Part 4: Better Supervision Improves Services at Every Level
by: Cheryl Davis, PhD, BCBA-D, Dana Reinecke, PhD, BCBA-D
Investing in supervisors is not simply an investment in leadership development. Supervisory behavior affects the people being supervised, the organization’s culture, and ultimately the quality of services clients receive.
When supervisors establish clear expectations, teach effectively, recognize good performance, and provide useful corrective feedback, staff are more likely to know what successful performance looks like and how to achieve it.
Effective supervision can also create an environment in which staff feel comfortable asking questions, acknowledging uncertainty, practicing new skills, and responding constructively to feedback. Guidance on individual supervision likewise emphasizes providing feedback and evaluating the effects of supervision rather than assuming that supervision has been effective simply because it occurred.
Resources such as SupervisorABA were developed to help behavior analysts move beyond simply meeting supervision requirements and build the practical skills needed to supervise effectively. Tools, models, structured practice, and ongoing professional development can help bridge the gap between knowing ABA and supervising people who practice ABA.
Perhaps the most important shift is simply recognizing that becoming a supervisor should not be treated as something clinicians are expected to figure out by accident.
Throughout this series, one principle has remained clear: becoming a supervisor should not be treated as something clinicians are expected to figure out by accident. Organizations can begin improving supervision by asking one essential question: Are we training supervisors with the same care and precision we expect them to use when training others?
Fraidlin, A., Van Stratton, J. E., McElroy, A., & Aljadeff, E. (2023). Peer feedback: Recommendations for behavior analysts’ training and supervision. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 16, 696–708. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-022-00761-1
LeBlanc, L. A., Sellers, T. P., & Ala’i, S. (2020). Building and sustaining meaningful and effective relationships as a supervisor and mentor. Sloan Publishing.
Parsons, M. B., Rollyson, J. H., & Reid, D. H. (2012). Evidence-based staff training: A guide for practitioners. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 5(2), 2–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03391819
Parsons, M. B., Rollyson, J. H., & Reid, D. H. (2013). Teaching practitioners to conduct behavioral skills training: A pyramidal approach for training multiple human service staff. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 6(2), 4–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03391798
Author Bios
Cheryl Davis, PhD, BCBA-D (Creator)
Cheryl Davis obtained her doctoral degree from Endicott College in Applied Behavior Analysis. She received a Masters of Science Degree in Intensive Special Education from Simmons College in Boston, MA after attending The University of Connecticut where she received a bachelor’s degree in Human Development. With over 25 years of experience working with children and families with autism, developmental disabilities, and related disorders, Cheryl specializes in working with individuals with ASD and developmental disabilities, online teaching, active responding and skill acquisition. She has had experience as a teacher, job coach, home therapist, residential supervisor, public school consultant, staff trainer and professor. Cheryl has extensive experience in developing training topics for both parents and teaching staff. She has provided professional development trainings to over two thousand teaching staff and enjoys providing services internationally.
Dana Reinecke, PhD, BCBA-D (Creator)
Dana Reinecke is a doctoral level Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D) and a New York State Licensed Behavior Analyst (LBA) and New York State Licensed Psychologist. Dana has worked extensively in higher education in faculty and leadership roles and as a consultant, trainer, and clinician in various settings. She has presented original research and workshops on the treatment of autism and applications of ABA at regional, national, and international conferences. She has published her research in peer-reviewed journals, written chapters in published books, and co-edited books on ABA and autism. Dana has been actively involved in the New York State Association for Behavior Analysis (NYSABA), previously serving on the Board of Directors as Secretary, President, and conference chair.
Part 3: A Six-Step Framework for Developing Supervisors
by: Cheryl Davis, PhD, BCBA-D, Dana Reinecke, PhD, BCBA-D
Organizations can improve supervision by treating supervisor development as an intentional, competency-based process rather than assuming that experience alone will produce expertise.
New supervisors benefit from seeing effective supervisory behavior modeled. They need structured tools to observe staff performance and deliver feedback. They need opportunities to rehearse difficult conversations before having those conversations with employees. They also need someone to observe their supervisory behavior and provide feedback about what they are doing well and what they can improve.
Effective competency-based training identifies the target behaviors, provides clear descriptions and models, creates opportunities for active practice, and uses observational data and feedback to determine whether mastery has occurred (Parsons et al., 2012). Research has also demonstrated that practitioners themselves can be successfully taught to conduct BST with other staff, illustrating that effective training and supervisory repertoires can be deliberately developed rather than simply acquired through seniority or experience.
