Blog Archive

Our Sacramento office celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday with a traditional office potluck. However, this was no ordinary office party, because our team members’ pets also received an invitation! A few sweet pups (and even one well-behaved cat!) made the office their home for the day, sharing a little holiday cheer with everyone who attended. Read more…

Every parent worries about keeping their children safe at home. The fear might be about the cabinet under the sink where you keep the cleaning supplies, or maybe that pointy corner on a coffee table. For the parents of children with autism, the list of worries grows. If you have a child with elopement issues, you have to constantly consider your environment: is that lock high enough to be out of reach? Can my child figure out this new latching system? It can be a constant source of stress. If your child’s issue is elopement, there are several things you can do to help ensure that they remain in a safe environment. Read more…

To celebrate Halloween, we asked our team members to put their best foot forward with our annual Halloween Costume Contest. We were absolutely blown away by both the number of submissions, and by how creative everyone was! With categories for best-dressed pet, junior costumes, most creative, best group, and more, everyone had an opportunity to show off their amazing artistry (and their adorable children and pets!). Check out some of the favorites below! Read more…

My name is Natasha Reed, and I am a Staffing Specialist at Behavior Frontiers. I knew I made the right decision in 2019 when I joined Behavior Frontiers. I was looking for an organization that offered learning and development along with career growth. I wanted to work for a company that would appreciate the loyalty and dedication I put into my work, a company that aligns with my core values and beliefs. My journey started as a part-time Behavior Technician. Within 6 months of being employed, my management team saw my ability to work in a team structure, make decisions, solve problems, my passion for helping families and I was promoted to Senior Behavior Technician. Shortly after, I was offered a Training Coordinator position while still rendering services to families as a Senior Behavior Technician. Read more…

We at Behavior Frontiers are pleased to announce the creation of new social media pages, dedicated entirely to joining the Behavior Frontiers team! If you have ever thought about a career in Applied Behavior Analysis, or are just looking for a change of pace, we would love to talk to you. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram for all of the latest information on open positions, company culture, employee spotlights and more. Read more…

On October 1st and 2nd, Behavior Frontiers team members from our Los Angeles-area offices were guests of honor at Dodger Stadium! Our San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, Pasadena, Palmdale, and scheduling offices all got to enjoy a night out to catch up with each other, enjoy some favorite ballpark foods, and take in a great Dodger baseball game. This is just one of the many ways in which we love to show our team how appreciated they are. Check out some of these great photos from the game! Read more…

Are you looking for a new career path? One with opportunities for growth, financial stability, and the chance to really make a difference in someone’s life? Then Applied Behavior Analysis might be the career for you! The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects a 23% growth in this field in just the next five years. This means that now is the perfect time to “get in on the ground floor” of this exciting career path. But where to begin? Most people enter the field of ABA as a Behavior Technician (or BT, also known as a Behavior Therapist or Behavioral Interventionist). It is surprisingly easy to get started, doesn’t require that you have done this kind of work before (because the company you choose to work for will train you), and, in many cases, doesn’t even require you to have completed your college degree. Here are the top five reasons why you should consider a career as a Behavior Technician! Read more…

Matching, though it seems like a simple skill, is the foundation for the development of receptive and expressive labeling. Luckily, it is a skill that you can easily work on with your child, with no special equipment or training required! Matching can be taught using a variety of teaching styles: highly structured teaching (which may take place at a table or floor), or a naturalistic approach through play. Matching lessons can also vary from matching identical 3D common objects, to using 2D pictures, combination of both 2D and 3D, or matching non-identical objects. Today we will focus on teaching matching using 2D images to 3D items using a naturalistic approach. With this exercise, you will present your child with a picture of an item, and then have them find that item in their natural environment! Read more…

Fall is here, and with the new season comes a lot of opportunities for family activities! For most of us, family time is on the top of our priorities list, but more often than not we find ourselves stressed, planning these activities while juggling therapies, work, and homework. This week, I’ll be sharing a list of places you can visit while on a budget, as well as some cool things you can do with your child/children including those on the spectrum. These are some suggestions and can be modified to fit your family’s needs. Read more…

