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Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is an evidenced based therapy that has proven highly effective in supporting individuals with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities. While ABA focuses on behavioral modification and skill development, it is essential to emphasize the significance of compassionate care within this framework. Compassion forms the foundation of ethical and person-centered practices, ensuring that individuals receiving ABA therapy are not o

I meet a lot of parents that are leery about starting ABA (applied behavior analysis) services with their children. Some share concerns about the high degree of structure that is often associated with DTT (discrete trial teaching), and others have questions about the repetitive drills, and the use of edible reinforcement. As an SLP and BCBA, I understand the desire for interventions that are developmental in nature and focus on relationships and play. And while ABA services,

Have you ever found yourself wondering why your child is able to exhibit a skill in one specific setting, but not the other? Or why your child can identify your pet dog as a "dog" but can't seem to recognize that a dog that looks a bit different than the family pet is still a dog? This may be due to challenges with generalization. Generalization is a term used across fields to indicate when an individual’s response or behavior is produced in contexts where it was not directly

Whether you’re a parent or a therapist it can be challenging at times to know which interventions or strategies are best to use to increase joint attention, engagement, imitation, and communication skills in autistic children. One intervention that I have found extremely beneficial for my clients in my practice is Reciprocal Imitation Training (RIT). RIT is an evidence-based naturalistic developmental behavior intervention (NDBI) that teaches generalized, spontaneous imitatio

Teaching functional skills in a functional manner is key to a child’s success. After all, if we teach something to a child and they cannot demonstrate the skill outside of our controlled environment or way of teaching have we really taught them anything? This becomes even more critical when working with some autistic children as many have a gestalt learning style which leads to rigidity of thinking and lack of generalization. When this happens, a child is able to perform a sk

Hearing that your child has autism can leave you feeling overwhelmed. That is why you need a roadmap to guide you and your next steps.