The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

This is a podcast about the field of Behavior Analysis. Each episode will feature an interview with a Behavior Analyst where we discuss a specific topic in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis. Some of these topics include functional behavioral assessment, treating severe behavioral disorders such as aggression and self-injurious behavior, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), behavioral ethics, autism treatment, parenting, and the history of Applied Behavior Analysis.

Behavior Analytic Approaches to Counseling and Therapy: Session 262 with Pat Friman 05/01/2024

Entrevistas Motivacionales: BOP en Español 8 con la Dra. Monica Gilbert 04/23/2024

How to Use Whole Group Responding: Session 260 with Bill Heward 04/18/2024

How to Use Whole Group Responding: Session 260 with Bill Heward Dr. Bill Heward was gracious enough to return to the podcast in Session 260. In this episode, we talked about a handful of different topics, including how to respond to criticisms of reinforcement practices, and the international dissemination of the excellent book, Let's Make a Contract, which he coauthored with Dr. Jill Dardig. However, we spent the majority of the time discussing Bill's extensive knowledge of whole-group responding practices in classroom settings. Specifically, we talk about how he first learned about this practice, why he wanted to study it, how he and his colleagues carried out one of his better known studies on the topic (Lambert et al., 2006), and lots more. Along the way, Bill offered lots of great advice for practitioners who are interested in trying out these low-tech/high-impact strategies. During the conversation, Bill mentioned a talk that I gave at the 2023 BABAT conference, and in the podcast I mentioned that my colleagues and I created an online course based on that presentation. At the time of the interview with Bill, the course was not yet available. However, I'm happy to report that it is out now. The course is called, "." So if you're working in school settings and you're supporting teachers in classrooms, please consider checking this out. Back to the interview, one of the things that makes Bill such an awesome podcast guest is that he comes with lots of resources. In fact in this case, he sent me an Google Drive Folder chock full of articles, studies, and many other resources. So instead of listing each resource individually here in the shownotes, I'll go ahead and link the folder and cut out the middleman ( to get access to it). While we're on the topic of Bill's generosity, he wanted me to remind you that the website, has several free downloadable contract templates. to check them out. This podcast is brought to you by: HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to to schedule a confidential chat right away. ACE Approved CEUs from .... . That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The Behavioral Toolbox. is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. We have two courses available: our first course, and our newly released course, . /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/30898388

Practical Strategies for Passing the Exam: Session 259 with Dana Meller and Steve Eversole 04/05/2024

What is Profound Autism, and Why is it Important? Session 258 with Alycia Halladay Session 258 03/14/2024

What is Profound Autism, and Why is it Important? Session 258 with Alycia Halladay Session 258 joins we to discuss the topic of Profound Autism. If you're not familiar with Alycia's work, she is the Chief Science Officer for , and host of the excellent show, . In this episode, we discuss the changes in Autism diagnosis from the DSM IV to V, the Lancet Commission paper on Profound Autism, why there is a need for this distinction in the Autism spectrum, the conditions under which an individual would be classified as having Profound Autism, the estimated proportion of Autistics who have Profound Autism, the differences in the distribution of sex-based differences in Profound and Non-profound populations, person vs. identity-first language, the importance of reducing stigma for everyone with Autism, criticisms of the proposal of this category, and responses to those criticisms. Even though we packed a lot into this interview, there is way more to this conversation than we had time for, so I'd like to revisit this again sometime in the future. In the meantime, if you're in the New England area, consider attending , which is taking place on April 5th, 2024 in Burlington, Massachusetts. Alycia will be speaking at that event, and will go into even more detail than we did in this podcast. It's a multi track conference that, according to the PAS site, aims to "bring together leaders from the areas of research, medicine, treatment, advocacy, education, and human services to discuss the needs of those with Profound Autism across disciplines and throughout the lifespan." Even though the Profound Autism Summit features talks from notable Behavior Analysts like Drs. Greg Hanley, Shanna Bahry, Peter Gerhardt, Jessica Slaton and others, it's not just an ABA conference. There will be speakers and panelists representing advocacy groups, emergency services personnel, service providers, and more (check out the entire speakers roster ). The PAS is right around the corner and is almost sold out, so if you're on the fence and are looking for some motivation, here it is (). If you can't make it, consider signing up for their , as I believe they'll be making the talks available asynchronously some time down the road. Did you know that if you use Apple Podcasts as your player, you can get transcripts to this show? See for a tutorial. Register for the ! Hop on their 100% for updates on Profound Autism. : A review of Autism diagnostic practices. . The Lancet Commission on the future of care and clinical research in autism. on the Lancet Commission paper. . ASF Weekly Science Podcast recommendation 1: . ASF Weekly Science Podcast recommendation 2: . This podcast is brought to you by: ACE Approved CEUs from .... . That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! . UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to and click the “request info” button. . Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at . /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/30365923

Mentoring Students, the Future of ABA, and the Problem with Ignoring: Session 257 with Tim Vollmer 03/10/2024

Mentoring Students, the Future of ABA, and the Problem with Ignoring: Session 257 with Tim Vollmer I'm thrilled to be joined by none other than Dr. Tim Vollmer. In this podcast, we talk about a wide variety of research and practice topics, as well as some funny stories from his long and prolific career. Specifically, talk about how his dog ate his copy of Strategies and Tactics, how he and his colleagues analyzed 2 and 3-point shot patterns in basketball games, his line of research that examined The Good Behavior Game, Behavior Analysis and the game of Poker, and his take on why he and his students have such an affinity for one another. That's not all. We probably spent the most amount of time discussing the topic of ignoring in the context of Behavioral Intervention Plans, and its potential problems. I really hope you stick around until the end of the podcast, because we close the show in a slightly different format. Instead of asking Tim my normal closing question (advice for the newly minted), I ask him to share his thoughts on the future direction of Behavior Analysis, including both risks and opportunities. Here are the links to the resources we mentioned: (note: Amazon Associates Link). . An application of the Matching Law to evaluate two and three-point shots by college basketball players. (BA-driven sports analytics from ). (wherein Chris discusses the evolution 3-point shooting strategy in the NBA). for Behavioral Research and Practice, 4th edition (note: Amazon Associates Link). . Recommendations Regarding Use of the Term “Ignore” in Applied Behavior Analysis. episode with Dr. Jeanne Donaldson. . Effects of response cards on disruptive behavior and academic responding during math lessons by fourth-grade urban students. (this is the paper I mentioned from Bill Heward's research group, and I mistakenly noted that it was published in 1996, when in fact it was published in 2006). Follow Tim's lab on ! This podcast is brought to you by: HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to to schedule a confidential chat right away. ACE Approved CEUs from .... . That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! The Behavioral Toolbox. is a new education and training site that my colleagues Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni and I have been working on for over two years. If you’re a Behavior Analyst working in public schools, please check out our first course, Our second course, When Not to FBA: 5 Strategies to Implement before Conducting a Functional Assessment, will also be out soon, and more trainings are on the way! /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/30312063

La intersección entre la fonoaudiología y el análisis de conducta: BOP en Español 7 con Estefania Alarcón Moya 03/05/2024

La intersección entre la fonoaudiología y el análisis de conducta: BOP en Español 7 con Estefania Alarcón Moya Las conversaciones acerca del alcance de nuestra práctica y de nuestras competencias son muy comunes hoy en día en nuestra profesión. Los fonoaudiólogos y los analistas de conducta coinciden frecuentemente en los apoyos e intervenciones para el desarrollo de habilidades comunicativas. Coinciden en la práctica y en algunos casos en competencias desde un mismo enfoque o en otros desde un ángulo distinto. En una efectiva colaboración entre estas disciplinas es importante reconocer los marcos conceptuales y las tecnologías que ambas disciplinas proponen para así maximizar las maneras en que las mismas se complementan y se superponen. En otras palabras, donde las disciplinas se encuentran. Existen ‘unicornios’ capacitados en ambas disciplinas que nos demuestran el potencial de esta amalgama. Estefania Alarcón Moya es una de estas personas y en este episodio nos comparte sus perspectivas como analista de conducta/fonoaudióloga. Referencias Esch, B. E., LaLonde, K. B., & Esch, J. W. (2010). Speech and language assessment: A verbal behavior analysis. The Journal of Speech and Language Pathology – Applied Behavior Analysis, 5(2), 166–191. Koenig, M., & Gerenser, J. (2006). SLP-ABA: Collaborating to support individuals with communication impairments. The Journal of Speech and Language Pathology – Applied Behavior Analysis, 1(1), 2–10. Spencer, T. D., Slim, L., Cardon, T., & Morgan, L. (2020). Interprofessional collaborative practice between behavior analysts and speech-language pathologists. Association for Behavior Analysis. The intersection between speech and language therapy and behavior analysis with Estefania Alarcón Moya Conversations about our scope of practice and competencies are very common in our profession today. Speech therapists and behavior analysts frequently overlap on supports and interventions for the development of communication skills. They coincide in practice and in some cases in competencies from the same approach or in others from a different angle. In effective collaboration between these disciplines, it is important to recognize the conceptual frameworks and technologies that both disciplines propose in order to maximize the ways in which they complement and overlap. In other words, where the disciplines meet. There are 'unicorns' trained in both disciplines who show us the potential of this amalgam. Estefania Alarcón Moya is one of these people and in this episode she shares her perspectives as a behavior analyst/speech therapist. /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/30236203

How to Disseminate Behavior-Analytic Technologies: Inside JABA 18 02/15/2024

How to Disseminate Behavior-Analytic Technologies: Inside JABA 18 In the 18th installment of the Inside JABA Series, Dr. Dorothea Lerman joins Editor-in-Chief John Borrero and I to talk about her dissemination efforts, which are described in the Winter 2024 issue of the journal. Specifically, we talk about her discussion paper, "Putting the power of behavior analysis in the hands of nonbehavioral professionals: Toward a blueprint for dissemination." This paper is definitely worth checking out. In it, Dorothy describes some common barriers to disseminating behavioral strategies and how to overcome them. We then talk about the blueprint she offers for dissemination, which is broken down into seven steps. These dissemination efforts are described in the context of Dorothy's outreach to public school educators, law enforcement personnel, and health care providers, settings where Dorothy and her colleagues have made successful inroads. Not to spoil the show's content too much, but we touch on the alarming stats regarding the percentage of individuals with disabilities who are either sedated or restrained during dental procedures, and what can be done to improve them. Even if you don't have a desire to bring behavior-analytic strategies to a novel setting, upon listening to the conversation a second time, I think there are lessons from this podcast that you can use in your daily practice. Things like gathering information about a particular culture or setting, describing concepts and principles in plain language, conducting experiments to see if what you're doing is working... you get the idea. We also spend a decent amount of time talking about sustaining behavioral practices once they've been implemented in new settings. One of the things that I forgot to mention during the podcast is that if you're really into dissemination, check out the new edited work, "Disseminating Behavioral Research," in which, coincidentally, the ABA Inside Track crew and I contributed a chapter called, "Non Traditional Options for Dissemination." I'll leave it to you to guess what medium we focused on. Lastly, the Winter 2024 issue of JABA features several moving tributes to Drs. Brian Iwata, Hank Pennypacker, and Ronnie Detrich. Dorothy and Dr. Jennifer Fritz contributed a memoriam to Brian Iwata, and it's well worth checking out. In the first few minutes of the show, Dorothy shared some poignant stories about how Brian influenced her career, and John discussed the responsibility associated with curating the various tributes for this edition of JABA. Relatedly, for the next three months, all of these In Memoriam articles will be freely available, so in the unlikely event you're not a JABA subscriber, you can still check them out. Here are the resources we discussed: . . (correction: in the podcast, I incorrectly noted that she appeared in the first Inside JABA episode. She appeared in the fourth episode of the Inside JABA Series). Southwell et al. (2005). . (check out p. 18!). . Griffith and Ré (2023): (note: Amazon Associates link). Critchfield et al. (2017). . . (company I mentioned that specializes in providing medical services to individuals with IDD). Allgood and Gravina (2021). . Normand and Kohn (2013). . (hands down, the article I have shared the most in my eight years of publishing this podcast). LeBlanc et al., (2012). . As with other Inside JABA Series podcasts, this show will be eligible for continuing education. You can learn more about this one, and the nearly 50 other CEU events over at . /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/29967838

AAC Use with adolescents and adults with ASD: Session 254 with Andy Bondy 02/01/2024

AAC Use with adolescents and adults with ASD: Session 254 with Andy Bondy Fan-favorite Dr. Andy Bondy joins me again to talk about... you guessed it... AAC! In this episode, we discuss a paper he published last year in the journal, Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, that is titled, "." We get into why he felt this paper was necessary to write, how he chose to communicate his thoughts to an audience beyond those of us in behavior analysis, why he likes the term, "under what conditions" so much, what does and does not constitute a "robust" communication repertoire, the role of teaching words like "please" and Andy's nuanced view of this practice, whether the sound from Speech Generation Devices matter, and lots more. We also got into a really interesting discussion on the distinction between pointing to pictures vs. exchanging them with communicative partners, and how that difference impacts Joint Attention. We closed the show by talking about two topics that have been receiving lots of discussion as of late: Spelling to Communicate and Gestalt Language Processing. Lastly, ended the show by taking a question from a member about Andy's thoughts regarding the use of activity schedules, and whether they qualify as prompts, or something else. (the shownotes to these shows also have many links to great studies germane to this episode). . . . . . This episode is brought to you by: . UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to and click the “request info” button. HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to to schedule a confidential chat right away. ACE Approved CEUs from .... . That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! . Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at . /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/29749233

How to Assess Early Echoic Skills: Session 253 with Barbara Esch 01/26/2024

How to Assess Early Echoic Skills: Session 253 with Barbara Esch If you've completed a VB-MAPP at some point in your career, you're familiar with the EESA component of the assessment protocol. In today's podcast, I had the chance to talk with Dr. Barbara Esch, who created the Early Echoic Skills Assessment, which has evolved into the stand-alone product called the Early Echoic Skills Assessment and Program Planner. In this conversation, we talk about how Barb got into Behavior Analysis, she shared some humorous stories from being mentored by Drs. Jack Michael and Jim Carr, why she created the original EESA, who the EESAPP is for and who it's not for, and some fantastic advice for newly-minted BCBAs. In addition to these topics, we spent a decent amount of time talking about some speech therapy concepts that were definitely new to me, especially the idea of co-articulation. We also talked about the order in which one should target specific skills. To me, this highlights the importance of collaboration, especially if you don't have a strong background in typical speech development. As a side note, I inadvertently used the acronyms, EESA and EESAPP, interchangeably throughout the conversation, and apologize if this confused anyone. Barb is giving not one, but two talks at this year's Verbal Behavior Conference. Are you coming? I sure hope so. If you can't make it to Austin on February 29th and March 1st, please consider joining us virtually through the magic of . There's also an amazing conference workshop being taught by the incomparable Dr. Lina Slim on the 28th. There will be many other amazing speakers and talks at the VBC, so whether you join in person or virtually, I hope to see you there! Here are some helpful resources from our conversation: . . . . . This show is brought to you by: . Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at . HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to to schedule a confidential chat right away. ACE Approved CEUs from .... . That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/29655888

