Behavior Trend

Head on over to our blog to learn about the secret of how to make the holidays successful for your child.

With Hanukkah less than a week away and Christmas about 3 weeks away, we wanted to share some of our secrets on how to make the holidays successful for your child! Let us know if you've tried these methods before and what you think.

How to Solve the Insurance Maze | #Autism #ABA #BCBA

The Field of ABA and the world of Autism have lost two amazing people who have impacted us all. Jose Martinez Diaz Had such an incredible passion for everything he did. He taught thousands of ABA Clinicians all around the world and influenced public policies. He was a real humanitarian whose legacy in the ABA world will live on in the people he impacted and inspired.... Feda Almaliti Had a fierce love for her son on the spectrum. She had such a powerful force in reshaping autism-related policies, especially in California. She was never afraid of how big the fight was; she was there to make a difference. You have inspired so many people with your passion and dedication. All the work that you have done will benefit so many generations to come. We thank you both for being passionate and inspiring so many people to never to give up!

Parent Training in ABA #Autism #ABA #ParentTraining #BCBA #specialneeds

Keep your mask up. Put that back. Stay by me. Too far, come back! Pull your mask up. Touch the cart. Get your mouth off the cart! Stay by me. (You are doing aw...esome!) Pull your mask up! (Good job!) Don’t touch that! We aren’t buying polenta. Pull my shirt down Parker! Please get out from under my tank top. Pull your mask up over your nose. Put your mask on. Stay by me! We aren’t getting that. Put that back (side eye from woman next to us). Good listening! Stay by the cart! Pull up your mask. Stay on the checkout line. Come back. Stand on the line. Great job! Grocery shopping during a pandemic is NEXT LEVEL. You are killing it moms! #thiswasabadidea

Positive quote found in the hallway of the local elementary school!

It’s Friday!!! And we would like to start a trend! #followfridays We will be sharing our favorite IG pages with you each Friday! ... We will be kicking off our follow Fridays with @kids.eat.in.color Jennifer Anderson is a registered nurse that uses her blog/Instagram and other social media platforms to help picky eaters eat more veggies and fruits. She incorporates behavioral principals in her approach to encourage kids to eat a variety of food. She believes in a simple and stress-free approach to helping kids eat their Veggies. She offers a Free Guide: Feed your Children Better with Less Stress! Thank you for encouraging us to look at food from a different perspective!

If I could make a wish, I would wish for...

Singing this song all day!

Attention: Do you know how to get your child to do things you want them to do? You might be giving them praise or other tangibles, but are you doing it the right way? Scroll through our easy visuals! ... Or read below! Immediate: Provide the reinforcer immediately after the desired behavior. For example, providing bubbles right after your child requests for bubbles will increase the likelihood that your child will request for bubbles again in the future. So reinforce right away! Big Enough: In other words, the size of the reinforcer needs to fit the behavior. For example, if you are potty training and it’s the FIRST time your child goes in the potty, you might want to consider rewarding them with a BIG CANDY bar . However if it’s the 10th time they go pee in the potty or they’ve picked up the skill, you might give them a small piece of candy We should give more reinforcement for bigger behaviors. Contingent: This means the reinforcer is only given when you see the behavior you want. For example, want to have your child take out the trash and have promised them ice cream? You should withhold the reinforcer until your child finishes the task no matter what. Enthusiastic: Make your praise or delivery of the reinforcer upbeat and honest. Think cheerleader! Motivated: reinforcers should be personalized and preferred. It may sound obvious but we all do not like the same things so we cannot expect all children to work for the same reinforcers (e.g. sweets, toys, or tickles). Observe your child’s interests and motivation to determine what you would want to use a reinforcer. Most of all- follow through! Kids like structure and predictability. What are some of your challenges or things you want your child to do but are having a hard time with? Comment below

Grab this now! #BCBA #ABA #SPED #BehaviorTrend

Our Clinical Director worked on a project called KidTalk back in Graduate school. KidTalks motto was: Good things happen when you talk! ... This phrase has been a guiding motto for us when thinking about the value and importance of language. Quick Tips on increasing language: target talk: use the same number of words as your child. If your child is not using words yet, keep your words to 1-2 word sentences. If your child is using one-word length of utterances, use 2-3 words. We want language to be meaningful. Give your child 5-10 seconds to answer a question. This gives them time to process the questions. Model new and fun words. Think about all the words you can associate with even one object. Expansions: expand the language your child already uses. Attach 1-2 words to your child’s words. For example if your child says big car, you can say big Red car Ask Open-ended Questions like what do you want to play today? Instead if Do you want to play with the doll? This encourages children to expand their answers to more than a no or a yes answer Read, Read, and Read some more. Turn Off the TV and other distractions. Now leave us a comment and tell us all the good things that happened!

You might need this today You do so much for your family, and we all start to feel tired and overwhelmed at some point. You may be thinking I do not have time but there is time for you! ... As the stewardess on your plane would say put on your mask FIRST before you help your loved ones with their mask Provide yourself some time each day to recharge your own batteries. . Here are some tips backed up by science: 1. You are more likely to keep an appointment and do something if you have a friend who you will complete the self care routine with. 2. Self care is NOT pretty or fancy. It’s about getting things done that make you happy and healthy. Haven’t seen the doctor in a while? Carve out some time to see them in the next few weeks! that’s self care! 3. Specifically write down the day and time for your appointments in your journal or gmail calendar or any other tool you use. You are more likely to keep that appintoment if you save that date and time. There is no one picture for self care. It can look different each day or each week for you. Even your preferences for self care will change with the days, seasons, and years. It’s what you want. For you. Take care of you so you can take care of them.

Black and African American Family Focus Support Group led by the amazing Theresa Quary! Next one coming up is in October! 818-374-9107