Happy Ladders

Does anyone have a contact at Starlink? There are many potential Happy Ladders families in Northern California, but they lack reliable internet... Talk about a double whammy when trying to access support😬 #starlink #autism #earlyintervention

Great read from Trent Iden. Although the concept of low intensity ABA programs may be uncomfortable for many professionals, I have yet to see a convert look back and say high hour programs are where it's at. The reality is there are likely more than enough families to serve to keep everyone employed. Less intensive programs are not just beneficial for the clients and their families, but also more enjoyable for the professionals. I still do believe high intensity has it's time and place. I met a family in dire need recently; they are likely waiting until at least October. Emergencies cannot wait 2+ months. The answer, I believe, lies in an honest evaluation of why high hour programs are being recommended; is it need, is it the provider's program design, is it simply billable hours and math? It seems the answer is no longer simply "the research." If the goal is simply best outcome, with the least intrusive (and sustainable) approach, low-hour/intensity is going to be the best choice more times than not.

Stories like these never get old. Keep em’ coming!

For years, I celebrated client success that was reported by my techs and mid-levels. I loved then reporting that success to my clients' parents. But NOW, it's the parents that are reporting the successes to me!!!! Parents are teaching skills THEMSELVES! Tonight, I heard from a parent who said, "He's doing good, he now responds to simple verbal requests like “throw it in the trash please." He takes it and throws it in the trash!" Talk about empowerment💪🏻

🎉 Celebrating a Major Milestone at Happy Ladders! 🎉 This Summer, we’re celebrating our first year since launching our mobile app and onboarding our first families. It's been incredibly gratifying and we couldn’t be more grateful to work with our California Regional Center families! Our Happy Ladders parents have been nothing short of amazing; On average, parents complete 6.2 activity sessions with their children weekly, and their children are gaining 1.2 developmental skills every week! In fact, when families complete their journey with Happy Ladders, their child has acquired, on average, 15.2 new developmental skills!!! These numbers are a testament to our Happy Ladders parents' dedication and consistency. Their small, but consistent effort has contributed to significant growth and progress for their children. NOW IN SPANISH AND RUSSIAN! We’re also thrilled to announce that Happy Ladders is now available in Spanish and Russian! This expansion allows us to support even more families going forward. And it's very cool to see Amy Jacobs-Schroeder speaking three languages thanks to AI. 😂 A WORD OF THANKS We would be remiss not to mention the folks who have helped us along the way. A big thank you to Yev Veverka, PhD, BCBA-D, Matt Levine, Yancy W. Riddle, PhD, Carmen Lucia Solares Riddle, Monique Brown, Rick Spencer, Nikki Sims, Mark Haney and the rest of the Growth Factory team, Kyle Zimbelman at El Dorado County, Dan Feshbach, Chirag Munim, @ Multiple team, startup and investors community, John W. Decker, DSW, MSW, Jennifer Bloom, Faye Tait at Alta California Regional Center, as well as Sonny Mayugba, Dave Park and Patrick Bumpus for sharing and spending their time with us early on. Again, we are so very grateful. Looking forward to another great year serving California families! #HappyLadders #EarlyIntervention #ChildDevelopment #Milestone

For parents of soon to be teens. I've learned a lot about raising teenagers in the last handful of years, and I know I still have much to learn. My oldest daughter is 19, her sister is 17 and their brother is 15. Watching teenagers grow is surreal, especially my son. His physical changes in the last year and a half are insane. The girls also changed in so many ways in just a few short years. Here's what I constantly have to remind myself. .. Just because they look like adults, does not mean they act like it. Expecting them to be five years more mature when they're only one year older, may just set you up for disaster. I think that's the trickiest thing about teenagers. If we look at it from a developmental standpoint, their cognitive development does not pace with their physical development. Don't be tricked by a 6'2, deep voiced 15-year-old. He is still very much a little boy in a man's body😂

Looking for a fluent Spanish speaker with experience in Early Intervention and/or ABA! Happy Ladders is looking to hire a part-time coordinator/ consultant as the app will soon be available in Spanish!!! Preferably living in CA and familar with the CA state regional center system. Please DM me if interested in applying.

Parents are incredibly capable in ABA and Early Intervention. They simply need an opportunity and an approach that's built for parents, not built for professionals. Twice this week, I had parents tell me the skill their child is working on seems to be a harder one (they were right) and they think it's just going to take more practice and time for their child to master (probably right again). I recently talked with another parent regarding her child's assessment in the app and asked her if she thought a few skills were probably met. I assumed they were based on this child's other skills, and thought that maybe she just missed them. Turns out she hadn't, her response was " he's close, but not quite there yet. " When you give parents information and make them part of the assessment process and the intervention, they learn the same things and make the same observations that we have been helping RBT's and mid-levels make for years. I doubt these moments will ever get old for me, I pinch myself when I realize that the experiment that is Happy Ladders is working, even better than I had hoped:)

Awareness or Acceptance?

Is ABA doing a disservice to toddlers with developmental needs by targeting too many skills at one time? I received a progress report recently for a 26 month old who had a 10 hour per week BT program and 28 goals. Needless to say, the majority of those goals were not met. So for a young two year old, who is probably working in the 9 to 12 month range, is potentially targeting skills that this child is not developmentally ready for slowing their developmental progress across the board? I would love to see a study looking at a more vertical approach to skills teaching over a more broad, horizontal approach. What are your thoughts? #aba #earlyintervention