ABA terminology
Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA):
A BCBA is an individual who has
1. completed their Masters degree
2. completed graduate level coursework in Applied Behavior Analysis
3. completed supervised fieldwork hours
4. passed a national exam
Maintenance:
Maintenance Skills are skills that your child has shown they can reliably do correctly. "Maintenance" means they are still able to do and "maintain" the skill correctly even after teaching has stopped. It may be labeling items, answering questions, sorting objects, or receptively demonstrating a skill such as "clap your hands," "can you show me where your ear is?," or "hang up your jacket." Lists have been created at school so we can keep track of what they currently know and what we still need to teach them.
Generalization:
Generalization means that a skill can be done correctly in different settings, with different people, and different materials.
For instance, if your child can label the number 4 correctly when they see a 4 at school, we want to make sure that they can also label it correctly with you at home and when they see it in different colors and handwriting.
RESOURCE: Here is a YouTube channel that has many different informational videos on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Warning: this may be an overwhelming site since there is so much information!
Manding (Requesting):
Manding is just another word for requesting. So if a learner "mands," they request something. This is typically a huge focus of language development for BCBAs because it's the first type of language that humans exhibit (e.g. a baby cries when they want food, to be held, to have their diaper changed). Mands/requests benefit the learner because they get their needs met. People mand/request when they are motivated to do so and in need of something they don't have. Therefore, we can work on creating opportunities to increase mands/requests by using a learner's motivation to evoke language.
Video (above): This video shows a formal manding/requesting session where the teacher is working with the learner to request a favorite food: a cookie.
Video (above): A BCaBA (Board Certified ASSISTANT Behavior Analyst) discusses how mands/requests can be independent or prompted.
Video (above): They discuss how to teach vocal manding/requesting. It's important to remember that these strategies also work for learners who use other modes of communication such as sign language, picture exchange communication systems (PECS), and speech generating devices (SGDs).
Natural Environment Teaching (NET):
NET is when skills are being taught in more of an incidental format. You're using natural routines and activities that occur in the day to embed learning skills into such as manding/requesting, labeling items, or social skills such as waiting, turn-taking, and sharing.
Please see the "Virtual Learning" tab from the Covid-19 drop-down menu for more information on NET.
Reinforcement:
A reinforcer is an item, person, place, or activity that increases the behavior of the learner. It's given to the learner AFTER a behavior we want to see occurs and it therefore increases the likelihood that the behavior we want to see will occur again in the future.
If someone says "we tried reinforcement and it didn't work," then by definition they did not find reinforcement. Sometimes finding effective reinforcers can be be VERY challenging!
Examples: favorite foods and drinks, ipad screentime, being tickled, jumping on a trampoline, going outside, singing together, dancing to music, playing with toys, playing a game with a peer
Common Real-Life Examples:
getting a paycheck (reinforcer) after showing up to work (behavior)
leaving the store with food (reinforcer) for your family after grocery shopping and paying the cashier (behaviors)
seeing a beautiful view from the top of a mountain (reinforcer) after hiking up to it (behavior)