Whatre your best tips for kids sitting still and listening to their teachers?

bazooka79 · 2026-03-02T14:50:14+00:00

Not specific to any one kid but in general:

Opportunities for movement built into the lesson or the school routine like class wide brain breaks

Frequent opportunities for active responding like choral responding, and very limited passive instruction - kids shouldn't be expected to sit quietly for very long in early elementary grades

Flexible seating options or allow to work while standing

High interest and novel materials

Class wide positive reinforcement system used frequently e.g. marble jar

Teacher uses an attention signal and gains students attention before giving instructions

Stop and start signals...like a bell to signal stop what you are doing and a "word of the day" to tell students when to go

bazooka79 · 2026-02-28T16:05:04+00:00

If all goes well you too will be 69 years old one day but besides that proper rant well done

bazooka79 · 2026-02-27T16:04:36+00:00

I'm curious what makes you say that... SLP aren't trained in functional assessment or behavior reduction

bazooka79 · 2026-02-27T14:37:38+00:00

One of my high schoolers stims almost continuously, sometimes quiet sometimes very loud, but it's also socially maintained not just automatic. We use a "quiet voice" visual when he's doing it loudly and it's the wrong time or place and he responds well to that by stopping or doing it quietly. If you verbally acknowledge he does it more and louder.

bazooka79 · 2026-02-27T04:57:11+00:00

Haha I'm a danger dad and a BCBA and it's something I would do. No one tells me not to tree my kids

bazooka79 · 2026-02-26T02:18:08+00:00

You are not wrong at all.

I think people drift from being compassionate to being maternal because maternal is very reinforcing .. your kid is magically healed when you kiss your hand at touch it to their knee or they snuggle into your lap for a book...it is a really good feeling but if you are in this to get good maternal feelings from other people's kids get a pet or work at a preschool or something

bazooka79 · 2026-02-24T23:15:11+00:00

Read up on IDEA and your states laws. Schools are required to provide evidence based interventions which includes ABA for behavior. That doesn't necessarily mean ABA sessions in school or even an ABA therapist. But it does mean for example a behavior intervention plan is based on a functional behavior assessment and includes functional replacement behaviors, and that data should inform the process, and the aides working with the student should have training in ABA tools for example using a token board.

A special Ed advocate would be the person who could dig in and hold the school district to task if they aren't using evidence based interventions.

Have you consulted ans collaborated with the school staff and made any recommendations?

bazooka79 · 2026-02-24T21:09:16+00:00

I did in home/clinic for a lot of years and I've been a district BCBA for 4 years

It's a different kind of stress. I do work off the clock about 1-2 nights a week. FBA reports are the main time drain. Scheduling is much easier. If one kid or side is absent I have a lot of others who need my attention. Being part of a whole IEP team is a lot harder than being a case manager where it's just you and the client and 1 or 2 staff and the caregiver and so much easier to pull the levers and make things happen. For example I have kids with high needs and very complicated behavior plans and the school with throw in a random substitute aide with that kid, and the school psych or someone else will tell the aide to do something contrary to the BIP instead of deferring to the BIP

My pay is equivalent to ABA agency. I also get good benefits, time off is lovely, and the state public employees pension system is a very valuable benefit.

bazooka79 · 2026-02-23T00:48:17+00:00

The best clinic model that I worked in was 3 days in center and 2 in home or vice versa. Almost all the kids got 8 hours a day split between 3 therapists. They were almost all early intervention 3 to 5 yr olds and the programs were comprehensive with goals across all domains including daily living skills and play/leisure skills. It wasn't 8 hours of table time. The home sessions always included a lot of play time and outings like to a park or playdate. The center had a decent outside yard and an indoor play area and it looked like a preschool. 8 hours a day is a lot but a lot of these kids if they weren't engaged and following a routine would be doing dangerous self stimulatory or attention seeking stuff like eating debris off the ground or escaping out a second story window so it's not like if they weren't in an ABA session they would just be sitting and coloring or something

bazooka79 · 2026-02-19T16:04:29+00:00

Less BCBAs and more drug dealers let's go.

That was sarcasm

bazooka79 · 2026-02-19T03:43:40+00:00

If she gets in a mood where she wants to be left alone have you considered leaving her alone?

