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:

ABA Drill Sergeants: ABOUT FACE...

...and keep on marching!

Posted by: Natalie, Special Educator

Out of our wonderfully assembled team of brilliant, hardworking women dedicated to improving the lives of children with special needs and their families, I believe I am the newest one to the field. I dabbled in high school history, elementary school math, and middle school ELA. But then, I stumbled across this science called ABA in my graduate program at Teachers College, Columbia University and hit the ground running! Never having been more passionate about anything else in my entire life, I've dedicated myself to trying to be the best teacher, behavior therapist, and play buddy for all of the students I have had the honor to work with.