Action Behavior Centers. In the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy, ABA therapists perform techniques to help children with autism or other developmental disorders improve their social, communicative, and behavioral skills. ABA autism therapy involves breaking down complex skills into smaller, more manageable steps, and using positive reinforcement to encourage the child to learn and practice these skills. ABA therapists and behavioral technicians will often use visual aids, such as pictures and charts, to help c ..read more

By Morgan van Diepen, M.Ed., BCBA, Co-owner of ABA Visualized Developing and disseminating Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs) is a crucial and common approach for providing effective support for individuals who exhibit challenging behaviors. These individualized plans are designed to decrease these behaviors that impede learning and pose safety risks. However, despite their significance, several barriers hinder the realization of desired outcomes. Chances are, you’ve encountered some of these barriers firsthand and perhaps have even experienced feelings of burnout or imposter syndrome as a re ..read more

This article was reposted with permission from Stages. Using Routines and Pre-Correction in the Classroom for Autistic Students What is the best way to address a problem behavior? Before it happens! Procedures and routines paired with pre-correction strategies are evidence-based interventions for supporting autistic students. Instead of waiting for a challenge to arise and reacting to it, use proactive strategies to reduce opportunities for negative behaviors to occur. When you front-load lessons by pre-teaching expectations, students know exactly how to behave in the setting—and through repe ..read more

This article has been reposted with permission from Action Behavior Centers. When it comes to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has proven to be a transformative approach, offering individuals with autism the tools they need to reach their full potential. As ABA therapists and clinicians dedicate themselves to improving the lives of their patients, it’s possible to overlook their own well-being in the process. The demanding nature of the profession, combined with the emotionally rewarding yet occasionally draining day-to-day operations highlights the undeniable i ..read more

On more than one occasion, I’ve been in the situation that a student will only demonstrate a skill in my presence. And I’ve heard from other colleagues that they have had similar experiences. This is highly problematic. When it happens with one of my students, there is only one person I can blame: myself.  A skill that a student can only demonstrate in my presence is a pretty useless skill and does nothing to promote independence. So what do you do when you find yourself in this situation? You reteach, with a focus on generalization. This means that, from the very beginning, you are teac ..read more

This article was originally an ASAT feature. It comes to us from Alan Schnee, PhD, BCBA-D. To learn more about ASAT, please visit their website at www.asatonline.org. You can also sign up for ASAT’s free newsletter, Science in Autism Treatment, and like them on Facebook! I’ve been teaching children with ASD for many years. Often my attempts to teach WH questions are unsuccessful. While children learn some rote responses, once I attempt to generalize to new situations, children seem to confuse questions. For example, if I ask a child, “Where did you eat?” the ..read more