Play is a fundamental part of childhood, so what happens when a child struggles to engage in it? In this episode, we explore the many forms play can take, why it's essential for development, and how to support learners who find it challenging.

We break down what "play" really means (beyond just pretend scenarios) and include everything from sports and games to musical instruments and picture books. We talk about common barriers to play, such as social challenges, sensory sensitivities, and limited interests, and how to meet kids where they are by shaping existing interests into meaningful, engaging activities.

You'll hear practical strategies for teaching and supporting play: using visual models, offering choices, setting up structured yet flexible play environments, and carefully selecting peers for playdates. We also discuss the value of parallel play and when to pivot from play to leisure skills—emphasizing that enjoyment and engagement are what matter most.

What’s Inside:

• What is play?
• Identifying common barriers that make play challenging for some children.
• Strategies for supporting and shaping meaningful play experiences.
• Pivoting from play skills to leisure skills for lifelong enjoyment.

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An Early Start for Your Child with Autism: Using Everyday Activities to Help Kids Connect, Communicate, and Learn

Leisure skills, unlike developmental play, support lifelong engagement, independence, and quality of life, whether it's crochet, reading, or structured hobbies. In this discussion, we explore how play skills evolve across ages and how ABA programs can support that progression.

We outline the typical stages of play, from exploratory and functional play in toddlers to pretend, constructive, and rule-based games in older kids. We discuss why using outdated play activities (like blocks or shape sorters) with older learners can be problematic and highlight the importance of transitioning to leisure skills as children mature, especially for teens and adults. We also touch on strategies for teaching play, including sensory-social routines, modeling, and focusing on student motivation.

What’s Inside:

• How to use ABA programs to support play through the ages
• Issues with using outdated play activities with older learners
• Strategies to use when teaching play

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An independent activity schedule (IAS) is a tool made up of pictures or written cues that guides a child through a series of tasks on their own. It promotes independence and reduces the need for constant supervision, making it a valuable strategy for both school and home environments. In this episode, we dive into how to design an effective IAS, share creative schedule ideas, and walk you through how to teach it step-by-step.

Whether you're looking to encourage more independent behavior at school or help your child complete daily routines before screen time at home, an IAS can be a game-changer. We break down the three key phases of using an IAS, how to integrate open-ended tasks, and tips for prompting and tracking progress. Plus, we show you real-life examples so you can tailor a schedule that fits your needs.

Want more information on independent activity schedules? On June 12th, we’re hosting a CEU event: Independent Activity Schedules, Building Meaningful Play and Leisure Skills. Click the link below to register!

What’s Inside:

• How to create an independent activity schedule.
• How an IAS can help in both home and school settings.
• IAS data collection best practices.

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Join Our Next CEU Event

When it comes to successful interventions, knowing the “why” behind behaviors is key. As practitioners, we may have learned in school that there are four functions of behavior: escape, attention, tangible, and sensory. However, in practice, things aren’t always so cut and dry. Here, we dive into the roles of antecedents, triggers, and functions so we can better understand what drives challenging behavior.

In this conversation, we discuss setting events and how what comes right before a behavior helps us understand a learner’s missing skills. We look at how to best determine the function of a behavior and how to teach appropriate replacement skills. We also discuss synthesized reinforcement, the importance of conducting a functional behavior assessment, and reinforcement strategies.

What’s Inside:

• How setting events help us uncover missing skills
• How to determine the function of a behavior
• Examples of reinforcement strategies

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Free Antecedent Log

As BCBAs, each day we walk a fine line between keeping children safe while ensuring our interventions are compassionate, ethical, and effective. Prioritizing safety in behavior management is a non-negotiable and it doesn't have to come at the expense of empathy. Here, we discuss the best ways to balance safety and compassion in our interventions and how to ensure that the individuals we serve are not only protected but also respected and empowered.

When developing interventions, it’s important to use the least intrusive, most effective strategies. We discuss how to build a foundation of trust and antecedent-based intervention as proactive strategies. We also cover the importance of regulation for both ourselves and our learners, how to determine whether corrective behavior is essential, and how to hold appropriate boundaries.

Dr. Hanley's Universal Protocol is a great guideline to have when balancing safety and compassion. Remind yourself of some best practices by downloading our Applying Universal Protocol Cheat Sheet below!

What’s Inside:

• How to balance safety and compassion in our interventions
• The importance of building a foundation of trust
• How to determine if corrective behavior is essential

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Free Applying Universal Protocol Cheat Sheet
Episode 113: How to Maintain Client Dignity in ABA

Challenging behaviors don't just happen out of nowhere. They have patterns, triggers, and underlying causes. The key to success is all about preventing them in the first place instead of reacting to the behaviors when they occur. Here, we discuss how to use both proactive and reactive strategies to effectively reduce challenging behaviors with our learners.

When working on challenging behaviors, setting yourself up for success makes all the difference. Proactive strategies are designed to prevent behaviors from occurring and we discuss how to create an environment where they’re less likely to happen. We also share tips on how to teach replacement skills and make environmental accommodations.

While we want to aim for a proactive approach, we can’t always prevent challenging behaviors. Sometimes, we need to use reactive strategies, and we discuss when and how to intervene. We also cover how to block and diffuse unsafe behaviors and how to analyze data to determine how well your strategies are working.

What’s Inside:

• How to use proactive and reactive strategies for challenging behaviors
• The importance of building trust with our learners
• How to block and diffuse unsafe behaviors

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Free ABC Data Sheet

When managing challenging behavior, our goal as behavior therapists is to reduce these behaviors and teach new skills. Here, we discuss how to do so without using strategies like extinction and planned ignoring. Through skill-based treatment, we not only reduce challenging behaviors but also replace them with positive functional skills.

Challenging behavior is often the result of skill deficits in areas like communication, being able to tolerate discomfort, and handling transitions. Skill-based treatment is a compassionate, proactive approach that prioritizes teaching skills that meet the same need as the challenging behavior but in a more appropriate way. We also cover practical functional assessments, why it’s important to start with trust and relationship building, and reinforcement techniques.

For a deeper dive into skill-based treatment, join our next live CEU event on Thursday, May 15, at 12pm EST called Effectively Addressing Challenging Behaviors Using Skills-Based Treatment (SBT) .


What’s Inside:

• How to use skill-based treatment to replace challenging behaviors
• Why it’s important to build a trusting relationship with our learners
• How to join our next live CEU event

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Join Our Next CEU Event

Before our learners can independently manage their emotions, they need to first master co-regulation. For children, this looks like a trusted adult helping them to navigate big feelings by offering calm, supportive guidance. Here, we discuss how we can best help our learners master the skill of co-regulation and provide practical tips for making progress.

We begin by diving into the difference between terms like emotional regulation, co-regulation, and self-regulation. We discuss how to remain calm and collected so we can manage and temper our reactions. We also share tips on how to help learners identify their feelings, how to develop your own emotional regulation skills, and why practice and consistency in our strategies are important.

What’s Inside:

• How to help learners master co-regulation skills
• Tips for helping learners identify feelings
• Why practice and consistency are important

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HowToABA.com/join
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Three Point Scale Teaching Procedure