The How to ABA Podcast

We are Shira and Shayna and we are so excited to bring you our first podcast episode of How to ABA! We are both BCBAs with over twenty years of experience, and as you can imagine, we have created and gathered so many resources in that time. We want to share them with you! That’s why we are here, and that’s why we created this podcast. If you are new to the world of ABA, are looking for new resources, or just looking for a fresh perspective, you’re in the right place!

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The How to ABA Podcast

Teaching Self-Advocacy

February 11, 2025 • Shira Karpel & Shayna Gaunt • Episode 189

When our learners are faced with an uncomfortable situation or presented with something they don’t want, they don’t always have someone there to advocate for them. Because of this, it’s critical for us to teach them how to advocate for themselves at an early age. Here, we discuss the importance of self-advocacy and how to best teach it to our learners.

We cover the differences between self-advocacy and appropriate protesting and how to teach learners to know what’s safe and what isn’t. We also discuss how to use priming and fading to correct challenging behaviors, how to use role play, and why communication among team members is key.

What’s Inside:

How to teach our learners self-advocacy
The difference between self-advocacy and appropriate protests
The importance of communication among team members

Mentioned In This Episode:
HowToABA.com/join
How to ABA on YouTube
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The BST Model – Behavioral Skills Training
Teaching Appropriate Protests in ABA