By: Morgan van Diepen, M.Ed., BCBA, Author of ABA Visualized

Many providers feel intimidated by or uncomfortable with the parent training component of ABA services. When I first started in this field, I personally felt extremely out of place giving parents advice on supporting their children, not yet being a parent myself. Over time, I have realized that parent training is not about teaching how to be a better parent but how to incorporate ABA strategies into their daily lives to help them reach their family’s goals. Yet, even with our field’s understanding of how essential parent involvement is in creating positive outcomes and long-lasting change, I often hear providers feel under-prepared to lead effective and engaging parent training. That’s why at ABA Visualized, our books aim to give you the tools you need to lead approachable, engaging parent trainings!

Initial Consult

First impressions are everything! For many families, even having access to a BCBA is a luxury. Some have to navigate through waitlists, limited providers, and insurance barriers, so their first meeting with you is often a sign of hope! To help make that first meeting meaningful, here are our top questions to ask to learn about the family’s values and priorities:

• What do you hope to achieve by receiving behavioral supports?
• Describe what a typical day looks like for you and your child.
• What is the hardest part of your day?
• What strategies are you currently using that are working/helping?
• What specific activities would you like more support with?
• What activities would you like your child to be more independent in? When you imagine them being independent in this, what does it look like?

Choosing Parent Training Goals

Did you know that the average time a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) is implemented correctly is only 7-10 days?! When we ask parents and caregivers to utilize behavior strategies daily, we should be informed of common barriers to prevent them proactively. Research shows that behavior jargon, lack of collaboration with other service providers, limited time, and a lack of agreement between the recommendations and the family’s goals and values are the most significant barriers to effective parent training. How can we improve? By choosing parent training goals that focus on their priority concerns and can easily be embedded into their daily lives! When recommending goals, return to your initial consult notes to ensure that the skills you chose to teach directly align with their reported priorities. Here are some of our favorite parent training goals, as they have the most versatility and impact:

• Parent will engage in 10 minutes of child-led play per day (ABA jargon: “Pairing”)
• Parent will recognize and reward every occurrence of (replacement behavior) (ABA jargon: “DRA”)
• Prior to (common trigger), parent will set their child up for success by (proactive strategy)
• Parent will create opportunities to model functional communication of (specific skill) at least x times per day (SLP jargon: “Aided-language input”)

Leading a Parent Training Session

Now that you have chosen meaningful goals to make an impact, it’s time to teach the skills! Follow these steps to leading an approachable, engaging parent training session:

1. Start with celebrating success! Ask the family to share a recent situation in which their child had a behavioral success & ask them to share something they did recently to support their child’s growth that they feel proud of.
2. Ask about current challenges/concerns. Yes, ask this every session! Priorities change!
3. Choose a parent training skill that relates to their current needs. Be flexible! You may need to change your plan on what you intended to go over in that session.
4. Explain the rationale behind the strategy in the context of how it will help with their current concerns.
5. Teach the skill using various methods until you learn which teaching style works best for that family.
   • Visuals: Many people learn best from visuals! By utilizing step-by-step visuals of how to do the skill, you eliminate language barriers and provide them with a resource they can refer back to between your sessions. In our ABA Visualized Guidebook, we have visualized all of the essential evidence-based ABA strategies!
   • Modeling: Demonstrate how to do the skill in a situation/context that is related to their current concern (e.g., instead of just modeling a standard example of how to use Providing Choices, show how they can offer choices during bedtime routine if that is the trickiest part of their day).
   • Video modeling: Cultural differences impact families’ comfort level in asking clarifying questions. Try recording a video of you demonstrating the skill so they can review and practice it outside of session.

Whichever teaching method you choose, be sure to use approachable, jargon-free language. For example, in our ABA Visualized Guidebook, we’ve renamed Behavior Momentum as “Easy, Easy, Hard” and 3 Step Prompting as “Tell, Show, Help,” making these strategies easier for families to remember, ultimately leading to more success for your clients! Check out our Guidebook for more tips on leading engaging, approachable parent trainings!

About the Author

Our mission at ABA Visualized is to make behavioral expertise approachable, accessible, and relatable. This has been our mission since our first publication in 2018 and continues to guide decisions in everything we do.

As a BCBA working abroad and then with the vibrant international community in Los Angeles, Morgan quickly developed a passion for supporting under-serviced families. She realized the recurring barriers affecting these communities and limiting their access to effective behavioral expertise: long waitlists to learn from expert service providers and an abundance of technical jargon-filled texts. Morgan began to refine her approach to better disseminate behavior strategies to those who truly need it: families and educators.

As an infographic designer, Morgan’s husband, Boudewijn (Bou), naturally understands how visual storytelling can make the unclear, clear and the unknown, known. In a true collaboration between Morgan and Bou’s skillset, their flagship product, the ABA Visualized Guidebook, was created utilizing step-by-step visuals and approachable language to accomplish that sought-after accessible behavior expertise.

