Well-Being BehaviorHome › Well, Behaved
The newsletterWell, Behaved
Real strategy, no jargon, written by one behavior analyst rather than assembled by a content team, which is why it is short and why it is opinionated. You get a six part series to start, one letter every two weeks, and new issues after that as they are written.
It is one letter, and everybody gets the same one. The idea is written in plain language, the example moves around on purpose, and there is a short block at the foot for people who run programs. The question below is only so I know who I am writing for.
Where are you using this?
Free. Answer or do not, the letter is the same either way. Unsubscribe anytime.
Six issues to start with
One idea, one example, one thing to try
No acronyms, nothing you need a degree to use, and never a promise that any of it will fix anybody. The examples move around on purpose. Sometimes a six year old, sometimes a teenager, sometimes an adult in a day program, sometimes your own inbox at 11pm.
- So, what is ABA actually? Beginning with what it is not.
- What is the behavior asking for? Function, and the only four answers.
- The fix that happens before anything goes wrong. Antecedents.
- Every time, then most times. Why rewards stop working, and how to thin them on purpose.
- Your plan is probably too big. Shaping, and halving the target.
- Stop is not a plan. Replacing a behavior with something that does the same job faster.
The block at the foot
Every issue ends with a short labelled block for the people who do this for a living. Behavior analysts writing the plans, technicians and teachers running them. The term, the procedure and the stop rule, in the language you already use. Skip it and the letter still makes sense.
- The four questions to ask before deciding a caregiver is not following the plan.
- One procedure, not six, and why the first one you hand over should be the antecedent change.
- Fidelity decay, and putting the two week check in the plan when you write it.
- Train to criterion, not to the end of the hour.
- Response effort, and the three numbers to write down before you train anybody.
Judge it before you subscribe
Two real extracts, one whole issue and one block at the foot. Nothing here is a teaser for something paid.
The step everyone skips
Behavioral skills training is four steps. Instruct, model, rehearse, feedback.
Almost every caregiver training package sold is the first one and nothing else. A written plan, talked through carefully, handed over. And on its own that produces poor implementation, which is not a controversial claim.
The one that carries the effect is rehearsal. They do it while you watch. It is also the one that gets cut first when a session runs long, and I do not think that is really about time.
Asking an adult to act something out in front of a professional is uncomfortable for about four seconds, and both of you can feel it. So one of you finds a reason to move on. Usually you.
Next time somebody will not role-play, do not persuade them. Go first, and do it badly. Perform the version most people actually do.
You have just made being bad at this the normal thing in the room. That is most of the job, and it works far more often than insisting does.
That is roughly half of it. The rest is about knowing when to stop.
Why the sticker chart stopped working
Here is something I hear almost every week.
“We tried a sticker chart. It worked great for about two weeks and then he stopped caring.”
That is not a discipline problem and it is not you doing it wrong. There is an actual mechanism behind it, and once you can see it you can fix it.
A reward is only a reinforcer if the behavior actually goes up.
That sounds like a technicality but it is the whole thing. Something earns the name reinforcer because of what it does to behavior, not because we think it should be motivating. So if the stickers stopped working, the stickers stopped being a reinforcer. That is information, not failure.
They got their fill of it. It was never the reinforcer to begin with. Or the delay got too long, and a reward on Friday for something that happened on Monday is a very weak connection for a young kid.
The rest of it is what to do instead, which takes about four minutes to read.
What you are actually agreeing to
- One email every two weeks for the first six, from a real person, with a reply address that reaches me
- The same letter everybody else gets, whatever you answered on the form
- No selling in most of them. Two of the six ask for anything at all
- A one click unsubscribe on every single send, which I would rather you used than that you stopped opening
Written by Camille M. Galanis, a behavior analyst in New York practicing under a graduate permit and LBA supervision. Everything here is educational material, not clinical advice or individualized treatment.
Not sure yet?
Run the free Behavior Decoder instead. It takes about three minutes, it tells you what a behavior is producing, and the newsletter comes with it.
The decoder is free in the app with no account, and the newsletter comes with it.
Educational content, not clinical advice. For personalized support, consult a licensed professional. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988.