AAC, Science-Based Treatment, Clinical Judgement, and More: The 2023 Verbal Behavior Conference Panel Discussion 01/05/2024

AAC, Science-Based Treatment, Clinical Judgement, and More: The 2023 Verbal Behavior Conference Panel Discussion Session 252 is the recording from the 2023 Verbal Behavior Conference Panel discussion. The participants were Troy Fry, Drs. Lina Slim, Sam Bergmann, Sarah Frampton, Einar Ingvarsson, Pat McGreevy, and Andresa de Sousa; and the voice at the beginning and end of the panel is Kelle Rich, who founded and currently leads these great conferences. In this Q and A segment, the panel addressed the following topics: Considerations moving from vocal-verbal speech to AAC. Focusing one's clinical resources given limited therapy times. The high abandonment rate of AAC devices. The role of clinical judgement. Adapting clinical strategies to varying cultural contexts. The nuances associated with encouraging caregivers to adopt research-based treatments. The role of singing versus speaking... that was a fascinating part of the panel that comes towards the end. As you'll hear in this podcast, when you attend the Verbal Behavior Conference, you'll have numerous opportunities to ask the speakers questions. And not just in the panel itself. If you're there in person in Austin, Texas, you'll very likely have the opportunity to have direct interactions with the speakers between talks, while grabbing coffee, and so on. What strikes me as unique about these events is that they are purposely small and intimate so that one can have these types of experiences. What's in store for the ? First, the conference itself takes place on February 29th and March 1st, and it's preceded by a full day workshop from the incomparable Dr. Lina Slim on February 28th. This year's conference speakers include Drs. Barbara Esch, Eb Blakely, Mirela Cengher, fan-favorite Patrick McGreevy, Alice Shillingsburg, and Hank Schlinger, whom we heard from a few episodes ago. If you can't make it in person, don't worry. has you covered. Nobody does virtual events like BehaviorLive, and they will broadcast the entire conference with best-in-class audio and video. Papers, resources, etc... The event list for the . for the VBC. Valentino et al. (2018). . Thompson et al. (2013). . Sigafoos et al. (2000). . . . Allen and Warzak (2013). . Grow et al. (2017). . Before we get to this episode, I want to let you know that we’re brought to you today by the University of Cincinnati’s Masters in ABA program. This program is 100% online and asynchronous, so that means you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button. Also, if you want to earn BACB Approved Continuing Education Units while listening to your favorite Behavioral Observations episodes, go to to see the shows that are available for continuing education. Whether its supervision, ethics, functional assessment, or other topics, there’s something there for just about everyone. /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/29359963

How to Make Career Decisions as a BCBA: Apollo Case Study Series 12 01/02/2024

2023 Year in Review: Session 250 with ABA Inside Track 12/27/2023

2023 Year in Review: Session 250 with ABA Inside Track Shhh! I'm not supposed to be working this week... However, I am somewhat of a traditionalist, and as such obligated to publish the annual Year in Review show with my friends at . So here's a really quick rundown. As usual, we reviewed the passings of several behavior analysts in 2023. This is always sad, but at the same time, we tried to highlight the achievements and contributions of the behavior analysts we talked about. We also recognize that Behavior Analysis, with over 60 thousand BCBAs and BCBA-Ds, is a rapidly growing field, and with these larger numbers comes the increased probability of us missing someone in this process, and we apologize if we left anyone out as a consequence of this. But the Year in Review is not just for remembering the passing of fellow Behavior Analysts. We discussed a few things happening in the field, some updates to our podcasts that we've made and are continuing to make, and talked about the book chapter we collaborated on in the edited text, (note: Amazon Associate link). Other personal highlights of mine this year include starting a new endeavor with my colleagues Paulie Gavoni and Anika Costa that we've named , thanks to the huge contribution from Miguel Avila, providing BOP episodes to Spanish speaking members of the community with the series, invitations to speak at the Florida Association for Behavior Analysis and BABAT, revamping , and probably many more things I'm forgetting right now. In closing, it's been a great 2023 for me, despite its occasional challenges. The podcast is coming up on its 8th birthday, with almost 5 million downloads, and it nonetheless continues amaze me that people want to tune in. All of this to say that I'm incredibly grateful for your listenership, and I hope you have a happy and healthy 2024! Resources, etc... mentioned in this episode: . Check out the new BOP site (). . doi: 10.1901/jaba.1994.27-197. doi: 10.1002/jaba.1043. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-47343-2. doi: 10.1007/s40617-016-0136-x. doi: 10.1007/s40617-022-00759-9. /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/29242433

Critical Thinking About Psychological Concepts: Session 249 with Hank Schlinger 12/20/2023

Critical Thinking About Psychological Concepts: Session 249 with Hank Schlinger It's kind of a podcast cliche - one that I'm certainly guilty of - to refer to an interview as, "wide-ranging." However, in this case, that description certainly fits. I had the pleasure of chatting with , who, amongst , teaches in the Department of Psychology at Cal State Los Angeles. During this conversation we talked about the state of ABA when he entered the field; his behavioral interpretations of psychological concepts like intelligence, consciousness, object permanence, and others; books he's written on parenting and developmental psychology; Skinner 1945 and the idea of explanatory fictions; why it's easy to be a skeptic about some things and harder with others; and, as the title of this podcasts suggests, how to foster critical thinking skills. We also spent a bit of time previewing what he and Dr. Eb Blakely will be presenting on at the 2024 . As always, we conclude the show with advice for the newly-minted BCBA. Lastly, Hank is an accomplished musician, and we spent a few minutes on how being a Behavior Analyst influences his approach to songwriting. In fact, Hank has given me permission to play a portion of the song, , that was inspired by, you guessed it, behavior analytic principles. As such, you’ll hear that instead of the normal outro music as the show concludes. Here are the links to some of the things we talked about. The Verbal Behavior Conference . Malott's .* Skinner (1945). . Hank's Skeptic Magazine article, . Hank's . Hank's book, .* , also by Hank.* Hank's 1998 album, . This show is brought to you by: HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to to schedule a confidential chat right away. ACE Approved CEUs from .... . That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! . Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at . /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/29171578

A Review of Autism Diagnostic Practices: Session 248: Whitney Ence and Elisabeth Sheridan 12/13/2023

A Review of Autism Diagnostic Practices: Session 248: Whitney Ence and Elisabeth Sheridan Drs. Whitney Ence and Elisabeth Sheridan joined me to talk about the diagnosis of Autism. You might be thinking that this sounds like an impossibly broad topic... and you're right. But in this show, we tried to narrow it down a bit to discuss the various routes in which people can acquire an Autism diagnosis, which of these routes represent best practice, the critical diagnostic features of Autism, severity levels in Autism (and the extent to which these terms are useful), the role of intense interests, specific assessment instruments and techniques, and the importance of working with interdisciplinary teams. We also talk about how the diagnosis has changed over the years, including the retirement of terms such as Pervasive Developmental Disorder and Asperger's Syndrome. During this part of the conversation, we also discussed self-diagnosis of Autism, and how clinics sometimes triage screening for individuals seeking diagnoses. Towards the end of the podcast, we did touch on a few terms and topics that are relatively new to the Autism discourse. Specifically, we discussed the term Neurodiversity, the social model of disability, "Severe Autism" as a separate diagnosis, and Pathological Demand Avoidance. It's important to note that his part of the podcast should not be construed as a deep exploration of these topics, as I really wanted to initially focus on what the current state of the science has to say about the diagnosis of Autism as a condition requiring medically-necessary treatment. I also want to draw your attention to what could be considered a companion podcast about the diagnostic characteristics of Autism. I’m in the middle of listening to a long episode from the , in which Dr. Andrew Huberman interviews Dr. Karen Parker from Stanford University about the causes of, and treatments for Autism. This is from a more neuro-biological perspective, and thus far, quite interesting. Here are links to the topics we discussed: ? . . (thanks for the impromptu review Whitney!). . . . If you'd like to support the show or its sponsors, check out the following: To receive Behavioral Observations episodes ad and commentary-free, that is, just the interviews themselves, consider supporting the show with a . Consider Behavioral Observations as a source for your . I have almost 50 events that span a variety of topics, all from your favorite podcast guests. So if you want catch up on your professional development while walking the dog, commuting to work, making dinner, or whatever else you do while listening to podcasts, go to to learn more. The is right around the corner. If you haven’t heard me talk about it before, the VBC is a 2 day event that is available both virtually and in-person in Austin, Texas. It’s happening on February 29th and 30th, and will feature speakers like Drs. Pat McGreevy, Alice Shillingsburg, Barbara Esch, and more. There’s even a full-day pre conference workshop by Dr. Lina Slim. This is a really fun event that provides many opportunities for individual interactions with the speakers, and there’s even a panel discussion moderated by yours truly. To learn more, go to , or simply hit the shownotes for this episode to learn more. . UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to and click the “request info” button. /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/29058228

How to Understand Problems with Sleep: Session 247 with Emily Varon 11/29/2023

How to Understand Problems with Sleep: Session 247 with Emily Varon Behavior Analyst and sleep educator extraordinaire Emily Varon joins me in Session 247 to talk about how to understand sleep problems in children. In this episode, we cover how she first got interested in the area of sleep intervention, what research and resources she used to expand her scope of competence in this area, how sleep challenges can be met without using extinction, sleep problems specific to individuals with Autism, the impact of screentime on sleep disruption, cultural considerations for practices like co-sleeping, the importance of bedtime routines, and whether wearable devices are actually helpful. You can learn more about Emily's work in this area, get free "sleep kit," and participate in continuing education events at Emily's website, . We mentioned numerous resources in this episode, and I have links for them below: . An individualized and comprehensive approach to treating sleep problems in young children. . (note: Amazon Associates link). sleep and fitness device (note: this is an affiliate link). This episode is brought to you by: . UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to and click the “request info” button. HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to to schedule a confidential chat right away. ACE Approved CEUs from .... . That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! . Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at . /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/28851838

Using DRO Procedures in Clinical Settings: Apollo Case Study Series 11 11/17/2023

BOP en Español 6: Atención integrada, apoyo a adultos con desafíos en el desarrollo, sexualidad, ABA en Brasil, certificación QABA y más con Valeria Parejo 11/10/2023

How to improve interdisciplinary meetings with Behavior Skills Training: Inside JABA 17 11/07/2023

How to improve interdisciplinary meetings with Behavior Skills Training: Inside JABA 17 and join me, along with JABA Editor in Chief, Dr. John Borrero, in the 17th installment of Behavioral Observations' Inside JABA Series. Both of our guests hail from . Jill is their Senior Director of Professional Development and Training, and Frank is the Executive Vice President of Clinical Services of this storied institution. As an aside, if you're not familiar with Melmark, we spend a few minutes talking about its history, mission, current services, and more. However, we spent the majority of this podcast discussing the paper Jill and Frank published with their colleagues that you can find in the Fall 2023 issue of JABA. The paper is called, . If this sounds like a familiar topic, you're correct. We covered how to improve the and productivity of meetings in my first conversation with almost two years ago. While there's something Dilbert-esque about examining the precision and efficiency of meetings, like so many things we talk about on this podcast, my guests make the case as to why this is important in their context. At the same time, reading this paper made me reflect on the various "processes" I have in place for a number of tasks that I have to do. I use quotes to underscore that fact that for so many of these activities, I don't have written procedures for, and probably should put some thought to this. Maybe you're in the same boat? Let me know either way by going to the newly revamped and leaving a comment on the shownotes page for this episode. While you're there, consider signing up for the email list. By doing so, you'll get episode show notes delivered straight to your inbox. Also, this episode, along with many, many others, is eligible for BACB Continuing Education. In fact, it's eligible for highly sought-after supervision CEUs, second only the the even-more-highly-sought-after ethics CEUs! To learn more, head to the of the site. If you don't see this one right away, check back in a couple of days and it will be there. Thank you so much for supporting the show with your Patreon membership! /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/28545059

School Psychology, Social-Emotional Learning, and More: Session 243 with Casey Dupart 10/30/2023

School Psychology, Social-Emotional Learning, and More: Session 243 with Casey Dupart In Session 243, Dr. Casey Dupart joins me to talk about School Psychology, and in doing so, we touched on a range of related topics including the challenges of military families, multi-tiered systems of supports, socio-emotional learning, school refusal, educational policy, and so much more. As you'll hear in the interview, Casey has been a School Psychologist in various roles across several states. She also provides consultation and training through her company, . And while we're on that topic, she has a few webinars and workshops coming up on topics like Multidisciplinary Collaboration and Improving School Climate and Culture. You can find links to these events at the shownotes for this episode, or simply go to Embracingresiliance.org and click the services tab . I believe BCBAs serving in public school settings may be an increasing area of practice. According to the BACB, about 12% of the BCBA and BCBA-D certificants work in educational settings. Also, I was invited to speak about low-tech interventions for disruptive classroom behavior at the recent BABAT conference, and I was honestly shocked to how many attendees were interested in this topic, particularly given the many other excellent talks that were going on in the same time slot. As some of you may already know, I’ve been working with Anika Costa and Dr. Paulie Gavoni on a project called to provide BCBAs and other school-based professionals trainings and tools to help them perform more successfully in these settings. Our first course, is now available, and we’ve been really pleased with the feedback that we’ve gotten from our initial participants. We’re also hard at work on getting our second course ready. This one is based off of the talk I gave at the . Our working title currently is, When NOT to FBA: 5 Quick Strategies for Improving Behavior in Classroom. I mention all of this to perhaps underscore the importance of being able to work both collaboratively and effectively in school settings. And I think this conversation with Casey will be helpful for BCBAs who are new to school settings, or who simply want to be more successful with the students they serve. Here are some links to resources, etc... we discussed during the podcast: . . . . . . . . /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/28464713

Is Self-Reinforcement a Thing? Session 242 with Merrill Winston 10/11/2023

Apollo Case Study Series 10: A review of two client outcomes 10/04/2023

Personal Growth and Leadership: Session 240 with Rich Brooks 09/27/2023

Quick Wins in Public School Settings: Session 239 with Anika Costa and Paulie Gavoni 09/20/2023

Eye Contact, Joint Attention, and Autism: Session 238 with Francesca Degli Espinosa 09/14/2023

Eye Contact, Joint Attention, and Autism: Session 238 with Francesca Degli Espinosa What exactly is Joint Attention? How does Joint Attention interact with Eye Contact? What does the literature say about these repertoires, and how does that coincide with self-reports of the aversive nature of eye contact from Autistic people? These have been a few of the questions rolling around in my head for some time. A few years ago, we briefly touched on this subject with my guest today, Dr. Francesca Degli Espinosa, but it was in the backdrop of a larger panel discussion at the 2022 Verbal Behavior Conference. Fast forward to 2023, I recently heard Francesca on Dr. Mary Barbera's show talk about Joint Attention in great detail, so I asked her to join me to extend the conversation. In this show, we cover: What people mean when they use the term Joint Attention How JA typically develops in infancy and beyond Why 'attention' may not be an especially helpful term Some of the neuroscience and eye tracking studies that have examined the development of eye contact in typically developing and Autistic populations How to increase the value of looking at peoples' faces Why eye contact should be thought of as a reinforcing consequence Some strategies to foster JA in the context of learner assent The difficulty of integrating the findings of different literatures that publish research in the area of Autism What she's talking about at this year's (spoiler alert: She's going to go deep into this topic, and remember, save on your registration by using the promo code PODCAST) The problem associated with teaching eye contact via the 'look at me' method Here are some of the links to the many resources we discussed: Francesca on Francesca's available . Toward a Behavioral Analysis of Joint Attention . Evaluating the Effects of Establishing Eye Contact on the Skill Acquisition of Individuals with Autism . No Evidence of Emotional Dysregulation or Aversion to Mutual Gaze in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Eye-Tracking Pupillometry Study . Neurotypical, but not autistic, adults might experience distress when looking at someone avoiding eye contact: A live face-to-face paradigm of the many eye tracking studies conducted by Dr. Ami Klin and colleagues This podcast is brought to you by: , which is taking place on October 20th. Use code PODCAST to save on your registration as well. . UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to and click the “request info” button. . Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at . /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/28034406

Does TikTok Provide Accurate Information about Autism? Session 237 with Elisabeth Sheridan and Giacomo Vivanti 09/05/2023

Does TikTok Provide Accurate Information about Autism? Session 237 with Elisabeth Sheridan and Giacomo Vivanti While I don't personally use TikTok, I am aware of the considerable influence it has across a range of topics. As many listeners can imagine, Autism is one of those topics that generates unfathomable amounts of content on the platform. Unlike other forms of medical and scientific dissemination, there are really no barriers to saying whatever one wants, not only on TikTok, but on any other internet-based media platforms, podcasts included of course. And as you might imagine, this brings with it lots of variability in terms of information accuracy. Today's guests, Drs. Elisabeth Sheridan and Giacomo Vivanti, along with their colleagues Diego Aragon-Guevara and Grace Castle, took up the challenge of analyzing the accuracy of Autism-related content on TikTok. They published their results in a recent issue of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders in a paper titled: The Reach and Accuracy of Information on Autism on TikTok. In this interview, we discuss the audience scope on TikTok - spoiler alert: it's massive, why they decided to undertake this study, how they categorized the veracity of the TikTok videos they reviewed, what type of content creators had more and less accurate videos, what were some commonalities to the inaccurate videos they surveyed, and lots more. We also spent some time talking about the reaction to this paper, which has been considerable. Here are the links: The paper itself: ). A popular press write up of this paper in . Another interview of these authors on the . on TikTok. Drs. and on LinkedIn. The at Drexel University. Thanks so much for supporting the BOP on Patreon! If you have friends and colleagues who'd also enjoy getting these ad-free episodes, let them know how they can join too! This podcast is brought to you by: The Michigan Autism Conference, which is taking place on October 11-13 in Kalamazoo, and online as well. We’ll hear more about this event later on in the show, but if you’re impatient like me, to go , and use the code MAC10 to save $10 at checkout. , which is taking place on October 20th. This is an amazing event, benefitting a great cause, all for a very reasonable price. Use code PODCAST to save on your registration as well. . Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at . /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/27947124

