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 Sarah Kupferschmidt, MA, BCBA. Reposted from the Different Roads Archives
I am passionate about empowering children with special needs and their families with skills and knowledge that they can use to improve their quality of life. This is why I am super excited to be sharing tips and strategies that relate to keeping your child with autism safe on the street. Learning to navigate the real world involves a lot of complex skills that we sometimes take for granted. For example, learning to determine when it is safe to cross the street requires the ability to attend to your environment, the ability to identify moving cars from cars that are still, the ability to identify the signal at the cross walk that lets you know it is safe to cross, among many, many, more. In some cases even more advanced problem solving is required because if the sign says it is safe to cross and a motorist continues through the intersection we need to be able to identify the moving car is approaching and that we need to wait for it to pass before crossing the street. So where do we begin?
Tip #1: The Learner is Never Wrong
I love the saying “the learner is never wrong” because of what it implies. Whenever considering teaching a new skill to a child or student we need to focus on that unique child’s strengths and weaknesses. Where do we need to boost up their skills and what do they already know so that we can capitalize on those strengths. Before going out to teach your child with autism how to cross the street safely, they should have some imitation skills, be able to respond to instructions and attend to you or a teacher amidst a lot of distractions (e.g., cars, background noise and pedestrians, just to name a few). Once you have determined they are ready to learn this important skill you would want to use things that are of interest to them and that you know align with their learning style. For example, are they a visual learner and if so, how can you incorporate visuals to maximize their learning potential in how you go out and practice crossing the street safely?
Tip #2: Simplify the Complex Skills
As mentioned earlier in the post, many of the skills that we use actually have many components, something we take for granted. In this case, teaching how to cross the street might involve the following steps:
Stop at the curb/crosswalk
Look at the crosswalk signal
Decide if it is safe to cross (e.g., does it say ‘walk,’ or does it say ‘stop’)
If the sign says walk, then look both ways
Decide if it is safe (e.g., is there a car moving or not)
Walk safely across the street (e.g., this means walking not running, perhaps holding your hand)
It is important to remember that these steps are just an example of what you might teach. You would individualize this based on the environment in which you live (e.g., if there is a crosswalk sign or crossing guard, or not) and the expectations you have as a family (e.g., to hold the hand or not). Teach this using tools that you know are effective with your unique child. For example, you may decide to print out a visual depiction for each of the steps and show them as you talk about it and practice. This depends on your child’s unique learning style. As with every skill that that we teach, it is never enough to just tell someone or show someone how to do it. We need to actually go out and practice.
Tip #3: Practice, Practice, Practice
Use every opportunity that you have to go out and practice this very important skill. I would also recommend that you set up specific times to go out and practice. You can use the visuals that you printed and go through each of the steps while you are out. If you notice that your child is struggling on a particular step, then practice that particular step at home even more. For example, if your child is not identifying the walk signal when you are out on the street, set up times to go over that at home.
Tip #4: Monitor Progress
In order to see how your child is doing on each of the steps it is a good idea to record how they do on each of the steps. You might print off a checklist with each of the steps that looks something like this:
You would calculate the number of times you recorded a Y over the total number of steps (e.g., in this case 6). For example, if I worked on this with my child and he did all of the steps he would get a 6/6. If he missed a step his overall score would be 5/6 or 83%. This score can then be used to monitor progress. I would also suggest that anytime you go out and practice you highlight whichever step(s) that they missed, if any. This will allow you to see if you need to work on something a little bit more before you go out and practice.
Tip #5: Notice the Good Stuff
Feedback is critical when you are teaching a new skill. Otherwise how is your child going to know how they are doing? This means that when they get it right we need to notice it and we need to be specific about what it is they did well. You can even use the visuals if you have them. You might say something like “I love the way you followed all of the steps of what to do when crossing the street safely! You stopped at the curb, looked at the signal…etc.” You may point to the visual as you tell them. If they missed a step remind them that next time they should try to remember what it is that they missed. Anytime they do one of the steps spontaneously, point it out to them and give lots of praise. Over time we can fade the praise out but it is really important when teaching a new skill, especially at the beginning.
About the Author
Sarah Kupferschmidt, MA, BCBA, is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) who has worked with hundreds of children with autism and their families across Ontario. She has had the privilege of supervising ABA programs and training clinical staff in those programs. Currently Sarah offers parent coaching and workshops to teach parents but also educators on the most effective ways to teach children using the principles of ABA. She is also a part-time faculty member at Mohawk College in the Autism Behavioral Science program, in the social sciences program at McMaster University, and an Adjunct Professor at Sage Graduate School. Sarah has appeared as a guest on CP24, CHCH news, Hamilton Life and the Scott Thompson radio show as an authority on autism.
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.
WH questions are essential building blocks of communication. Understanding and responding toquestions about who, what, when, where, and why is vital for a child’s language development. BCBAs and educators commonly focus on teaching these pivotal skills for many reasons. Let’s explore why teaching WH questions is important and how it can help shape a child’s language and communication skills.
