We are so excited to be a part of this upcoming Long Island Behavior Analysis Conference! The conference will be held at the Long Island Marriott in Uniondale, New York. Registration information can be found here.
With keynote speakers Mark Sundberg, PhD, BCBA-D and Patrick Friman, PhD, ABPP, this 2-day conference will be a great opportunity to hear about what is going on in the field of ABA. Sessions include “Teaching Language and Social Skills in a Child’s Natural Environment”, “The Role of Play in ABA Programs: Analysis, Assessment, and Intervention” and “That’s Not What I Recommended! Merging Treatment Integrity with Reality to Support Caregivers with Behavioral Recommendations in the Home.”
Come say hi! We will have a table at the conference, where we will be selling the VB-MAPP, Teaching Language to Children With Autism, ABA Curriculum for the Common Core: Kindergarten, and a number of our other favorite titles and products – all at discounted prices!
This conference is geared towards ABA professionals, with Type 2 CEU’s available. There is also an alternative track for parents interested in attending.
For more information, visit the ELIJA website here.
We’re thrilled to introduce this pioneering curriculum kit containing both the materials and programs to teach each Kindergarten Common Core standard for both English Language Arts and Math. Authored by Sam Blanco, MSEd, BCBA, the curriculum has been created exclusively for students in special education settings using the evidence-based principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).
Do you know of any upcoming conference or workshops on Autism?! Please let us know of any ABA, Verbal Behavior or Speech-Language Therapy events and we will share it with our community. We strive to help our readers be informed about resources and events for parents and educators of children with autism or other developmental delays. No matter how big or how small – email info about your event to 
Many students with autism and other developmental disabilities have an IEP that mandates a 1:1 paraprofessional (called an instructional assistant or teaching assistant in some states, but referred to as paraprofessional for the purposes of this article). Recently, I had the opportunity to provide a workshop to a large group of paraprofessionals in New York City. I was surprised to hear how some felt disconnected from the families of their students, especially considering how deep their relationships are with their students.
Symbolic play refers to a child’s ability to use one object or action to represent a different object or action within imaginary play. The symbolic play skill that involves object substitution typically begins to emerge around 18 months. For example, you might observe a child using an empty box for a “hat” or an overturned bucket for a “drum.” Blocks are a mainstay in early childhood classrooms because the benefits are innumerable. Block play can help to facilitate cooperation, visuo-spatial skills, problem solving ability, social skills, and language development, and is a good predictor of future mathematical abilities.
One hallmark of the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder is a presence of “persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested by difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends.” Additionally, rigid thinking patterns may make symbolic play difficult for children with autism as they might view objects in a limited way that makes it difficult to pretend a block is something other than a block. 
Since unit blocks are a huge component of early childhood classrooms everywhere one could imagine that exposure to them and some level of proficiency opens up huge social opportunities for learners with autism spectrum disorders with their mainstream peers in the classroom.
drawings of objects onto the blocks and then systematically fade them out. Once the learner begins to consistently use the blocks with the attached images you can use stimulus fading procedure to fade out the visual prompt. This can be done by photocopying the image and systematically changing the lightness until eventually the learner is presented with just the block.