Since this publication, ABA Visualized as a company has grown to offer a collection of books and trainings available worldwide. We aim to continue empowering others through approachable education on strategies that can make truly meaningful impacts on individuals’ lives.

Reposted with permission from How To ABA

HRE is a more recent term in ABA that says a learner should be happy, relaxed, and engaged during ABA therapy. But what exactly does happy, relaxed, engaged mean? 

What is Happy, Relaxed, Engaged?

Dr. Gregory Hanley states in his paper, A Perspective on Today’s ABA, that individuals with autism learn better through joy. He says that we should have conversations with our learners about what they love and hate, and use that information to create a context in which they feel happy, relaxed, and engaged during their sessions. 

This helps them to feel safe and in control. So, our functional assessments need to incorporate practical control periods where students are happy, relaxed, and engaged. 

I recently Googled this term in order to give more information to some therapists I work with. And there’s really not a lot of content out there that expands on this terminology. We just assume that everybody knows what happy is, what relaxed is, and what engaged is. But that’s not always the case. So let’s break down those terms. 

Happy

So first of all, let’s look at “happy.” As ABA professionals, we need to get to a place where our student is really comfortable and prepared to learn. What does this look like? They’re content – they may be smiling or laughing – they are definitely not crying or trying to leave the situation. They desire to be in the moment. Period. That’s happy. But sometimes, people can be happy but they’re not always relaxed. 

Relaxed

What does “relaxed” look like? The individual is calm and not at all anxious. If you know the Zones of Regulation, they’re in the green zone. 

Now, let’s say you have a student that your therapist says is relaxed, but when he’s playing with something he gets really revved up. That’s not actually relaxed. We want the student to be calm, cool, and collected. No anxiety, no precursors to challenging behavior. That’s what relaxed means. 

Engaged

Finally, what does “engaged” look like? Actual engagement means participation in activities. If there are toys around and the student is looking at them but not interacting with them (they may or may not be engaging in some stereotypy or self-stimulatory behavior), that is not engagement. True engagement means that your learner is actually interacting with the toys around them. This is also true for activities other than toys.  People can be engaged in any part of the environment around them.  Maybe they’re engaged with you or with the therapist. 

If a student is supposed to be on a movement break, but they’re just standing there doing nothing or engaging in stereotypy, that’s not engaged either. Watch and understand what true engagement looks like for your student and then have a conversation about it with your team so everyone can learn and adjust as needed.

Why is Happy, Relaxed, Engaged Important?

According to Dr. Hanley, when a learner is “happy, relaxed, and engaged,” you can show them that you hear them, see them, and are there for them. He says that a happy, relaxed, and engaged learner is less likely to engage in severe problem behavior, which will allow you to empower them and teach them more challenging skills.

We hope this gives you more insight into HRE.

Check out the How To ABA website for additional resources and free downloads.

About the Authors

Shayna Gaunt, MA, BCBA | With over 20 years in the field of ABA, Shayna is a master program developer. She has a unique knack for finding the practical application of ABA to real-life so that the interventions are doable and successful!

Shayna has been practicing Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) since 1997. In 2005, after graduating with a Masters Degree in ABA from the University of Nevada Reno (UNR), she was one of the first in Ontario, Canada to obtain her BCBA. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Kid Mechanix, Inc. in Toronto, Canada, where she met Shira Karpel.

Shayna also has international experience, providing clinical expertise and training workshops to clients in Canada, United States, Costa Rica, England, Egypt and Qatar.

Because of her extensive training in a wide variety of interventions over the years, Shayna has a knack for developing unique, practical programs that teach across operants. She seriously thinks in data sheets!!!!

Shayna’s super-power is her ability to explain complex ABA principles in practical, relatable terms. She is a master program-developer and most of what you see in The Bx Resource is her ABA-mind put down on paper.  As a member of The Bx Resource, you get the privilege of learning from her and leveraging all that ABA knowledge for your own practice!

Shira Karpel, M.ED, BCBA | As a former teacher, Shira is passionate about spreading the benefits of ABA to more children.  She envisions a world where ABA is the go-to, accepted intervention in classrooms and homes everywhere!  She is the co-founder of How to ABA which was started to create a community where all BCBAs and ABA professionals can get support and resources so that clients can get the best treatment possible.

Shira has a Masters in Special Education and then went on to pursue her BCBA.  With extensive supervision and training (ahem, thanks Shayna!!), she has been working in the field of ABA since 2011.  Together with Shayna, they trained, and taught many therapists, clients, and parents and collected a massive bank of ABA programs and resources.  One day, the light bulb went off and Shira said, “We should be sharing all of this!” Hence, How to ABA was born!

Her passion is in creating positive, comprehensive learning environments for all students.  She loves that with her knowledge in ABA, she can now support teachers in their classrooms.  She is the Director of Behavioural Services at a private school in Toronto and is loving getting to make a difference in the lives of children and families daily. She is passionate about making the principles of ABA practical and doable and relevant to every child in any situation.

By Heather Hoeft, B.S., M.Ed., LBS1 | Reposted with permission from The Autism Helper

Many of us know the advantages to ABA (applied behavior analysis) and what it can do for not only people with Autism, but in changing any human behavior. ABA was not started because of Autistic individuals. ABA is the science of human behavior that uses techniques and strategies to change behavior. Using techniques that are aligned with ABA can be used within any classroom; special education, general education, with resource teachers, in outplacement schoolings, with related services, and so much more. ABA can be used for students and staff alike, and in this post, I will give some strategies on how!

What are the ABA Techniques?

The techniques that I am referring to are reinforcement, differential reinforcement, functional communication, prompting, modeling, discrete trial training, natural environment teaching, shaping, and chaining. All of these can be implemented within a classroom setting in some capacity. But how? I have lived how hard it can be to have many learners on individualized education programs as well as different reinforcement systems, related service schedules, mainstream minutes, etc. It is possible, but it isn’t easy, that I wouldn’t lie about. I have provided some examples below:

• Reinforcement: There are many different types of reinforcement schedules within ABA. Although implementing them within the classroom per learner may be difficult, reinforcement schedules are possible. Using a token economy or task strips per learner will increase the likelihood of the targeted behavior within the classroom. It is also possible to use learner specific reinforcement within the classroom. This means that we can use M&Ms for Johnny and fidget spinners for Sally. Each learner still has their own set of reinforcers, and each learner should be on their own reinforcement system throughout the school day.
• Functional communication: this should be a focus in all classrooms, whether a learner is using an AAC device, Picture exchange communication system, or using vocal language. Functional communication should be practiced with all learners throughout the day and is a skill that ;learners need to practice. Having communication skills within a repertoire specific to a learner will help decrease maladaptive behaviors and will make difficult behaviors more manageable to shape.
• DTT: running DTT sessions can happen throughout center rotations and during other blocks of time throughout the school day appropriate for each learner. The educational team can meet and decide how many DTT table sessions per hour is appropriate per learner, as well as where they should be run and during what times of day they will be implemented. I take advantage of my related service team members and work together to create rotation scheduled throughout the whole week in order to maximize 1:1 time with each student in the class.
• NET: In naturalistic teaching, the child sets the pace for learning in their daily routines. Naturalistic teaching capitalizes on a child’s natural interests, needs, and abilities. These strategies are incorporated in the moment throughout the school day instead of using a dedicated time period for treatment. Teachers using this strategy offer feedback and coaching for target behaviors as they happen so that they can minimize interference with learning. A type of naturalistic teaching specifically used to improve communication skills is incidental teaching. In incidental teaching, the environment is set up to encourage students to use communication skills to ask for what they want. Similarly, the natural language paradigm method involves arranging an environment to increase the chances for the student to use language.
• Chaining: when teaching functional routines, choose what type of chaining procedure would be the best per routine and per learner (backwards chaining, forward chaining, whole chain). Mapping a plan out in the beginning per learner and per routine will make training staff much quicker and the learner will progress and gain the skills when the appropriate chaining procedure is in place.

What may be impossible in a classroom?

I don’t like to say that anything is impossible. It may be difficult to implement with fidelity which can be discouraging and of course a disadvantage. Of  course, the school setting has its own standards and skills assessments in which teachers much target to teach their students. Student goals may also last longer. From my experience in both an ABA clinical setting, a therapeutic day school setting, and a public-school setting, educational staff write goals that are broken down into benchmarks that typically last for one year. In an ABA setting, those benchmarks may be written as their own goal with specific targets listed underneath and they are meant to be taught quickly and move on to the next skill or subset of skills. Shaping behavior and running DTT centers may also be difficult. An increase in support staff and adult to student ratios would be key to be able to run these techniques within a classroom. All settings have their disadvantages, so I would recommend talking with administration and the educational team of each learner on what is a priority and what can be implemented per learner with fidelity and integrity.

The Autism Helper is here to help

Not only does The Autism Helper have resources available for many skills and units that can be implemented within a classroom, there is also a VB-MAPP assessment kit and an ABLLS-R assessment kit. Many of our wonderful bloggers have shared information on how to use these, and both of these assessments are my typical “go tos” when reviewing progress of my learners and looking to see where to go next with them.

About the Author

Heather Hoeft is special education teacher in the preschool setting. Heather shares strategies and ideas from her self-contained classroom. Her classroom utilizes Applied Behavior Analysis instructional methods of discrete trial training, pivotal response training, and teaching functional routines. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood from Northern Illinois University and Masters in Special Education from Concordia University.

Originally posted on The Autism Helper on January 18, 2023.