Supervisors can apply the same framework to their own professional development:
Define the behavior. What does “giving effective feedback” or “having a difficult conversation” actually look like?
Learn and observe it. Review examples, models, checklists, and evidence-based practices.
Practice it. Rehearse supervisory interactions rather than waiting for a high-stakes situation to practice for the first time.
Measure the outcome. Did staff performance improve? Did the supervisee demonstrate the targeted skill? Did the supervisor’s intervention produce the intended result?
Refine the approach. If the desired behavior did not change, examine the variables affecting performance and adjust accordingly.
This approach also changes the way we think about struggling supervisors. Instead of immediately concluding that someone is “bad at managing people,” organizations can conduct a performance assessment: Is this a skill deficit? Is the expected behavior clearly defined? Has it been adequately trained? Is effective supervisory behavior being reinforced? Are competing contingencies within the organization making good supervision difficult? Behavior analysts are uniquely prepared to ask those questions.
Developing supervisors in this way does more than improve individual management skills. In the final installment of this series, we’ll examine how effective supervision influences staff performance, organizational culture, and ultimately the quality of services clients receive.
Part 3 References
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2024). Supervisor training curriculum outline (2.0).
Parsons, M. B., Rollyson, J. H., & Reid, D. H. (2012). Evidence-based staff training: A guide for practitioners. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 5(2), 2–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03391819
Author Bios
Cheryl Davis, PhD, BCBA-D (Creator)
Cheryl Davis obtained her doctoral degree from Endicott College in Applied Behavior Analysis. She received a Masters of Science Degree in Intensive Special Education from Simmons College in Boston, MA after attending The University of Connecticut where she received a bachelor’s degree in Human Development. With over 25 years of experience working with children and families with autism, developmental disabilities, and related disorders, Cheryl specializes in working with individuals with ASD and developmental disabilities, online teaching, active responding and skill acquisition. She has had experience as a teacher, job coach, home therapist, residential supervisor, public school consultant, staff trainer and professor. Cheryl has extensive experience in developing training topics for both parents and teaching staff. She has provided professional development trainings to over two thousand teaching staff and enjoys providing services internationally.
Dana Reinecke, PhD, BCBA-D (Creator)
Dana Reinecke is a doctoral level Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D) and a New York State Licensed Behavior Analyst (LBA) and New York State Licensed Psychologist. Dana has worked extensively in higher education in faculty and leadership roles and as a consultant, trainer, and clinician in various settings. She has presented original research and workshops on the treatment of autism and applications of ABA at regional, national, and international conferences. She has published her research in peer-reviewed journals, written chapters in published books, and co-edited books on ABA and autism. Dana has been actively involved in the New York State Association for Behavior Analysis (NYSABA), previously serving on the Board of Directors as Secretary, President, and conference chair.
by: Cheryl Davis, PhD, BCBA-D, Dana Reinecke, PhD, BCBA-D
Behavior analysts already have a well-established technology for teaching complex skills. Behavioral Skills Training (BST), typically involving instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback, has considerable empirical support for teaching staff to perform important clinical skills. Effective training requires opportunities to perform the behavior and receive feedback until competency is demonstrated (Parsons, 2012).
Yet organizations do not always apply this same logic to supervisors.
A new supervisor may receive a job description, policies and procedures, a caseload, and perhaps some administrative orientation before being expected to supervise effectively. They may know that they should “give feedback,” “support their staff,” or “address performance concerns,” but knowing the rule is different from having the behavioral repertoire necessary to implement it.
Imagine, for example, telling a new supervisor:
You need to address this technician’s performance.
That instruction leaves a tremendous amount unspecified.
How should the supervisor begin the conversation?
What behavior should they describe?
How can they distinguish observable performance from assumptions about attitude or motivation?
How should they respond if the employee becomes defensive?
How much corrective versus supportive feedback should they provide?
What happens after the conversation?
How will they know whether the intervention worked?
These are behaviors that can, and should, be taught.
The Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB, 2026) recognizes supervision as an area requiring specific preparation. BCBAs providing certain forms of supervision must complete supervision-specific training, and the BACB’s Supervisor Training Curriculum Outline (BACB, 2024) includes competencies intended to support effective supervisory relationships. Meeting formal supervision requirements, however, should be viewed as the beginning of supervisor development rather than its endpoint.
If supervision is a skill, organizations need a deliberate way to help clinicians develop it. In the next installment, we’ll introduce a six-step, competency-based framework supervisors and organizations can use to turn supervisory expectations into observable, teachable behaviors.
Parsons, M. B., Rollyson, J. H., & Reid, D. H. (2012). Evidence-based staff training: A guide for practitioners. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 5(2), 2–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03391819
Author Bios
Cheryl Davis, PhD, BCBA-D (Creator)
Cheryl Davis obtained her doctoral degree from Endicott College in Applied Behavior Analysis. She received a Masters of Science Degree in Intensive Special Education from Simmons College in Boston, MA after attending The University of Connecticut where she received a bachelor’s degree in Human Development. With over 25 years of experience working with children and families with autism, developmental disabilities, and related disorders, Cheryl specializes in working with individuals with ASD and developmental disabilities, online teaching, active responding and skill acquisition. She has had experience as a teacher, job coach, home therapist, residential supervisor, public school consultant, staff trainer and professor. Cheryl has extensive experience in developing training topics for both parents and teaching staff. She has provided professional development trainings to over two thousand teaching staff and enjoys providing services internationally.
Dana Reinecke, PhD, BCBA-D (Creator)
Dana Reinecke is a doctoral level Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D) and a New York State Licensed Behavior Analyst (LBA) and New York State Licensed Psychologist. Dana has worked extensively in higher education in faculty and leadership roles and as a consultant, trainer, and clinician in various settings. She has presented original research and workshops on the treatment of autism and applications of ABA at regional, national, and international conferences. She has published her research in peer-reviewed journals, written chapters in published books, and co-edited books on ABA and autism. Dana has been actively involved in the New York State Association for Behavior Analysis (NYSABA), previously serving on the Board of Directors as Secretary, President, and conference chair.
By James T. Ellis, PhD, BCBA-D and Christine Almeida, MSEd, EdS, BCBA
Image by Chessie Almeida
Hi! Hello! Welcome to the Socially Savvy Second Edition!
Almost 20 years ago, we (Christine and Jim) decided to develop a social-skills assessment, which eventually became Socially Savvy. At the time, we were working together as BCBAs with 3- to 5-year-olds in a public preschool program. Thanks to Christine’s creativity and “let’s just do it” attitude, and Jim’s methodical, sometimes perfectionist approach, the project took about five years. Actually, closer to eight—but who’s counting?
With the support and guidance of Julie Azuma and the incredible team at Different Roads to Learning, it all came together. Socially Savvy has always been something we are incredibly proud of.
When we finally finished, we had poured so much time and thought into every detail that our immediate reaction was, “That’s it. Let’s never write anything again.” And yet, here we are—with the second edition of Socially Savvy just published.
So what could have possibly compelled us to take this on again?
Even after completing the first edition, we both found ourselves constantly noticing new ideas—teaching methods, activities, games—and quietly collecting them. We agreed we wouldn’t revisit such a large project unless we truly had meaningful new material. Over time, that material grew: new games (check), a more efficient way of grouping children (check), updated recommendations for books and practical tips for teachers (check).
But none of those alone would have been enough to bring us back to the drawing board.
What truly motivated us was the evolution of the field—particularly its growing embrace of neurodiversity. That shift prompted us to take a deeper, more critical look at our original work. Had it held up? What needed to change?
We felt strongly that Socially Savvy needed to more clearly reflect a neurodiversity-affirming perspective—not just in the language we use when working with autistic individuals, but also in what we target and how we approach teaching. This meant going through the manual line by line—updating approaches, incorporating new strategies, and removing practices that no longer align with feedback from autistic individuals and the broader community. Our goal was for our work to be a partnership, with autistic voices helping to lead the way. We hope this second edition reflects that commitment.
We recently asked a colleague what she was most looking forward to in the new edition—admittedly a big ask, since she hasn’t seen it yet. She generously shared:
“I am really looking forward to the release of the second edition of Socially Savvy. It sounds like this update truly aligns with the direction the field has been moving—especially the emphasis on neurodiversity-affirming supports and more naturalistic, engaging teaching strategies. Tools like visual supports and interactive games can make a big difference in generalization and motivation, particularly in group-based social skills work.”
We’re proud of this second edition, and we hope it delivers on expectations like these. More than anything, we’re excited to hear from you. So many of you have shared feedback and encouragement over the years, and we truly value it. We look forward to hearing your thoughts once again.
About the Authors
James T. Ellis, Ph.D., BCBA-D James (Jim) Ellis earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from West Virginia University and is a licensed psychologist and board-certified behavior analyst. For over 30 years, Dr. Ellis has provided services for children with autism spectrum disorders and their families. In 2008, he helped found the Step by Step School for Children with Autism in Guyana, South America and in 2012, he founded Step by Step Behavioral Solutions, through which he provided consultation and therapeutic support to individuals with autism spectrum disorders and their families. Currently, Dr. Ellis works in a public school, supervising a group of behavior analysts and overseeing programming for autistic students. Dr. Ellis has written articles for professional journals and presented at local, regional, national, and international levels on topics including play intervention, providing effective consultative services, and supporting children’s social skills development.
Christine Almeida, Ms.Ed., Ed.S., BCBA Christine Almeida earned her M.S.Ed. in Special Education and Ed.S in Behavioral Education from Simmons College in Boston. Ms. Almeida is a practicing board-certified behavior analyst in the Boston area who has worked in both private and public schools. She currently provides oversight of services for young children with autism spectrum disorders for a public school. Ms. Almeida has presented workshops at the local, regional, and national levels on the subjects of educational assessment, play intervention, and social skills.
Dignity can be described as being worthy of honor and respect. By simply existing, we are all worthy of being treated with dignity. Yet, how do we ensure that we are treating others (especially our learners) with dignity?
1. The BACB code of ethics (2020) can help guide clinicians (and parents!) as they prioritize ensuring dignity, offering several themes that may be useful in day-to-day interactions. First, there should be an emphasis on respecting autonomy and choice. This may look like providing multiple options for snacks, meals, playtime, books, and more! There may be times that choice is not possible (such as when safety is concerned), but choice should be prioritized whenever possible. Learners should also be respected if they decide that they do not want these choices.
2. Dignity is humanizing. Professionals should be cognizant of the language that they use to describe their learner’s behaviors. Person-first language stresses the importance of seeing the person before their diagnosis. There is no such thing as a bad kid. Instead, we should view these learners as people who sometimes engage in challenging behaviors and those behaviors should be the focus instead of associating it with their morality (Friman, 2021).
3. All interventions should emphasize the least restrictive option before moving to the most restrictive option. An example may look like encouraging a learner to wash their hands with a verbal prompt before escalating to physical guidance. There are some exceptions to this rule, especially when safety is concerned. However, in a safe environment, least restrictive interventions promote autonomy, thereby promoting dignity.
4. Clinicians should strive to be culturally sensitive and humble. Incorporating the learner’s background encourages their participation and collaboration. It also ensures that the families’ values align with treatment goals. These values will be different depending on the family, so it is important to include them when considering the impact of culture. This may be difficult for clinicians who work with families who come from different cultural backgrounds, so additional supervision and education is encouraged. We can never learn too much!
5. Ensuring dignity means fostering a supportive and caring environment. A supportive and caring environment begins with emphasizing positive reinforcement and celebrating successes. Building confidence in the learner contributes to the development of independence which is essential for the cultivation of dignity. This also looks like acknowledging the learner’s individual needs, emotions, and methods of self-expression. Our uniqueness is what makes us, us and our learners are no different.
Prioritizing these strategies can help guide clinicians (and parents!) in their pursuit of promoting and ensuring dignity. While it is our job to protect, guide, and instruct our learners, it is equally as important to build them up to become their own person. As their own person, they are entitled to dignity as much as everyone else and we should strive to support that in every interaction we have.
Friman, P. C. (2021). There is no such thing as a bad boy: The circumstances view of problem behavior. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 54(2), 636–653. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.816
About the Author
Jeridith Lord is a practicing clinical counselor and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Her passions include research in trauma-informed care and compassionate care. She has been fortunate enough to present internationally on topics such as compassionate care in first responders, behavioral training for first responders, adherence to ethical guidelines, traumatic impact and mental health collaboration, and advocacy for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors. Jeridith is a third-year PhD student and an adjunct professor at Endicott College and Southern New Hampshire University.
The transition back to school and back to a new routine is always an exciting, yet bittersweet time for students and educators. Carefree summer days are in the past, and getting back into a structured daily routine can be an overwhelming process. However, new teachers, new friends, and new settings provide the opportunity to make progress with academic, behavior, and social goals. Even while students and their families should enjoy every precious moment of summer fun, it is also important to set aside some time to prepare for the transition in the new school year.
Getting Proactive
Most school-based BCBAs can attest that the most important aspect of school consultation is assisting educators and other stakeholders to be proactive about behavior instead of reactive. This advice is especially valuable while preparing for a new school year. Teachers and families can begin to discuss and implement proactive strategies in the days prior to the first day of school.
For teachers and school based BCBAs, summer preparation days can be used to discuss simple environmental manipulations that can be made within the classroom. For instance, before students even step foot in the classroom, the teacher and other support staff can arrange seating that is limited from distraction and enhances engagement. A common suggestion from BCBAs is usually to seat students with a history of elopement behavior far away from the exit doors. Some consultants may even suggest preparing some visual supports and schedules ahead of time in order to prepare staff and students. Students thrive with structure and organization, so if the classroom has established expectations the students will find it easier to decide which behaviors lead to rewards and desired activities.
Building Rapport
Antecedent interventions do not only apply to teacher prep days. Chances are, not all students will engage in challenging behaviors on the first day of school. Hence, those first days of school are crucial because they are the opportune times for pairing. Classroom staff should prioritize gaining trust and rapport with students. This process can begin the moment the students arrive at school on the first day. Teachers and staff can begin pairing with students simply by greeting students with a smile and limiting demands. Students should be given the chance to feel happy and relaxed while adjusting to a new environment.
The more the students feel comfortable in the environment, the more likely they are to view the adults in the environment as a reinforcer, or a signal for access to preferred items and activities. When trust and rapport is established, it will also be easier for teachers and staff to engage in activities that may not be highly preferred. Of course the primary focus of the teachers should not be to place increasingly difficult demands on the students. However, establishing themselves as a person that will provide rewards and other motivators, allows the adults in the classroom to assist the students in developing pivotal behaviors that will provide access to a whole world full of reinforcing items and activities.
While students are adapting to the new enrichment, teachers and staff can use the opportunity to informally assess the students’ preferences. Enriching the enrichment with items high on the students’ preference list will not only assist in the pairing process, but can also be used as potential motivators for instances of positive reinforcement scenarios.
Embracing Collaboration
Lastly, the most important aspect of the transition back to school and adjustment to a new environment and routine is collaboration with all key stakeholders. Parents and caretakers, as well as teachers, should be involved and have input on any strategies and goals put in place. The more the students’ parents and caretakers feel involved in the decisions being made for their children, the more likely they are to carry out plans with fidelity. Also, establishing effective collaboration and communication assists with overhaul generalization of behaviors and makes the students’ support system stronger and more successful.
About the Author
Alicia Marshall, MAT, BCBA LBS, started out as a Special Education teacher and made the switch over to full-time BCBA 5 years ago. Alicia received her BCBA coursework at Rutgers and currently works as a Director of Behavioral Health in the Greater Philadelphia area. Alicia is passionate about making learning fun for all stakeholders and to encourage educators to focus on socially significant goals and compassionate care.
When Alicia is not disseminating the science of ABA, she can be found on the beaches of the Jersey Shore (and occasionally Hawaii) with her husband and two dogs.
ABA often gets a bad rap due to misunderstandings about reinforcement. In my career alone, I’ve had people tell me that people are not like rats and pigeons, that reinforcement harms intrinsic motivation, and that when I do produce behavior change, it has nothing to do with ABA but with my abilities as a teacher. Today, I’d like to clear up some misconceptions about reinforcement.
Reinforcement is not equivalent to rewards.
Reinforcement is anything that occurs immediately following a behavior that increases the future likelihood of that behavior. For instance, I am more likely to say hello to my neighbor down the street because in the past he has responded by saying “hello” back to me. However, I do not say hello to my next-door neighbor because she has never responded to my greeting. My history of reinforcement with the neighbor down the street increases the likelihood that I will greet him upon seeing him.
Reinforcement occurs in the natural environment all the time, whether we are conscious of it or not.
We are reinforced by paychecks for going to work, by our favorite dessert for visiting a restaurant 30 minutes out of our way, by compliments when we get a new haircut and more. ABA utilizes reinforcement when an individual is not acquiring skills in order to help them learn. And when ABA is implemented correctly, reinforcement should be as close to naturally occurring reinforcers as possible and should be reduced systematically over time to levels that would naturally occur in their environment.
Reinforcement works for dogs and for humans.
The previous two points illustrate that humans do respond to reinforcement, and decades of scientific research back that up. Comparing the work behavior analysts do with humans to the work behavior analysts do with other animals is not far off base. What is off base is using such a comparison to imply that behavior analysts treat people with disabilities like dogs. As with other professionals who work with individuals with disabilities, (such as speech therapists, physical therapists, nurses, etc.) most behavior analysts are professionals who put a lot of time, care, and love into their work.
Reinforcement is individualized.
Everything we do in ABA is individualized because human beings are wonderfully complex creatures that cannot be characterized by statistics, averages, or norms. One of my students may find stickers reinforcing; another may show no interest. One student may find listening to music reinforcing; another may cover his ears and ask me to turn it off. In ABA, we seek to find the items and activities that are motivating for individuals; then use those as tools not only for reinforcement but for increasing skills and broadening interests and opportunities. In an ideal ABA session, my students spend a lot of time engaging with items and activities that they enjoy while also learning and growing.
It’s easy to fall prey to misconceptions about reinforcement, but such misconceptions can make it impossible for us to understand how to alter the environment in order to provide the best possible outcomes for our students. As Skinner put it, “The ideal of behaviorism is to eliminate coercion: to apply controls by changing the environment in such a way as to reinforce the kind of behavior that benefits everyone.”
Sam is an ABA provider for students ages 3-15 in NYC. Working in education for twelve years with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental delays, Sam utilizes strategies for achieving a multitude of academic, behavior, and social goals. She is also an assistant professor in the ABA program at The Sage Colleges. You can read more of Sam’s posts for DRTL here!
One of my favorite textbooks about ABA is Focus on Behavior Analysis in Education: Achievements, Challenges, and Opportunities. And one of my favorite chapters in that book is called “Building Behaviors versus Suppressing Behaviors,” which focuses on school-wide positive behavior change. This is an often-overlooked key concept in behavior analysis that can have a huge impact on the school environment. Furthermore, when we think of ABA, we often think about individual interventions, but the principles of ABA can be highly effective when applied to large environments, such as an entire school.
The chapter references several studies about school-wide behavior change and offers evidence-based practices for achieving such change. It also outlines social behaviors that should be taught, such as how to apologize or how to make a request, then discusses strategies for rewarding the desirable behaviors. I appreciate that it focuses on getting students involved in making such changes.
Teaching these desirable behaviors can often feel challenging with the additional stresses of a special education classroom. One curriculum I have found effective in addressing this problem is Skillstreaming. I often use Skillstreaming in Early Childhood with young learners, and love that it clearly defines desirable behaviors, such as how to listen or how to offer help (see image below), but provides those definitions in simple terms with visual prompts that help our young learners. It also incorporates positive reinforcement for learners who are engaging in those desirable behaviors.
In summary, there is lots of evidence out there that focusing on what kids should be rather than what they should not be doing is beneficial for the learner and the general culture of the classroom. Providing clearly defined desirable behavior and building instruction in those behaviors throughout the day is essential. And that instruction may need to be more frequent and more detailed for our learners with developmental disabilities.
REFERENCES
Heron, T. E., Neef, N. A., Peterson, S. M., Sainato, D. M., Cartledge, G., Gardner, R., … & Dardig, J. C. (2005). Focus on behavior analysis in education: Achievements, challenges, and opportunities. Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall.
About the Author
Sam is an ABA provider for school-aged students in Brooklyn, New York. Working in education for over 15 years with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental delays, Sam utilizes strategies for achieving a multitude of academic, behavior, and social goals. She is also an assistant professor in the ABA program at The Sage Colleges and the Senior Clinical Strategist at Encore Support Services.
Get a preview of the helpful tips found in ABA Tools of the Trade by Sam Blanco, PHD, LBA, BCBA.
From the beginning of my career, I have loved data collection. Not only does it help me track what interventions are working and how quickly my students are learning, it also provides excellent structure and organization of what needs to be done on a daily basis. Much of this love of data collection was influenced by my colleague Val Demiri. While Val and I both looked at data as a way to make our lives easier, for many of our colleagues, data appeared to be more of an obstacle than a useful tool. So we set out to change that.
We’re both so thrilled about the release of ABA Tools of the Trade: Easy Data Collection for the Classroom. Our goal is to make data collection easier, more useful, and possible considering the many tasks a teacher is already doing on a daily basis in their classroom. Here are few things we’re really excited to have in the book:
An overview of some of our favorite tools for data collection, including why we love them and when they might be useful for you
An easy-to-use guide based on the specific behavior challenges you are currently facing, with suggestions for data collection and recommended readings
A task analysis of the data collection process that breaks down each step for pre-data collection phase, data collection phase, and post-data collection phase
A wealth of strategies to use to address problem behavior before they occur
An entire section devoted to BCBA Supervision that not only aligns with Task List 5 but also contains lesson plans and rubrics for assessing supervisees
We hope that by making data collection methods more accessible, we can motivate you to appreciate tools for data collection as much as we do!