What is Motivational Interviewing? Session 236 with Callie Plattner 08/22/2023

What is Motivational Interviewing? Session 236 with Callie Plattner joins me in Session 236 to talk about her work in the area of Motivational Interviewing. Callie is the Vice President of Clinical Operations at , and happens to be a fellow grad (!). Now longtime listeners will know that we've covered MI on the podcast before. Back in , my friend Dr. Jim Murphy, who incidentally also happens to be an Auburn grad, discussed MI in the context of helping young adults reduce binge drinking and other substance-related problems. Also, my good friend and colleague, Dr. Paulie Gavoni, has been talking about MI for years. In fact, he's in the process of developing a on this topic for the project that Paulie and I, along with our colleague Anika Costa, have been working on called (brace yourselves for hearing a lot more about this coming up ;-). This background aside, in this episode, Callie gives an overview of what exactly Motivational Interviewing is, and defines the four "micro-skills" of asking Open-Ended questions, providing Affirmations, Reflecting, and Summarizing... the so-called ". Callie then discusses the research she's conducted with Dr. Cynthia Anderson, which will be coming out soon in Behavior Analysis in Practice, and more generally talks about how MI can be an effective tool to build rapport with stakeholders and possibly improve things like staff and parent adherence to behavior plans, therapy attendance, and so on. Links from this episode: A brief history of ABA with . . . A Behavior-Analytic Account of Motivational Interviewing (). Not discussed in this episode, but still relevant, and worth checking out: Taking a Motivational Interviewing Approach to Prevention Science: Progress and Extensions (). If you get anything from these shownotes, watch these videos: and the (huge shout out to for sharing these with me!). . This podcast is brought to you by: The Michigan Autism Conference, which is taking place on October 11-13 in Kalamazoo, and online as well. We’ll hear more about this event later on in the show, but if you’re impatient like me, to go , and use the code MAC10 to save $10 at checkout. , which is taking place on October 20th. Use code PODCAST to save on your registration as well. . UC Online designed a Master of Education in Behavior Analysis program that is 100% online and asynchronous, meaning you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to and click the “request info” button. . Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at . /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/27822090

The Evidence Base for ABA Interventions: Session 235 with Jane Howard and Gina Green 08/11/2023

The Evidence Base for ABA Interventions: Session 235 with Jane Howard and Gina Green Drs. Jane Howard and Gina Green join me today in a podcast that could've spanned several hours. In the time we had, we did manage to cover quite a bit of territory, including the following: What Gina has been up to since retiring from the Association for Professional Behavior Analysts (spoiler alert: she's not hanging out at the beach reading mystery novels). We talk about Jane's career in behavior analysis, including how she got into the field, some of her many, many accomplishments (including being recently honored as a ), and what she is working on these days. The basics of research design, including why some experimental questions lend themselves to certain designs over others. In this segment, we also cover group or between-subjects designs and meta analyses, which are relevant to understand when looking at the ABA outcome literature. The distinction of criterion vs. norm referenced assessments. We discussed a number of initiatives and resources in the general realm of ABA treatment, including the current state of licensure, , , & . We talked at length about critical thinking, healthy skepticism, and epistemology in Behavior Analysis. In addition to these topics, we probably spent the most time talking about the empirical support for ABA interventions for individuals with Autism. In doing so, we discussed the large research projects that Jane and Gina led, what to make of some of the criticisms of this literature that is starting to gain some notoriety, and what research questions we still need answers to. Jane and Gina mentioned numerous studies and resources, and I've done my best to catalog them below: (my first interview with Gina in 2017). Howard, J., Sparkman, C., Cohen, H., Green, G, & Stanislaw, H. (2005). A comparison of intensive behavior analytic and eclectic treatments for young children with autism. Howard, J. S., Stanislaw, H., Green, G., Sparkman, C. R., & Cohen, H. G. (2014). . Stanislaw, H., Howard, J., & Martin, C. (2020). . Eldevik, S., Hastings, R. P., Hughes, J. C., Jahr, E., Eikeseth, S., & Cross, S. (2010). . Klintwall, L., Eldevik, S., & Eikeseth, S. (2015). . Padilla, K.L., Weston, R., Morgan, G.B., Lively, P., & O’Guinn, N. (2023). . Steinbrenner, J. R., Hume, K., Odom, S. L., Morin, K. L., Nowell, S. W., Tomaszewski, B., Szendrey, S., McIntyre, N. S., Yücesoy-Özkan, S., & Savage, M. N. (2020). . The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence and Practice Review Team. ABA Coding Coalition (2022). Model Coverage Policy for Adaptive Behavior Services. American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education (2014) Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association. Behavior Analyst Certification Board & Association of Professional Behavior Analysts (February 2019). Clarifications Regarding Applied Behavior Analysis Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Practice Guidelines for Healthcare Funders and Managers (2nded). Johnston, Pennypacker, and Green (2019). . This podcast is brought to you by: The Michigan Autism Conference, which is taking place on October 11-13 in Kalamazoo, and online as well. We’ll hear more about this event later on in the show, but if you’re impatient like me, to go , and use the code MAC10 to save $10 at checkout. , which is taking place on October 20th. Use code PODCAST to save on your registration as well. HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to to schedule a confidential chat right away. ACE Approved CEUs from .... . That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests! /episode/index/show/behavioralobservations/id/27726123

Do Breaks Contribute to Productivity? Inside JABA Series 16 08/01/2023

La Perspectiva de la Circunstancia con Carola Scolari: BOP en Español 5 07/24/2023

The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

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