What are WH Questions?
Before we dive into why WH questions are important, let’s consider what WH questions are. WH questions encompass many different questions that start with the words “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” and “why. While it doesn’t start with WH, some people also group “how” questions under this umbrella. WH questions include the following.
Who Questions–Questions about people, such as “Who is coming over today?”
What Questions–Questions about things, thoughts, actions, or ideas, such as “What did you think about that movie?”
When Questions–Questions about times, days, or dates, such as, “When is your birthday?”
Where Questions–Questions about places, such as, “Where did you go last night?”
Why Questions–Questions about the reasons or causes for things, such as, “Why do I have to cut the grass?”
It’s important to teach kids to both ask and answer who, what, when, where, and why questions as they navigate their home, social, and academic environments.
Why is it Important to Teach Kids to Answer WH Questions?
There are many reasons why children should be taught to answer WH questions, including the following.
Safety–If a child is ever lost or in another unsafe situation, they may need to communicate critical information, such as, “What’s your name?” “Where do you live?” “Who are your parents?”, etc. It can also provide parents peace of mind when their child can answer key questions about their day.
Building friendships and social engagement–Answering WH questions allows a child to engage socially with peers and build meaningful relationships.
Academic success–Understanding how to answer WH questions is vital in educational settings, where children are expected to communicate their knowledge through reading comprehension, math equations, and many other subjects.
Reciprocating conversations–Answering WH questions helps learners develop conversational skills, including answering and reciprocating questions. This is necessary in many settings, including social, educational, vocational, and at home.
Memory and recall–Teaching children to answer WH questions is a pivotal skill that leads to additional skills, such as recalling events.
Why is it important to Teach Kids to Ask WH Questions?
Learning to ask WH questions is equally important as answering them. Let’s explore some pivotal reasons that underscore the significant benefits of teaching children to ask WH questions.
Understanding the world around them–Asking WH questions encourages curiosity, fostering an understanding of the world around the child.
Academic success–An ability to ask questions aids in academic success, as the child takes an active role in their education by questioning things that expand their knowledge.
Initiating conversations–Teaching children to ask WH questions helps them develop conversational skills, including initiating conversations. This can foster meaningful connections with peers and others in their lives.
Problem-solving–Children who can ask WH questions can build upon their knowledge, asking questions that promote critical problem-solving skills.
Resources for Teaching WH Questions
Teaching children with autism and other neurodevelopmental differences to ask and answer WH questions is a complex process with many layers. Many WH questions are abstract, involving time (when questions) or cause and effect (why or how). These can be challenging concepts for neurodivergent children to grasp.
The first step is to teach simple labeling (referred to as tacts inverbal behavior language). Labeling items and activities is a necessary prerequisite skill. For example, before a child can answer the question, “Where is your cup?”, they need to know how to label items, such as “couch,” so they can answer by saying “on the couch.” You can useflashcards to teach your learner to label various objects, including common objects around the home and school, food, clothing, body parts, and more.
As children develop the basic prerequisite WH skills, you can make learning fun and engaging by expanding upon their knowledge through games and activities.The Ask & Answer Social Skills Game is one such engaging game that you can play to help your learners develop skills related to answering WH questions.
Ashleigh Evans, MS, is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. She has been practicing in the behavior analysis field for over 13 years and opened her own independent practice in early 2022. Her experience has been vast across different age groups, diagnoses, and needs. She is passionate about improving the field through education, reformative action, and better supervisory practices, leading her to create content and resources for families and ABA professionals which can be found on her website, www.abaresourcecenter.com
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.
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 teaching with a wide variety of materials, varying your instructions, asking other adults to help teach the skill, and demonstrating its use in a variety of environments. Preparing activities takes more time on the front-end for the teacher, but saves a ton of time later because your student is more likely to actually master the skill. (Generalization, after all, does show true mastery.)
Hopefully, you don’t have to do this, though. Hopefully, you’ve focused on generalization from the first time you taught the skill. You may see generalization built into materials you already use.
Another commonly cited issue teachers of children with autism encounter is failure to maintain a skill. In my mind, generalization and maintenance go hand-in-hand, in that they require you to plan ahead and consider how, when, and where you will practice acquired skills. Here are a few tips that may help you with maintenance of skills:
Create notecards of all mastered skills. During the course of a session, go through the notecards and set aside any missed questions or activities. You might need to do booster sessions on these. (This can also be an opportunity for extending generalization by presenting the questions with different materials, phrases, environments, or people.)
Set an alert on your phone to remind you to do a maintenance test two weeks, four weeks, and eight weeks after the student has mastered the skill.
Create a space on your data sheets for maintenance tasks to help you remember not only to build maintenance into your programs, but also to take data on maintenance.
