How to improve interdisciplinary meetings with Behavior Skills Training: Inside JABA 17
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Release Date: 11/07/2023
Supporting Individuals With Severe Problem Behavior Through Collaboration: Session 331 with Ben Seifert
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In Session 331, I sat down with to talk about some of the most challenging — and important — work happening in applied behavior analysis today: supporting individuals with severe problem behavior. Ben shared his journey into the field, beginning with his early experiences at Lindamood-Bell and later at under the mentorship of Carl Sundberg and others who helped shape his clinical perspective. Along the way, we discussed what originally drew him toward working with clients who many providers often avoid, and why he remains deeply committed to ensuring that all...
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Supporting Health and Wellness in Developmental Disabilities: Session 330: Brandon May, Maggie Pavone, and Kate Heersink
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In this episode, I’m joined by Drs. and , and to talk about how we can better support healthier lifestyles for individuals with developmental disabilities. We start by digging into how each of them came to this work. Maggie shares some early experiences working as a direct support professional, where she began to notice patterns between food-related variables and challenging behavior. Brandon talks about coming into behavior analysis through the health and fitness world, and seeing firsthand how difficult it was to support individuals in building healthier routines...
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Train Smarter, Not Harder: Heart Rate Zones, VO2 Max, and Better Fitness: Session 329 with Nick Green
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In Session 329, I’m joined once again by , Ph.D., BCBA-D, who’s been doing some really interesting work at the intersection of fitness and behavior science. In this episode, Nick walks us through the basics of heart rate training zones and why simply “working out” isn’t always enough. We talk about the general recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week, but more importantly, how to make sure that time is actually spent in the right zones—particularly Zones 2 through 4—where you’re going to see real cardiovascular benefits. From there, we get...
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Conditioning Books as Reinforcers: How to Increase Reading Engagement in Young Children: Inside JABA 26
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Episode Summary In this episode, I'm joined by , , and Lilian Morales to discuss their recent paper in JABA, . In this episode, we explore how books can function as powerful reinforcers for young children, especially in early learning and ABA contexts. We discuss how to identify when books are actually reinforcing, how to condition books as reinforcers if they’re not already, and practical strategies for incorporating them into teaching and behavior support. Key Topics Covered 1. What Makes Something a Reinforcer? Reinforcers are defined by their effect on behavior—not by intention A...
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Comportamiento, espacio y algoritmos: Análisis de la conducta recargado, BOP en Español 17 con Alejandro León
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Comportamiento, espacio y algoritmos: Análisis de la conducta recargado En este episodio de Espacio y Comportamiento, conversa con sobre una dimensión del comportamiento que históricamente ha sido poco explorada en nuestro campo: el espacio. Más allá de medir cuándo ocurre una conducta o cuántas veces se presenta, esta conversación propone mirar dónde ocurre, cómo nos movemos en el ambiente y cómo los patrones de acercamiento, alejamiento y trayectoria espacial organizan el comportamiento. Alejandro comparte su recorrido poco convencional desde la ingeniería y las...
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The 2025 Verbal Behavior Conference Panel Discussion: Session 326
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Thanks for joining me for Session 326 of The Behavioral Observations Podcast. This episode was recorded live at the 2025 Verbal Behavior Conference, where I had the honor of moderating the annual panel discussion. If you haven't attended a previous Verbal Behavior Conference, you're in luck, because the next one is coming up in just a few short weeks. The will be held on March 26th and 27th, and it will be preceded by a full day workshop. If you've listened to the show for any length of time, you've heard my go on about how unique this conference is. If not, please indulge me for a...
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Developing Rapport and Sustaining Motivation in Autism Treatment: Session 325 with Alice Shillingsburg
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In this episode, I talk with Dr. Alice Shillingsburg about her work on rapport building and pairing procedures in applied behavior analysis for children with autism. We explore how building therapeutic rapport goes beyond simply “liking someone,” emphasizing the importance of establishing trust and engagement to facilitate learning, especially when tasks are challenging. Alice explains the nine-stage pairing protocol she developed and highlights how careful timing, observation, and reinforcement choices can make pairing effective. We discuss the significance of observing children’s...
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Resilience Is a Skill — Raising Capable Kids in a Fragile World: Session 324 with Paulie Gavoni and Steve Ward
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In Session 324, Dr. Paulie Gavoni and Steve Ward join me to discuss what resilience actually looks like from a behavior science perspective — and why many well-intentioned adult responses can unintentionally teach avoidance instead of persistence. We center our conversation around their book, , which reframes resilience not as a personality trait or motivational slogan, but as a set of learnable repertoires shaped by the environments adults design We talk about: Why resilience is a behavioral repertoire, not a mindset or personality trait The hidden ways adult anxiety shapes...
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Building Clinical Excellence in Autism Services: How Apollo Trains and Supports RBTs and BCBAs - Session 322
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In this episode of the Behavioral Observations Podcast, I’m joined by , founder of , and , Vice President of Clinical Operations, to talk about what it really takes to build and sustain clinical excellence in autism services. We discuss Apollo’s decision to launch in Georgia, their highly selective hiring process, and how values alignment plays a central role in building their culture. Kim and Kristen share how Apollo approaches training differently — including a four-week RBT onboarding program that exceeds certification requirements and a structured mentorship model for BCBAs. The...
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Entrenamiento de Habilidades Conductuales: BOP en Español 16 con Maria Sanchez
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
En este episodio, Miguel conversa con , una profesional con un impacto notable en la formación de analistas de conducta en España y Latinoamérica. La charla gira en torno al Behavioral Skills Training (BST) o Entrenamiento de Habilidades Conductuales: qué es, cómo se aplica en la práctica y por qué sigue siendo una de las herramientas más efectivas para entrenar tanto a profesionales como a familias. María comparte su recorrido profesional, que comienza en Inglaterra en un centro para niños con autismo y evoluciona hacia su trabajo en PECS, donde encontró su...
info_outlineFrank Bird and Dr. Jill Harper 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 Melmark. 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, Teaching clinicians and nurses to prepare for and present at interdisciplinary meetings through behavioral skills training.
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 Dr. Florence DiGennaro-Reed 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 behavioralobservations.com 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 CEUs page of the site. If you don't see this one right away, check back in a couple of days and it will be there.
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