About the Author
Sam Blanco, PhD, LBA, BCBA, is an ABA provider for students ages 3-15 in NYC. Working in education for twelve years with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental delays, Sam utilizes strategies for achieving a multitude of academic, behavior, and social goals. She is also an assistant professor in the ABA program at The Sage Colleges.
This ASAT feature comes to us from Niall Toner, MA, BCBA of the New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities. 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 special education teacher working with students with autism. At times I find it difficult to figure out what motivates my students and what they’re interested in. Can you make some suggestions about the best way to do this?
This is an excellent question and one that highlights a challenge often experienced not only by teachers but also by family members of individuals with autism. We know that the interests and preferences of individuals with and without autism vary significantly over time. Also, we know that effective teaching of skills and behavior change are predicated upon the timely use of powerful reinforcement (i.e., positive consequences of skilled behavior that motivate and strengthen that behavior). As discussed below, identifying an individual’s preferences is a critical first step in teaching new skills because these preferences often lead to the identification of powerful reinforcers; but how we do this can be easier said than done, especially when the learner has a limited communication repertoire or very individualized interests. The best way to identify preferences is through ongoing preference assessments.
The value of preference assessments
Since many individuals with autism may have difficulty identifying and communicating their preferences directly, we must consider alternative methods of obtaining this information. At the onset, it is important to keep in mind that what may be rewarding or reinforcing for one individual may not be for another. For example, one child may enjoy bubble play, crackers or a particular cause-and-effect toy while a classmate may find one or more of these uninteresting or even unpleasant. Furthermore, an individual’s preferences change across time. For example, an individual may have demonstrated little use for music at age 11, but she may demonstrate a keen interest in music at age 13.
Preference assessments provide a systematic, data-based approach to evaluating a host of potential interests (e.g., food, toys, activities) for an individual. Although preference assessments do require time and effort up front, their use can decrease the time and energy, required to change behavior in the long run. Research indicates that when caregivers use a presumed preference that, in fact, is not the learner’s actual preference, valuable time, energy and resources are lost (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2006).
Types of Preference Assessments
Preference assessment can be conducted in three distinct ways: (1) Interviews and Formal Surveys; (2) Direct observation; and (3) Systematic assessment.
Interviews are a straightforward technique that can be used to gather information quickly. They involve obtaining information from the individual’s parents, siblings, friends, and teachers (and from the individual, if communicative) by asking both open-ended and comparison questions. Examples of open-ended questions include: “What does he like to do?” “What are his favorite foods?” and “Where does he like to go when he has free time?” Comparison questions might include: “Which does he like better, cookies or crackers?” and “What would he rather do, go for a walk or eat chips?” Resultant information is then compiled in a list and identified items and activities can be piloted out as possible reinforcers.
Formal surveys can also be used to guide these discussions. One widely used survey is the Reinforcement Assessment for Individuals with Severe Disabilities (RAISD; Fisher, Piazza, Bowman, & Amari, 1996). This interview-based survey gathers information about potential reinforcers across a variety of domains (e.g., leisure, food, sounds, smells), and ranks them in order of preference. It should be noted that, although simple and time-efficient, using interviews alone can result in incomplete or inaccurate information. In fact, some studies have shown that, for the same individual, staff interviews did not reveal the same information as using a survey (Parsons & Reid, 1990; Winsor, Piche, & Locke, 1994).
Direct observation involves giving the individual free access to items and/or activities that he or she may like (presumed preferences) and recording the amount of time the individual engages with them. The more time spent with an item or activity, the stronger the presumed preference. In addition, positive affect while engaged with these items and activities could be noted (e.g., smiling, laughing). During these observations, no demands or restrictions are placed on the individual, and the items are never removed. These direct observations can be conducted in an environment enriched with many of the person’s preferred items or in a naturalistic environment such as the person’s classroom or home. Data are recorded over multiple days, and the total time spent on each object or activity will reveal the presumed strongest preferences. Direct observation usually results in more accurate information than interviews but also requires more time and effort.
Systematic assessment involves presenting objects and activities to the individual in a preplanned order to reveal a hierarchy or ranking of preferences. This method requires the most effort, but it is the most accurate. There are many different preference assessments methods, all of which fall into one of the following formats: single item, paired items, and multiple items (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2006).