Parents often ask what resources they can access for teaching their child with ASD. As a parent of children with autism, I know that the list of books out there can be quite intimidating. With so much information now available at our fingertips, it’s hard to decipher what is good quality, with evidence-based research that one can trust. Read more…

There is no doubt that having children with special needs is a full-time job in itself. The hours are long, and sometimes it can feel as though your work isn’t appreciated. That’s why it’s so important to develop some self-care strategies to help recharge after all the work we do as parents! One of the ways that you can do that is to reinforce yourself in the same way that you reinforce your children for positive behavior. Most of us already do something like this: “After I finish cleaning the living room, I’m going to have a cookie.” That’s reinforcement, even if we don’t think of it that way. Reinforcing yourself with intention is a great way to practice self-care, and if you have a specific goal tied to a specific reward, you’re less likely to skip it and wind up feeling burned out. Read more…

As the parent of a young child, you may wonder: how can a parent teach their child to recognize letters and sight words with success? Have you heard of DTT (Discrete Trial Training)? If your child is receiving ABA, then you have probably heard your Behavior Technician or Case Manager talk about DTT programs or targets that they may be working on with your child. But really, what is DTT? DTT is a structured ABA technique that simplifies and breaks down skills into small parts which are presented in a systematic manner until current targets are mastered. New steps/targets (i.e., sight words, ABCs, Addition Facts) would not be introduced until a set number of targets have been mastered. Read more…

With school being back in session and homework starting to be assigned, it might be useful to provide parents with some tips to make homework more manageable and ease some of the stressors involved. These tips can be modified to fit your child’s needs and routine. Read more…

Behavior Frontiers is pleased to announce that we are now working with the Three Rivers Provider Network! TRPN is an intermediary plan manager that connects providers and payors, and currently serve more than 200 MILLION people nationwide. From Three Rivers Provider Network: “Founded in 1996, TRPN is the largest and fastest growing proprietary provider network in the United States. The TRPN network is now comprised of more than 1.5 million provider locations, including greater than 5,000 hospitals and 75,000 ancillary facilities.” Read more…

With families often juggling work, children, and extracurricular activities, one may wonder how can one be involved in their child’s treatment while staying on top of everything else? There is no doubt that parent involvement is crucial to treatment success. There are various roles caregivers can take to feel involved without compromising their sanity. Read more…

Day-to-day routines can often become overwhelming and stressful for parents with a child who has autism spectrum disorder. Common daily and to-do routines can often fall by the wayside and end up being disregarded or never completed. Creating day-to-day structured routine can help a parent feel more organized and assist in having your child stay on track with their daily structure and routine. Read more…

My name is Elizabeth Gudiel, and I am the Clinical Director in our Salt Lake City region. My journey into ABA is very unique to say the least…I was just about to start school at Cal State LA when my son, Julian, was diagnosed with autism. His diagnosis changed our lives dramatically; I had originally wanted to become a Special Education teacher but had to place my education on hold in order to take care of my son. Read more…

Behavior Frontiers is pleased to announce that we will be participating in the Autism Alliance of Michigan’s Autism Hero Walk! This wonderful event takes place at the Detroit Zoo, and gives individuals with autism and their families the chance to be heroes for the day. Participants in the walk will also be invited to spend the day at the zoo, with fun activities for the kids, an autism resource fair, and plenty of photo opportunities with the superheroes! Read more…

A little over thirty years ago I learned about Autism. I was a young girl, and a close family member was diagnosed with “Severe and Profound Autism”. Despite learning of Autism over thirty years ago, I had no idea what ABA therapy was until 2008. I happened to apply for a job because it involved working with children with Autism. I was truly amazed at what I saw just in the first week of working as a behavior technician. After years of observing other strategies and therapies, I had never seen such an effective, systematic, enjoyable, and individualized therapy as ABA. Read more…

Really early on, I knew that I wanted all my kids to go to college. I mean, what parent doesn’t want that for their children? I knew that I did not want them to take the path that I did; it took a lot of work, dedication, tears, and student debt to get to where I am today. I wanted to have them go directly into a four-year university and avoid all the drama and hardship. However, it became clear pretty quickly that this might be my dream, but it wasn’t my son’s. Read more…