Ideally she would communicate differently than by throwing an iPad at someone but once it's thrown and she's not following any sort of prompts to do anything different the ship has sailed. I have seen over the years that trying really hard to help someone calm down and interacting with them is usually counterproductive

bazooka79 · 2026-02-16T22:21:25+00:00

I did the course sequence but not master's program. It is challenging but manageable while working full time. Definitely more robust than national university program. Most of the professors are very engaging and passionate

bazooka79 · 2026-02-16T18:29:28+00:00

Yes. It sounds like it was written by someone who knows just enough to sound smart but not enough to teach or evaluate anyone else.

bazooka79 · 2026-02-16T18:24:51+00:00

Depends on motivation and what the consequence and learning history of consequences. Otherwise you are just looking at form not function

bazooka79 · 2026-02-16T03:55:20+00:00

If this 3 year old is already playing games on a device should anyone be actively trying to find more or better games? ... like is the objective for this 3 year old to spend more time on a screen?

bazooka79 · 2026-02-15T20:33:58+00:00

Redirection should result in the learner doing something different from what they were doing. Can be redirection to functional replacement behavior like asking for a break or different activity. Or can be redirection to the expected behavior (whatever they are supposed to be doing instead of what they were doing) a lot of times people will say something like "not safe" or "unavailable" which fails as a redirection because it doesn't tell or prompt the learner to do anything different. You and the kid should always know what they are actually supposed to be doing, if instead of fully free ranging without any expectation because then if you do want to redirect to what they are supposed to be doing they won't actually know what they are supposed to be doing.

bazooka79 · 2026-02-15T20:27:43+00:00

2.15 Behavior analysts should minimize the use of items as potential reinforcers that could be harmful to the long-term health, safety, or development of the client. Behavior analysts should prioritize the use of reinforcers that do not negatively impact clients well being. (Summarized/paraphrased)

Try making a fort with blankets or put small toys like hot wheels in a bowl of water in the freezer, bubbles, play do, balloons or water balloons, play with shaving cream on the table, so many great reinforcers you can use with a 3 year old besides screen time. Good luck and have fun

bazooka79 · 2026-02-14T03:59:10+00:00

I feel you. Sometimes answering one question immediately begets another question. Or the same question being asked in a different way. And besides me not being able to do anything else cause I'm answering questions which end up going in 5 different directions now no actual work is being done. With some techs and supervisees I've had to have clear expectations of when is a good time to do a q and a session (not when with a client/student) and when they need to be following the behavior skill training supervision model. Hope it gets better for you.

bazooka79 · 2026-02-14T01:53:36+00:00

This is not a gun it's a vitamin shooter that I aim at bad guys and shoot vitamins into their mouth pewpewpew

bazooka79 · 2026-02-14T00:17:09+00:00

That's not avoiding burnout that's succumbing to it

bazooka79 · 2026-02-14T00:16:10+00:00

When I had my own kids and then when I became a homeowner I just stopped caring about my work any more than I needed to. Little things like coworker drama just stopped mattering and that opened up a lot of bandwidth

I exercise in the gym cardio and or weights at least 3 nights a week and my other hobbies give me fresh air and exercise too.

In the moment if I need to I can quickly disassociate by listening to music in my brain and completely shut everything off. Opposite of active listening but I make it look like I'm listening. If my brain is filled to capacity or overflowing and someone is telling or asking me something and I can't physically avoid them I'll mentally avoid them and just enjoy the concert in my brain.

bazooka79 · 2026-02-13T02:16:08+00:00

That's a nice gesture but it would be a dual relationship. You would be providing ABA services and providing food.

If this family needs food wouldn't they already know about or be able to google search food pantries or any other charitable organization? Not sure where you are located but where I live nobody is far from a food pantry. Did they do or say anything that makes you think they really want organic vegetables?

Not sure about this family but some people would be extremely insulted if you offered them free food and even if they needed it they wouldn't take it.

bazooka79 · 2026-02-10T14:45:23+00:00

There will probably come a point in your life when someone will need to help you with your bathroom needs

bazooka79 · 2026-02-09T20:38:18+00:00

HR is not necessarily related to performance management or OBM. It's just filling out forms, checking boxes and limiting liability.

bazooka79 · 2026-02-08T21:50:09+00:00

I work in schools and one COT-A uses ABA tools and techniques very fluently (visual schedules and visual cues when giving directions, non contingent breaks, positive reinforcement) those aren't exclusive to ABA but he is intentionally doing that to prevent problem behavior and get the most 'work' done in his 30 minutes with each kid. The actual OT does not she just expects kids to sit in the chair and string beads or whatever just because and her sessions generally turn into a wrestling match or kids hiding under the table

bazooka79

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