In special education, and education in general, we are constantly told what to teach. We have state standards we must adhere to, goals outlined in various curricula, and of course the skills and milestones we must measure during our formal assessments. All of these guidelines are valuable for us as teachers. They provide us with a framework for teaching, assist us in developing goals and objectives, allow us to assess strengths and needs, and help us to measure progress. But there is so much more to teaching than that! There is an element of clinical judgment involved in education that cannot be found in any manual. We should not teach something because it is part of a curriculum or because it is measured in an assessment--we should teach something because it will improve our students' quality of life. In the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), we focus on modifying socially-significant behaviors. In other words, behavior that impacts an individual's daily life and functioning in the world. Put simply, we must remember to teach what actually matters.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Teach What Matters!
Posted by Ashley, Special Educator
In special education, and education in general, we are constantly told what to teach. We have state standards we must adhere to, goals outlined in various curricula, and of course the skills and milestones we must measure during our formal assessments. All of these guidelines are valuable for us as teachers. They provide us with a framework for teaching, assist us in developing goals and objectives, allow us to assess strengths and needs, and help us to measure progress. But there is so much more to teaching than that! There is an element of clinical judgment involved in education that cannot be found in any manual. We should not teach something because it is part of a curriculum or because it is measured in an assessment--we should teach something because it will improve our students' quality of life. In the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), we focus on modifying socially-significant behaviors. In other words, behavior that impacts an individual's daily life and functioning in the world. Put simply, we must remember to teach what actually matters.
In special education, and education in general, we are constantly told what to teach. We have state standards we must adhere to, goals outlined in various curricula, and of course the skills and milestones we must measure during our formal assessments. All of these guidelines are valuable for us as teachers. They provide us with a framework for teaching, assist us in developing goals and objectives, allow us to assess strengths and needs, and help us to measure progress. But there is so much more to teaching than that! There is an element of clinical judgment involved in education that cannot be found in any manual. We should not teach something because it is part of a curriculum or because it is measured in an assessment--we should teach something because it will improve our students' quality of life. In the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), we focus on modifying socially-significant behaviors. In other words, behavior that impacts an individual's daily life and functioning in the world. Put simply, we must remember to teach what actually matters.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
DTT: A Piece of the ABA Pie
Posted by Natalie, MA, Special Educator
Now that your mouth is watering with an image of pie, let me take you back to when I first heard this analogy. In graduate school, I took a course on curriculum and instruction for students with disabilities. My professor, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) was always telling us how the principles of ABA were beneficial for her students, and how important research-based interventions such as ABA are in all instruction (special education and general education alike). ABA was increasing in popularity as people learned more about the improvements students made, and with this increasing popularity came many misconceptions and misinformation. One such piece of information was that ABA is synonymous with DTT, or Discrete Trial Teaching. To this, my BCBA professor would say, "DTT is NOT ABA; it is a piece of the ABA pie!" You also may have read about this idea in my colleague Hiroe's post, "What is ABA?" She references that Discrete Trial Teaching is an effective teaching method utilized in many ABA programs, but that ABA is not wholly DTT. So what is the Discrete Trial Teaching thing all about?
Let's break it down DTT Style:
Now that your mouth is watering with an image of pie, let me take you back to when I first heard this analogy. In graduate school, I took a course on curriculum and instruction for students with disabilities. My professor, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) was always telling us how the principles of ABA were beneficial for her students, and how important research-based interventions such as ABA are in all instruction (special education and general education alike). ABA was increasing in popularity as people learned more about the improvements students made, and with this increasing popularity came many misconceptions and misinformation. One such piece of information was that ABA is synonymous with DTT, or Discrete Trial Teaching. To this, my BCBA professor would say, "DTT is NOT ABA; it is a piece of the ABA pie!" You also may have read about this idea in my colleague Hiroe's post, "What is ABA?" She references that Discrete Trial Teaching is an effective teaching method utilized in many ABA programs, but that ABA is not wholly DTT. So what is the Discrete Trial Teaching thing all about?
Let's break it down DTT Style:
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Tolerating Winter Clothing: A Sensory Approach to Staying Warm
Posted by Nicole, Occupational Therapist
As winter continues so does the cold weather and for a child
with sensory processing difficulties wearing winter clothing can be a very
unpleasant experience. After having various conversations with the parents I
work with specifically regarding different strategies for children having a hard
time with winter clothing such as hats, gloves, scarves, etc., I thought it
would be very helpful to share this information with our wonderful blog followers!
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