Author Archives: Ali Aguilar

May Smarty

May

Longer days mean waking up to sunshine and birds singing. My children both love birds – watching birds, making bird sounds, pretending to fly, building nests with old Easter grass, etc. One of our favorite summertime activities is feeding the ducks at a local pond.

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Smarty – April 2013

Chia

There were a lot of ridiculous tutorials posted on my favorite crafting blogs on Monday…embellished disposable diapers, hand sewn ruffled toilet paper, meat disguised as cake and cake disguised as meat. Even Google got in on the fun, promoting their newest product, “Google Nose Beta,” which allowed users to search their “Aromabase” and download “scentibytes.”

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Egg-citing ABA!

Spring

One of my favorite ways for parents to maintain and generalize skills learned during therapy is to incorporate learned skills into seasonal or holiday activities. It ensures that concepts will be presented in a new way (in the context of the holiday). It also familiarizes children with seasonal and holiday traditions and objects. Easter eggs are one of the easiest and most versatile tools for generalization.

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March 2013 Smarty

Rain Sticks

My favorite things about this project? It is SO easy and it is age appropriate for everyone! (Who hasn’t been mesmerized by the soothing sound of a rain stick?) Children as young as two can help make a rain stick with adult assistance and older children can make their rain sticks independently.

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Smarty – Smart Art February Project

February

It’s important that our kids are able to use their imagination, and what better way than playing with sock puppets! Here Suzanne teaches us how to make sock puppets with interchangeable faces to not only practice using imagination, but to help learn and identify emotions and expressions.

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January 2013 Smarty

Smarty

If crafting isn’t your thing, don’t worry, there isn’t much work involved. The end result is a wonderful inexpensive alternative to commercial magnetic calendars. To download the template, visit the Autism Live facebook page. Once you have the template, print, cut and paste! Want to make it even faster? You can print directly to a printable magnet sheet, like these from Avery. Mount your calendar on the fridge or put it on a metal cookie pan for a mobile calendar.

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Expand Your Definition of ABA

Capture

Did you know ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) goes way beyond, “Come here?” and, “What color?” ABA has a reputation of being limited to teaching functional skills, simple academics and basic language and social skills. In reality, these limitations only exist when service providers lack the resources (funding) for a comprehensive program and/or lack training in current applications of ABA.

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December 2012 Smart Art = Smarty!

Smarty

Have you seen the new Smarty videos on Autism Live? Skills® is sponsoring this new monthly series, so I got a sneak peek. I absolutely love them!

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Emergency Preparedness – Part 2

Emergency

Have you made your disaster kit yet? I’ll admit, mine is still a work in progress, but I’m determined to have it done before Christmas!

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Reaching Across the Aisle

Aisle

Opportunities like Thea’s give behavior analysts a chance to increase the understanding of ABA to those outside the field. If we continue to interact and collaborate with as well as learn from and educate professionals in the educational and medical fields we have a very exciting future. The benefit for practitioners is huge, but the benefit to our clients and students is incalculable.

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