My friends at ABA Inside Track - Rob, Diana, and Jackie - invited me back for another Year-in-Review episode. I've enjoyed getting to know these guys over the last few years, and doing an episode like this seems like it's a fun tradition-in-the-making.
So what did we talk about? Well, it seems like 2019 was the year of the ABA podcast. So many shows were launched that it's hard to keep track of. In addition to Behavioral Observations, I've listed all the currently published ABA shows below, and I'll apologize in advance to my podcasting brethren if I've missed any:
We also discussed some milestones that both of our shows hit in 2019, specifically, crossing the 100 episode mark, and having over 1,000,000 downloads. It's positively humbling that so many people have taken interest in what we've been doing.
Rob, Jackie, Diana, and I also discussed the passing of prominent leaders in our field, including Drs. Barbara Etzel, Janet Ellis, and Murray Sidman. (note: we did not discuss the passing of Chuck Merbitz, but you can hear about his work and legacy in the memorial episode that was published earlier this year).
We then rounded out the show by covering some of the trends in ABA practice that we observed in 2019, and gave a preview of what's coming up for both shows in 2020!
And on this note, I want to extend a personal thanks to all of you who tuned in to the podcast in 2019. I wish you a safe and happy holiday, and I look forward to providing informative Behavior-Analytic content for you in 2020 and beyond!
This podcast is sponsored by the following:
HRIC Recruiting. If you're looking for your dream job, work directly with agency owner Barb Voss, and let her put her 30+ years of recruiting experience to work for you. Whether you're re-locating or just wondering what else is available, go to HRIColorado.com and schedule a confidential chat right away.
The ACT for HFA workshop that’s being held in Santa Ana, CA on February 7-9th in Santa Ana, CA. Check out connections-behavior.com/events/act4hfa for more info, and if it’s something you want to attend, use the promo code podcast 25!
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Welcome to Session 103 of The Behavioral Observations Podcast!
What you’re about to hear is my follow up interview with Dr. Kim Berens from Fit Learning. I spoke with her way back in Session 44, which went out in January of 2018.
This interview was conducted at the First Annual Tate Behavioral Conference, which was held in Springfield, Massachusetts, back in October of 2019. As an aside, during the interview itself, I reference our location as Springfield, New Hampshire… which was probably stuck in my mind because it’s two towns over from where I live. So to be clear, this did take place in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Kim and I covered a ton of ground in this podcast, and, as you’ll see, she doesn’t hold back from sharing her opinions. In particular, we talk about her views on Board Certification of Behavior Analysts, and why she let hers lapse, how Fit Learning is using mindfulness activities to improve learning in their students, as well as her take on the American educational system.
With regard to the latter, she references a book she has written on the subject. At the time of the conference, she was not able to share the title, but now I’m able to announce that the book will be called, Blind Spots: What you don’t know you don’t know about American Education. I don’t have a specific release date yet, but I think she’s shooting for the book to be available sometime in the fall of 2020.
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to thank the folks who made this all happen, and that’s Christina Tatreau, Kelley St. Clair, and the rest of the awesome people at Tate Behavioral. They were awesome hosts, and they put on an amazing and informative event. When I was down in Springfield, I had a chance to meet many of their employees, and it seems like they’ve really developed a positive culture. To learn more about them, check out tatebehavioral.com.
Today’s episode is sponsored by the following:
Several weeks ago, Greg Hanley reached out to me and asked if he could help do something to commemorate the 100th episode of the show. Specifically, he invited me down to the offices of FTF Behavioral Consulting in Worcester, Mass to hang out with all the amazing behavior analysts he works with for the afternoon.
During the visit, Greg turned the tables on me and put me in the interview hot seat. He asked me some really good questions about the podcast, and what I’ve learned from doing it over the last 4 years or so. I’ve been interviewed before, both on this podcast as well as a few others, but I think Greg managed to eke out a few stories from me that I haven’t told before, and more generally, asked some really great questions. By the end of this show, you might be asking yourself why he doesn’t have a podcast himself?
My original plan going into this was to try to deflect every question and turn the conversation back to the cool stuff that he’s doing with FTF, what’s new with practical functional assessment, and so forth. Sadly, before we started recording, he strictly forbade me from doing so. As such, I’ll just have to have him on again in the future, or do another private Q & A with Greg with the Behavioral Observations Podcast Membership Group.
Before I mention this episode’s sponsors, I’d like to take a minute to thank you, the listener, for helping me get to Session 100. I really feel that this show is an interactive endeavor, as I have met so many people in my travels and corresponded with BCBA’s from around the world. We talk about this for a little bit in this episode, but I want to mention it again and just let you know how much I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to download and listen to the podcast. The responses in the never-ending task analysis that is podcasting would’ve extinguished long ago if it wasn’t for all the encouragement and feedback I’ve received. At the risk of sounding overly sappy, this podcast has changed me as a person and a professional, so let me just conclude this session with a heartfelt thank you.
This episode is brought to you by:
Behavior University. Behavior University provides university-quality continuing education for everyday practitioners. To learn more about their CE offerings, discounts for podcast listeners, etc... please visit behavioruniversity.com/observations.
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The OBM 2.0 Pro-Social Teaming Model workshop, which will be taught by Drs. Darnell Lattal and Thomas Szabo. Here are the details: