Entrenamiento de Habilidades Conductuales: BOP en Español 16 con Maria Sanchez
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Release Date: 01/27/2026
What is Facilitated Communication? BOP Rewind | Session 199/336 | Jason Travers
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Welcome to Session 336 The Behavioral Observations Podcast. Well technically, this is actually Session 199, and I wanted to take a minute to explain why you're hearing a rebroadcast. This conversation with Dr. Jason Travers originally aired back in September of 2022, but I've decided it's worth bringing back because, unfortunately, the issues surrounding Facilitated Communication haven't gone away. In fact, if anything, they've become more relevant. Over the past several years, we've continued to see heartwarming news stories and viral social media posts featuring non-speaking autistic...
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Conducta Verbal: Cultura, Contexto y Comunicación Funcional | BOP en ESP 18 con Janet Enriquez
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
En este episodio, Miguel conversa con Janet sobre la conducta verbal desde una perspectiva práctica y cultural. A lo largo de la conversación, exploran por qué la conducta verbal sigue siendo una de las áreas más importantes —y a veces más incomprendidas— dentro del análisis de conducta y la educación. Janet comparte su trayectoria como latina, educadora, investigadora y líder en múltiples iniciativas dentro del campo, así como su experiencia trabajando con comunidades bilingües y culturalmente diversas. Juntos discuten conceptos fundamentales de la conducta verbal,...
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Essential for Living in Action: Building Meaningful Skills Through Everyday Events | Session 334 with Kristina Montgomery and Emily Beal Wilkinson
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
Many behavior analysts have experienced the frustration of teaching a skill successfully in one setting only to discover that it doesn't transfer to the situations where it actually matters. In this episode, I sit down with and of Victory Academy to discuss how Essential for Living (EFL) and event-based teaching can help bridge that gap. Kristina and Emily share their professional journeys into behavior analysis and describe how discovering Dr. Patrick McGreevy's Essential for Living framework reshaped their approach to supporting learners with limited skill repertoires....
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Beyond 80% Correct: Rethinking Mastery Criteria in ABA: Session 333 with Sarah Richling & Dan Fienup
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
How do we determine when a learner has truly mastered a skill? In behavior analysis, performance criteria such as "80% correct across two sessions" have become nearly ubiquitous. Yet despite their widespread use, many practitioners may be surprised to learn that these criteria have relatively little direct empirical support. In this episode, I'm joined by Drs. Sarah Richling and Dr. Daniel Fienup to discuss the history, research, and practical implications of mastery criteria in applied behavior analysis. Drawing on their independent lines of research, Sarah and Dan examine how different...
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Helping Complex Kids Thrive Through Practical Behavioral Parenting Strategies: Jenny Demark, Linda Reinstein and Conrad Leung | Session 332
The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria
In this episode, I’m joined by , , and to talk about their new book, . These are clinicians who’ve spent years working directly with families dealing with everything from emotion regulation challenges, to childhood anxiety, to severe behavioral challenges, and what I liked about this conversation is that it stayed extremely practical throughout. We spent a lot of time talking about their “Prepare, Teach, Motivate” framework, and how parents and professionals can think more systematically about helping kids build resilience and coping skills rather than just reacting to challenging...
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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...
info_outlineEn este episodio, Miguel conversa con María Sánchez, 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 vocación inesperada en la supervisión y formación de otros profesionales. Trabajó en la capacitación de profesionales en Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Costa Rica y España, observando de primera mano el poder transformador de la comunicación aumentativa, especialmente en niños no verbales que comienzan a desarrollar estructuras de lenguaje más complejas.
Durante la pandemia, y tras el cierre inicial en Italia, María reinventó su práctica y creó 360 Online, un proyecto de formación remota para garantizar que profesionales en regiones aisladas pudieran acceder a entrenamientos RBT e IBT de calidad. Desde entonces, ha formado a cientos de estudiantes a través de clases sincrónicas, colaboraciones con centros en Latinoamérica y sesiones a distancia altamente prácticas.
Miguel y María profundizan en el procedimiento BST —instrucciones, modelado, juego de roles y retroalimentación—, explorando cómo implementarlo eficazmente con adultos, cómo dar feedback específico sin sobrecargar, y cómo equilibrar correcciones con reconocimiento positivo. También dialogan sobre las ventajas y desafíos de entrenar a distancia, la importancia ética de proteger la privacidad de clientes y familias, la necesidad de fomentar ambientes de aprendizaje seguros y empoderadores, el rol del telehealth en la generalización de habilidades y las demandas formativas reales en España y Latinoamérica, donde muchos profesionales tienen apenas una o dos horas semanales para cumplir con las 40 horas requeridas.
Antes de cerrar, María ofrece consejos esenciales para quienes están en el campo del análisis de conducta, subrayando la importancia del trabajo en equipo, la práctica deliberada y la humildad profesional.
BOP in English: BST with María Sánchez
In this episode, Miguel speaks with María Sánchez, a professional with a remarkable impact on the training of behavior analysts across Spain and Latin America. The conversation centers on Behavioral Skills Training (BST)—what it is, how it is applied in practice, and why it remains one of the most effective tools for training both professionals and families.
María shares her professional journey, which began in England at a center for children with autism and later led her to her work with PECS, where she unexpectedly discovered her passion for supervision and professional training. She provided training to professionals in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Costa Rica, and Spain, witnessing firsthand the transformative power of augmentative communication, especially in nonverbal children who begin developing more complex language structures.
During the pandemic—and after the initial shutdown in Italy—María reinvented her practice and created 360 Online, a remote training project designed to ensure that professionals in isolated regions could access high-quality RBT and IBT training. Since then, she has trained hundreds of students through synchronous classes, collaborations with centers across Latin America, and highly practical remote sessions.
Miguel and María dive into the *BST procedure—instructions, modeling, role play, and feedback—*discussing how to implement it effectively with adults, how to provide specific feedback without overwhelming, and how to balance corrections with positive reinforcement. They also explore the advantages and challenges of remote training, the ethical importance of protecting client and family privacy, the need to foster safe and empowering learning environments, the role of telehealth in skill generalization, and the training demands faced in Spain and Latin America, where many practitioners have only one or two hours per week to complete the required 40 hours.
Before wrapping up, María shares essential advice for those in the field of behavior analysis, emphasizing teamwork, deliberate practice, and professional humility.