July 2nd, 1999 was Lucas's diagnosis day. This was one day before his third birthday, so it's easy to remember. Lucas just turned 23 this week, so I thought I would do a video blog this week looking back on the autism advice I would give myself way back 2 decades ago. Hopefully, this might help other moms, parents, and grandparents whose children are just getting diagnosed and feeling the way I felt 20 years ago.
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<div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/autism-advice-20-years-later/#more-8655">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">5 Pieces of Autism Advice After 20 Years from Diagnosis Day</span></a></div>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Many parents and professionals in my online courses are waiting for Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy. Or they are in my course because they don’t think that the ABA therapy that’s currently in place is working to its maximum extent. Today I’m going to give you my thoughts on what to do if you wonder: why is ABA therapy not working?</span>
<center><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL0_NcGwhzOkjxKfQet59g2yqexgRNAUwS" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></center><div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/aba-therapy-not-working/#more-8631">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Why is ABA Therapy Not Working?</span></a></div>
As both a parent and a professional in the autism world, I've seen a lot of echolalia in the past 2 decades. Echolalia is a child with autism repeating what you just said. So if you say, “do you want a cookie,” the child can either say “cookie” or “do you want a cookie?” Either way, we're talking about the child echoing you without answering your question. So today I'm going to talk all about echolalia.
<center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3VjjeQQ7Mu4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/echolalia-child-repeating-words/#more-8589">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Echolalia: Is Your Client or Child Repeating Words? Here’s What You Can Do</span></a></div>
There's a lot of confusion between bribery and reinforcement, and it's really important for both autism professionals and parents to know the difference. So today I'm talking all about this important topic, and how you can ensure you're using positive reinforcement.
<center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZQIGHrl9WTI" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/positive-reinforcement-vs-bribery/#more-8487">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Positive Reinforcement vs. Bribery</span></a></div>
Kids with autism, whether they start talking when they're two, four, or eight, often have really problematic articulation that doesn't always follow the typically developing rules. Their articulation can be really difficult to understand. So today I'm going to discuss articulation issues and my system that can help kids talk more clearly.
<center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cwkZMz8hCHE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/improving-pronunciation-articulation-children-autism/#more-8434">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Improving Pronunciation & Articulation in Children with Autism</span></a></div>
Many kids with severe autism have extreme difficulties. Both parents and professionals struggle with how to help kids with severe autism. Today I'm going to answer the question "what is severe autism?" and talk about three reasons why helping kids with severe autism is harder than ever.
<center><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3C8dS0NFIh8" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></center><div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/what-is-severe-autism/#more-8382">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">What is Severe Autism & Why Helping Severe Autism in Children is Harder Than Ever</span></a></div>
<div>Teaching kids with autism to play games is tricky. In 2008, I met a behavior analyst who changed my whole view on how to teach autism games. So today, I want to talk about Steve Ward and his book on this important topic. Games can help increase eye contact, facial expressions, and more social interactions.</div>
<center><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_xrQEsh46kg" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></center><div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/autism-games/#more-8506">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">How to Start Teaching Autism Games</span></a></div>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Most funding sources require a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) before treatment for autism can be started. Sometimes an FBA is required at regular intervals, especially if new problem behaviors occur. There’s also a lot of confusion between an FBA and a Functional Analysis (FA). Last week I got an email from a psychologist that said that he wished more BCBAs would stop focusing so much on an FA and start using my common sense approach. So today I wanted to talk to you about the difference between an FBA, FA and my common sense approach.</span>
<center><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kXa4GzFsKQg" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></center><div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/autism-behavioral-strategies-fba-fa-aba/#more-8300">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Autism Behavioral Strategies: FBA vs. FA</span></a></div>
Social skill deficits are one of the most common deficits in kids with autism. In fact, since it’s one of the signs of autism, social skills are almost always a topic talked about in a child with ASD. I found that parents and professionals make 3 common mistakes when it comes to autism social skills instruction. So today I want to cover the 3 mistakes to avoid when teaching social skill activities for autism.
<center><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vRd6LVFUvwc" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></center><div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/autism-social-skills-mistakes/#more-8263">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">3 Mistakes to Avoid When Teaching Autism Social Skills</span></a></div>
Are you using transfer procedures to teach children with autism? If you're not, you definitely want to tune in for this week's video blog where I am going to be talking about a paper that was published by myself and Dr. Rick Kubina, my BCBA mentor, in 2005 called “Using Transfer Procedures to Teach Tacts to a Child with Autism.”
<center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q_-EfMgvWHA" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/transfer-procedures-teach-autism-children/#more-8238">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Using Transfer Procedures to Teach Children with Autism</span></a></div>
