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From Amazon to Autism Care: AI Powered Tools for ABA and Diagnostics: Frontera Series on AI with Grant Sickle

The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

Release Date: 09/25/2025

Comportamiento, espacio y algoritmos: Análisis de la conducta recargado, BOP en Español 17 con Alejandro León show art 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...

info_outline The 2025 Verbal Behavior Conference Panel Discussion: Session 326 show art 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...

info_outline Developing Rapport and Sustaining Motivation in Autism Treatment: Session 325 with Alice Shillingsburg show art 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...

info_outline Resilience Is a Skill — Raising Capable Kids in a Fragile World: Session 324 with Paulie Gavoni and Steve Ward show art 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...

info_outline Building Clinical Excellence in Autism Services: How Apollo Trains and Supports RBTs and BCBAs - Session 322 show art 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...

info_outline Entrenamiento de Habilidades Conductuales: BOP en Español 16 con Maria Sanchez show art 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_outline The Four Leadership Hats: Applying Behavioral Science to Leadership and Supervision — Session 321 with John Guercio show art The Four Leadership Hats: Applying Behavioral Science to Leadership and Supervision — Session 321 with John Guercio

The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

In this episode, I’m joined by John Guercio for a wide-ranging and practical conversation about leadership through a behavioral lens. John and I dig into what it actually means to lead in applied behavior analysis, especially when so much of the existing leadership literature is vague, mentalistic, or disconnected from observable behavior. We start by talking about the need to operationalize leadership in behavioral terms and explore the four leadership hats developed by : leading, training, coaching, and managing. We break down what each of these roles looks like behaviorally, how they...

info_outline The Importance of Hard and Soft Skills in ABA Practice: Session 320 with Tiffany Kodak and Landon Cowan show art The Importance of Hard and Soft Skills in ABA Practice: Session 320 with Tiffany Kodak and Landon Cowan

The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

In Session 320, I sit down with Landon Cowan and Tiffany Kodak to talk about an area of behavior analysis that doesn’t get nearly enough attention: professional (or “soft”) skills. We spend a lot of time in our field teaching and refining technical, clinical, or “hard” skills—and for good reason. But far less time is devoted to the interpersonal, communication, and problem-solving skills that ultimately determine how effective we are as clinicians, supervisors, and collaborators. In this conversation, Landon and Tiffany share their research aimed at identifying, defining, and...

info_outline 2025 Year in Review: Session 319 with ABA Inside Track show art 2025 Year in Review: Session 319 with ABA Inside Track

The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

Don’t adjust your podcast player folks, you have the right show. Welcome to Session 319 of the Behavioral Observations Podcast. If you’ve been listening for a bit, you know what’s coming. If you’re new to the show however, first, welcome and thanks for listening. Every year, I team up with my friends from the ABA Inside Track Podcast to do a Year In Review episode. We’ve tinkered with the format over time, but for this one, we talk briefly about the trends and issues that we thought were important in 2025. From there, we discussed some of the most downloaded shows from our podcasts...

info_outline Smarter Study Strategies Using Cover, Copy, and Compare: Session 318 with Sarah Frampton show art Smarter Study Strategies Using Cover, Copy, and Compare: Session 318 with Sarah Frampton

The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

In this episode, I sit down with , who conducts research on, amongst other things, improving how we teach, learn, and organize information using behavior-analytic strategies. We explore her career journey, her research on graphic organizers and the Cover, Copy, Compare (CCC) strategy, and the broader implications for stimulus equivalence, educational technology, and effective teaching. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: How Sarah’s unconventional path led her from economics and psychology into Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Why note-taking and structured...

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In this episode of The Behavioral Observations Podcast, I talk with Grant Sickle, former Amazon product leader and current head of product at Frontera, a company building AI-powered platforms to improve autism care.

Grant shares how his team is developing assessment and diagnostic tools to shorten waitlists, streamline reporting, and support clinicians in delivering more efficient ABA therapy. We also discuss how Frontera’s digital phenotyping app enables HIPAA-compliant behavior tracking, parent engagement, and asynchronous supervision — while addressing the issue of fraud prevention.

This conversation highlights both the promise and the challenges of using AI in clinical settings, emphasizing the importance of clinician oversight, robust validation, and feedback loops. Grant also shares insights from Frontera’s home-based pilot program, which helps parents capture real-world behavior data to support better generalization and treatment planning.

Whether you’re a BCBA, RBT, parent, or researcher, this episode offers a fascinating look at the intersection of technology, autism care, and ethical ABA practice.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • How Frontera is building AI-driven assessment and diagnostic tools for autism care
  • Why clinician oversight remains critical in AI-powered healthcare solutions
  • Insights into fraud prevention in ABA therapy using videographic evidence and facial recognition
  • How home-based video tracking is supporting behavior generalization and parent engagement
  • The challenges of adoption among BCBAs versus RBTs and parents
  • Future directions for AI in ABA, including outcome measurement and identifying autism subpopulations
  • The technique Amazon's founder used to find and correct problems

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