How to Effectively Teach Parents

How to Use Behavioral Skills Training to be an Effective Parent Coach

I am passionate about families understanding ABA and using the principles of ABA to change behavior and teach new skills. When training parents, the goal of this book is to have them fill out worksheets and collaborate in the thought process of what their child can currently do, how we will teach new skills, how to problem solve when new behaviors pop up, and how to generalize and maintain skills across time. Each lesson includes a practitioner guide and a parent friendly worksheet that guides parents through the lesson and helps increase collaboration with stake holders. As ABA professionals we know that using behavioral skills training is the single most important, evidence-based, parent training practice we can utilize. Use these worksheets as a guide to help parents understand what we are doing, how we are thinking about skills and behaviors, and to help them break down skills. Don’t forget to use BST to make sure parents can take these worksheets and they put the skills and ideas into practice.

The 4 basic steps of BST are: Instruction, Modeling, Rehearsal, & Feedback. BST is great because you can use it to train all the important caregivers in the child’s life. It may involve creativity, a bit of effort, organization, and time, but our goal is to offer practitioners ideas of how to use BST for each of the trainings we offer.

Let’s break down each step of BST into a bit more detail:

Step One: Provide Instructions

Whoo-hoo! ABA Parent Education has completed this step for you. You’ve got instructions for families to walk them through what they need to do for each lesson. Our instructions are unique because they provide you with the chance to get parent input and feedback on each step. They also help parents think through and engage in the work in a meaningful way. But, we can’t stop there. Effective teaching should include more than just telling someone what to do. We want to engage them completely so they can tell, show, and actually DO the right thing when it is time for them to respond to behaviors or teach new skills.

Step Two: Modeling 

 This step is fun. It is your chance to show parents (or staff) what you want them to do. We need to go beyond just reviewing the plan with the parent on paper. We need to get up and practice modeling this for the parent. This is your chance to show them that you know your stuff. Let them be the child (they will probably enjoy this) and let them go all out. All you need to do at this point is model what you have written down and filled out. Leaders go first. By modeling what you are expecting the family to do, it will be easier to move into the next step, rehearsal, where the roles are reversed.

Step Three: Rehearsal

 This is the chance for parents and caregivers to model what they have learned and prove they understand what they are supposed to be doing. Most people are happy to nod and shake their heads when watching a power point, discussing ABA concepts, or even answering simple questions. When someone has to get up and SHOW that they understand, you are talking about a whole different level of comprehension. When someone knows they will be expected to get up and “rehearse” the behavior plan, you will see that person asking a lot more questions and getting as much clarity as possible. Remember, rehearsal could be with the child present or with just staff/family members. It really depends on what you are teaching. Ideally though, even if you run through a few rehearsals without the child present, bringing the child into the rehearsal will help keep the practice “serious” and will help you be able to problem solve with the family when the child does something completely unexpected (which they probably will.)

Step Four: Provide Feedback 

This part is tricky. Most likely during the rehearsal there has been some laughter, some level of goofiness or maybe even embarrassment. Families can definitely feel awkward acting out a behavior episode or acting out how they plan to respond to something. However, taking this seriously is really important. While the family is learning a new skill, it is the time to correct them and make sure they are doing that skill perfectly. When correcting parents, be direct, specific, and precise. Don’t try to “sandwich” your feedback. Research points to that not being helpful. Praise what deserves to be praised. Correct what needs to be corrected. Be sure to provide both positive praise statements and corrective feedback. Practice, practice, practice. Don't wait until the parent has completed the entire dressing routine with their child to tell them they did the 1st step wrong. The parent may nod and say they understand what they did incorrectly, but the parent may continue to perform the behavior incorrectly when you are not around. We don’t want our parents to practice errors just like we don’t want our clients to practice errors.

Behavioral Skills Training Take Away:

Behavioral Skills Training is the most effective way to teach parents and staff. It involves four steps:

1.     Instructions

2.    Modeling

3.    Rehearsal

4.   Feedback