Although the science of ABA (applied behavioral analysis) can be applied to any type of behavior, it is most often applied to individuals with autism and people with ASD. Behavioral science and autism are linked. Why is that? Without all the jargon, ABA is the science of motivation and learning, and while autism is not…
So, your child has been prescribed ABA therapy. What next? ABA therapy is a commitment. ABA can also be a sacrifice of your time and resources and your ideas about your parental interactions with your child. To make that commitment and sacrifice, you need to understand your role as an ABA parent and what you should…
Why does behavior escalate? How does an everyday moment result in the biggest toddler tantrum of all time? What I’m really asking is: what is the toddler tantrum cure? More specifically, how did I end up with my usually pretty decent three-year-old writhing in a puddle of tears and sweat with matted hair at the…
You may have heard that you teach people how to treat you. For parents, this applies to our children, especially when it comes to finding a bad behavior fix. We teach our children how to treat the people in the world around them—including their siblings, teachers, and us!—by what we allow, what stop, and what…
Getting younger kids motivated to learn at home is hard enough…but how on earth do we motivate high school teens to study during remote learning? I’ll be real: my 15-year-old really struggles with online learning. His motivation to finish virtual assignments is nil unless I am right on-hand to prompt him to keep going. This…
If you’ve been reading The Real Thinking Mom for a while now, you may be thinking, “You keep using that word: reinforcement.” Let’s talk about reinforcement. Do you know what reinforcement is really? Check out the following Big Bang clip: Reinforcement is something that you get after something that you do that makes it so…