Author: Janine Shapiro, Co-Clinical Director of Access Behavior Analysis

I’ve recently written about the importance of teaching children requests as “first words” rather than animals, letters, numbers, or colors.  I’ve also been discussing the importance of avoiding general requests and social niceties.  For example, don’t teach the word “more” and refrain from prompting children to say “please” too early.  The list of “don’ts” continues … more »

In my last blog post, I discussed the reasons why it’s best to avoid teaching the word “more” as a first word.  Now, I’d like to make a case against the word “please.”  I’ve seen some practitioners teach “please” as a first word, and when this occurs, the pitfalls are largely the same as teaching … more »

When a parent tells me that their child has limited language, but has learned one word/sign, in my head, I say it in unison with the parent, “more.”  This is typically the “go to” first word or sign that speech-language pathologists and developmental therapists teach.  In fact, it’s the first word I taught before I … more »

The holy grail of language therapy goals is conversational language.  Parents understandably want to be able to ask their children about their day at school and for their children to tell them in return about the book read in library class or the game played during P.E.  I share in this goal with parents, and … more »

Those of us trained in Applied Behavior Analysis know how this therapy method can help all kids with disabilities — as well as those without a disability. Unfortunately, most of the funding and press for ABA only focuses on autism when so many more children would benefit from integrating ABA into their therapy regimen. That’s … more »

Haley Babcock creates all of the beautiful and bright art that adorns the walls at Access Behavior Analysis. She combines her lifelong passion for painting with her experience working with children to bring the artwork to life. Her words below speak to what makes Haley special and why she represents our core belief that human … more »

by Janine Shapiro, Co-Clinical Director of Access Behavior Analysis   As the first dually certified speech-language pathologist and behavior analyst in Indiana, I fully believe in the power of fusing speech, language, social, and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) sciences together for a more effective treatment. But I haven’t always been a proponent of ABA. Early … more »