For someone who never reads, I am on a role this year!!
I finally finished The Verbal Behavior Approach by Mary Lynch Barbera. I definitely recommend this one!
The author was a nurse. Then her son was diagnosed with autism. She is now a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), author, lecturer, advocate, you name it. She went alllll in. Because she is a parent, I think this book is much easier to read than some, because she knows how to write for people (like us!) who don’t have an ABA background.
The Verbal Behavior Approach is a form of ABA. She explains everything very well and includes examples. There is even an appendix in the back for parents to complete. You assess your child’s skills and build a plan off of that.
I think she is also very realistic too. She knows that ABA isn’t “fixing” everything, but it does help kids make progress and reach their full potential.
She explains that ABA works for anyone, not just severely autistic children. (PS, there is a chapter on potty training, and I know people often wonder how in the world to potty train their special needs children.)
As an SLP, it helped me break down “receptive language” and “expressive language” into more defined categories – it actually made me question, “Why don’t SLPs do this anyway?!” It just makes sense.
The title is a clickable link above if you are interested in buying this book. It could easily be read in a day or two, I just got busy and didn’t do that!