Single item preference assessment (also known as “successive choice”) is the quickest, easiest method. Objects and activities are presented one at a time and each item is presented several times in a random order. After each presentation, data are recorded on duration of engagement with each object or activity.
Paired method or “forced-choice” (Fisher et al., 1992) involves the simultaneous presentation of two items or activities at the same time. All items are paired systematically with every other item in a random order. For each pair of items, the individual is asked to choose one. Since all objects and activities have to be paired together, this method takes significantly longer than the single-item method but will rank in order the strongest to weakest preferences. Researchers found that the paired method was more accurate than the single item method (Pace, Ivancic, Edwards, Iwata & Page, 1985; Paclawskyj & Vollmer, 1995).
The multiple-choice method is an extension of the paired method (DeLeon & Iwata, 1996). Instead of having two items to choose from, there are three or more choices presented at the same time. There are two variations to this method: with and without replacement. In the multiple choice with replacement method, when an object is selected, all other objects are replaced in the next trial. For example, if the individual is given a choice of cookies, crackers, and chips, and he chooses cookies, the cookies will be available for the next trial, but the crackers and chips are replaced with new items. In the without replacement method, the cookies would not be replaced and the choice would only be between the crackers and chips. No new items would be available.
A few final recommendations
When conducting preference assessments, consider testing leisure items/activities and food assessments separately because food tends to motivate individuals more than toys and other leisure items (Bojak & Carr, 1999; DeLeon, Iwata, & Roscoe, 1997). Also, be sure to assess preferences early and often. Preference assessments should be conducted prior to starting any new intervention or behavior change program. And remember that preferences change over time and require continuous exploration. Therefore, assessments should be updated monthly or whenever an individual appears tired of or bored with the preferred items. Keep in mind too, that the identification of one type of preference may provide ideas for other potential reinforcers. For example, if an individual loves a certain type of crunchy cereal, he/she may like other cereals or crunchy snacks. Or if an individual enjoys coloring with crayons, consider exploring whether he/she may enjoy coloring with markers or using finger paints.
Finally, when selecting a preference assessment method, a practitioner or parent should consider the individual’s communication level, the amount of time available for the assessment, and the types of preferred items that will be available. Taken together, these preference assessment methods can provide the valuable information necessary to help motivate and promote behavior change in individuals with autism.
References
Bojak, S. L., & Carr, J. E. (1999). On the displacement of leisure items by food during multiple stimulus preference assessments. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 32, 515-518.
Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward W. L. (2006). Applied Behavior Analysis (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
DeLeon, I. G., & Iwata, B. A. (1996). Evaluation of multiple-stimulus presentation format for assessing reinforcer preferences.Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 29, 519-533.
DeLeon, I. G., Iwata, B. A., & Roscoe, E. M. (1997). Displacement of leisure reinforcers by food during preference assessments. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 30, 475-484.
Fisher, W. W., Piazza, C. C., Bowman, L. G., & Amari, A. (1996). Integrating caregiver report with a systematic choice assessment. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 101, 15-25.
Fisher, W. W., Piazza, C. C., Bowman, L. G., Hagopian, L. P., Owens, J. C., & Slevin, I. (1992). A comparison of two approaches for identifying reinforcers for persons with severe to profound disabilities. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 25, 491-498.
Pace, G. M., Ivancic, M. T., Edwards, G. L., Iwata, B. A., & Page, T. J. (1985). Assessment of stimulus preference and reinforcer value with profoundly retarded individuals. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 18, 249-255.
Paclawskyj, T. R., & Vollmer, T. R. (1995). Reinforcer assessment for children with developmental disabilities and visual impairments. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 28, 219-224.
Parsons, M. B., & Reid, D. H. (1990). Assessing food preferences among persons with profound mental retardation: Providing opportunities to make choices. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 23, 183-195.
Windsor, J., Piche, L. M., & Locke, P. A. (1994). Preference testing: A comparison of two presentation methods. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 15, 439-455.
About The Author
Niall Toner MA, BCBA, LBA is a licensed behavior analyst and board certified behavior analyst with over 10 years experience working in the fields of applied behavior analysis and developmental disabilities. Niall is currently the Clinical Director for Lifestyles for the Disabled. Prior to the position he served as a consultant to various organizations including the New York City Department of Education. He also held the position of Assistant Director at the Eden II Programs. Niall has presented locally, nationally and internationally. His interests are Preference Assessments and Functional Analysis, which he presents and publishes.
Originally reposted to Different Roads to Learning on September 28, 2017
