Mikal Britt, Behaviorist for 10+ years Sometimes you have to let kids do things that might make you nervous. You have to take chances and experiment if you want to see growth. Another way to say this is “helping by not helping”, which sounds counterintuitive, or maybe even like an excuse. But in many cases, it is the only way to help someone get over the next hurdle. Whether a therapist, caregiver, or parent, we are often too concerned with controlling…
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Eric Kastan, MA, LMFT, BCBA As a clinician, many people ask me why people behave in the manner they do, even when it makes no logical sense to engage in the behavior seen. A person’s behavior is not in a vacuum. There are many factors into why a person engages in a certain behavior or does not. In ABA, there are four main functions of a behavior: Social Reinforcement + (SR+), Social Reinforcement – (SR-), Automatic Reinforcement + (AR+), and…
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By Mikal Britt I’ve been a behavior therapist for almost ten years now. This was never my intention. But one summer when I worked at the now-defunct FACT Summer Sleepaway Camp at UCLA, my entire life changed. It was a “sink or swim” full-immersion situation: spend one week living with and taking care of 115 kids with autism, all age ranges and functioning abilities. I had absolutely no experience, except for the fact that I happen to be a calm,…
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By Eric Kastan, M.A.,LMFT, BCBA Difference is the key We have looked at many different aspects of ABA and creating change in behavior. When we come across a behavior that is correct in one context and not correct in another, basic reinforcement and punishment procedures may not really capture the idea of change needed. When we have a targeted behavior we want to change in one context (across place, person, or time) and keep in another, we turn to Differential…
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By Eric Kastan, M.A.,LMFT, BCBA This time of the year, we tend to start to take inventory of the year and what is and is not working. This may include behavior and how we all affect each other. Last month I wrote about how to increase the chance on someone’s behavior occurring through reinforcement. Well, when we take some inventory, one may realize that they have been reinforcing a negative or unwanted behavior. What do we do then? One of…
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By Eric Kastan, M.A.,LMFT, BCBA One person’s punishment, is another person’s reward. The basic concept of ABA works on the 3-term contingency of behaviors (the ABC model): Antecedent, the events prior to behavior; Behavior, the observable and measureable action; Consequence; outcome of events from the behavior. This 3-term contingency model is the base of all ABA. As a behavior analyst in ABA, as a field we tend to do the most work within the Consequence area. This is done with…
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By Eric Kastan, M.A.,LMFT, BCBA Linking it all together Happy New Year! New year, new skills. In ABA we can build new skills in a couple ways. Shaping was in last month’s blog. This month, we will look into chaining. Chaining is a great procedure to build new skills. This procedure teaches new behaviors and skills in a scripted and planned manner that also offers structure for you as a parent (or educator, or therapist, or caretaker). As you read…
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By Eric Kastan, M.A.,LMFT, BCBA How can you reinforce a change in behaivor? Well it’s that time of the year where you will hear a lot about New Year’s resolutions. We may look at our children and think about what changes in their behavior we’d like to see in 2014. In ABA, sometimes this change requires a new set of behaviors. To teach new behaviors in ABA, there are two great methods, shaping and chaining. I will look at shaping for…
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By Eric Kastan, M.A., LMFT, BCBA It’s Not What You Say, But How You Say It As we travel along the path of ABA, it is important to look at your part in the equation of behavior change. February brings a holiday about expressing to your loved ones how you feel about them. Sometimes this can be gigantic, over the top, experiences, and other times it can be a simple little message. Both have meaning and both can deeply affect…
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FACT‘s roots go back to UCLA. As we have grown and thrived for the last 11 years as a not for profit, our connection to UCLA has remained strong. Many of our families have participated in research studies and interns, both graduate and undergraduate, enrich our program. This year the families in our Culver City support group had the opportunity to work with Amy Sudhinaraset, a medical student from UCLA. She conducted indepth interveiws that allowed each parent to share…
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