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:

Banish Bad Therapy!

Posted by Ashley, Special Educator

In a previous post, "Not All Therapists Are Created Equal," I discussed the qualities of a good therapist.  That post focused on the idea that, regardless of qualifications on paper, all therapists have different strengths, weaknesses, and experiences.  Therapists who look the same on paper may not be the same in practice.  Clinical judgement is a difficult thing to teach.  The sad truth is that there are some bad therapists out there.  I hope my previous post has helped our parent readers to evaluate their child's therapists.

Because I have previously provided my thoughts on what defines good and bad therapists, I think it is now important to discuss what this means for your child.  This sounds like common sense, but I think it is worth saying anyway: bad therapists will provide bad therapy.  I will not go into extensive detail about what makes a bad therapist or what defines bad therapy because that information is available in "Not All Therapists Are Created Equal."  This post will focus on the effects of bad therapy.  

What I want you to know is that bad therapists and bad therapy can have detrimental effects for your child.  If you have identified that your therapist is not right for your family, please make a change--and do it quickly! I know that requesting a change in therapist can feel awkward or intimidating, and can even come with feelings of guilt.  For any parents out there who find themselves struggling with this decision, I write this post for you!  I want you to know the effects of bad therapy so that you can make an informed decision for your child.  What you are about to read may sound frightening.  It is not my intention to scare you, but I do want you to know the truth so that you and your family can receive the best therapy possible.