Considering generalization and maintenance from the outset of any teaching procedure is incredibly important. Often, when working with students with special needs, we are working with students who are already one or more grade levels behind their typically developing peers. Failing to teach generalization and maintenance, then having to reteach, is a waste of your students’ time.
Sam Blanco, PhD, LBA, BCBA is an ABA provider for students ages 3-15 in NYC. Working in education for sixteen 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 she is the Senior Clinical Strategist at Chorus Software Solutions.
By: Stephanny Freeman, PhD and Kristen Hayashida, MEd, BCBA
The new year brings opportunities for introducing new ideas and refining existing techniques for young learners. This week, we’re revisiting a blog from our archives that focuses on executive function.
When kindergarten teachers are asked what skills they would like their students to have the beginning of the year, their answers might be surprising! Parents and caregivers are often concerned with making sure their children can say their ABC’s, count to 10, and know their colors. Some may believe that their children should be reading by the time they start kindergarten. However, kindergarten teachers often have a different set of priorities, and instead are looking for skills such as:
The ability to listen to and follow directions
Follow classroom routines
Control impulses
Resolve a conflict or solve a problem calmly with another child
Kindergarten teachers value these skills because they are critical for school readiness, paving the way for children to be academically and socially successful. Moreover, children who are behind in these skills can require disproportionate amounts of teachers’ attention, derail classroom activities and routines, and interfere with other children’s learning.
Underlying these school readiness skills are a set of higher order thinking skills collectively referred to as Executive Functions (EFs). EFs are the cognitive control functions that help us inhibit our initial impulses and think before acting.
But while most teachers agree that EF skills are very important, they are not explicitly taught in most early education settings (or at any point in most children’s educational experiences).
What skills are part of executive functioning?
Three key skills are generally agreed upon as the core of EF:
Working memory: holding information in mind to manipulate, work with, or act on at a later time.
Inhibitory control: the ability to regulate one’s attention, behavior, thinking, and emotion particularly in response to distractions or temptations.
Cognitive flexibility: the capacity to shift one’s thinking, such as changing one’s approach to solving a problem if the previous approach is not working or recognizing and responding when the demands of that task have changed.
Seven additional skills are also considered to fall under the umbrella of EF, often relying and building on the three foundational EF skills:
Initiation: the ability to begin a task or activity or to generate ideas independently in order to answer questions, solve problems, or respond to environmental demands.
Fluency: how fluidly one can access and use relevant knowledge or skills.
Planning: the ability to identify and sequence all the different steps needed to achieve a specific goal.
Organization: the capacity to prioritize and make decisions about which tasks to undertake, and the needed resources to complete those tasks.
Problem solving: carrying out the steps to achieve a desired goal, while monitoring progress making necessary adjustments.
Time awareness: part of the broader skill of Time Management, which includes to the ability to anticipate how long tasks might take, to be aware of time constraints, track one’s progress, and adjust one’s behavior in order to complete tasks efficiently.
Emotion regulation: skills including identifying one’s own emotion states and responding appropriately to emotional experiences.
Why do executive function skills matter?
Executive function skills predict a host of short-term and long-term outcomes!
They are a stronger predictor of school readiness than IQ.
They are also associated with higher achievement in both reading and math throughout children’s schooling.
EF skills, when tested in early childhood predict outcomes later in childhood and adolescence, including psychological and physical health.
Because EF skills are so predictive of later outcomes, they are being increasingly recognized as a critically important focus of intervention.
Early EF training is … an excellent candidate for leveling the playing field and reducing the achievement gap between more- and less-advantaged children.
Diamond and Lee (2011, p. 6)
Can executive function skills improve?
Yes! All young children (typically developing and those with difficulties) can benefit greatly from instruction in EF! Frequent practice of these skills and gradually raising the difficulty benefits children most in generalization and increasing gains. Practitioners and parents should consider:
Providing focused instruction in EF skills.
Combining explicit targeted instruction in EF skills with other activities in which they can then apply and practice those skills.
Building targeted EF skills into daily routines.
Providing multiple opportunities every day, particularly for children with disabilities, to test out and practice EF skills.
Most experts consider the development of self-regulation skills, of which executive functions are the crown jewel, to be the most important objective of high quality preschool—to help children focus attention, be emotionally expressive, not be impulsive, and to engage in purposeful and meaningful interactions with caregivers and other children.
Blair (2017, p.4)
About The Authors
Dr. Stephanny Freeman is a clinical professor at UCLA, a licensed clinical psychologist, and Co-Directs the Early Childhood Partial Hospitalization Program (ECPHP). For 20 years, she has educated children with ASD and other exceptionalities as a teacher, studied interventions for social emotional development, and designed curriculum and behavior plans in school and clinic settings.
Kristen Hayashida is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst at the UCLA Early Childhood Partial Hospitalization Program (ECPHP). For the last 10 years she has served as a therapist, researcher and educator of children and families living with autism spectrum disorder through the treatment of problem behavior.
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
