Kasper Enterprises, LLC

05/05/2026

*Real Tools. Real Learners. Real Results.*
Honoring Assent isn’t a buzzword — it’s a practice.
This workshop gives you *8 field‑tested tools* you can use the moment you get home:
integrity checklists, troubleshooting guides, the HOPE Profile, the Engagement Scale, and the HEART Framework.

*Assent-Based Treatment with Science, Compassion, and Common Sense.*
Built from real sessions.
Aligned with ethics.
Designed for real‑world ABA. ANALYSIS

04/30/2026

The HEART Worksheet started with a question on a clipboard, nine years ago.
I was sitting next to a newer BCBA, watching her client work with a behavior technician. The learner was struggling — not refusing, not melting down, just... not willingly engaging. So I started rattling off the questions I always run through in my head when something isn't clicking: How is reinforcement set up? What about instructional pacing? Are the goals actually meaningful? Have we taught the prerequisites? Is this developmentally appropriate?
She looked at me and said, "Can you just make a troubleshooting checklist for all of that?"
We started writing it on a blank form that afternoon. That conversation became the HEART Worksheet.
What it really is: a seasoned BCBA sitting next to you.
It walks you through identifying withdrawal of assent — calm, strong, or dangerous — and gives you language to define it for every learner, even the ones who don't use words. It checks staff integrity in honoring assent. It troubleshoots reinforcement, instructional practices, goals, prerequisite skills, developmental appropriateness, and the biology / environment / history / trauma variables we sometimes forget. It generates a concrete action plan you can hand to your team.
Because compassionate care isn't a vibe — it's a checklist of decisions, made well, again and again.
I'll be sharing the HEART Worksheet at ABAI 2026 in San Francisco as part of my workshop, Assent-Based Treatment With Science, Compassion, and Common Sense — the 8 Steps Assent Toolkit (Workshop W15).
Friday, May 22, 2026 | 8:00–11:00 AM PDT
Moscone Center West, Level 3, Room 3020
BACB / IBAO Ethics CE | Intermediate Level
Register at ABAI — link BELOW.
Tamara S. Kasper, MS, CCC-SLP, BCBA
Kasper Enterprises, LLC

04/29/2026

What if the first step in effective ABA wasn't a program — it was a conversation?

The HOPE Profile is a caregiver interview tool I built to do exactly that. Honor what the learner is already communicating. Observe what brings them joy. Pinpoint their preferences. Expand from there.

This screenshot is from the interactive tool I'll be sharing at ABAI 2026 in my workshop: Assent-Based Treatment With Science, Compassion, and Common Sense — the 8 Steps Assent Toolkit (Workshop W15).

Here's what we'll cover:

How to define and measure assent and assent-withdrawal for every client — not just the ones who use words.

The HOPE Profile — how play patterns, indicating responses, and caregiver interviews become the foundation for individualized, motivation-driven intervention.

Assent Adjacent Skills — structured checklists to establish rapport, condition social stimuli, and fade in instruction with minimal escape extinction.

The HEART Framework — Honor, Empathize, Analyze, Rethink, Troubleshoot — for ethical response to assent withdrawal.

Video analysis, role-play, BST, and 8 tools you leave with — including video shorts, procedural checklists, troubleshooting guides, and flowcharts.

This work started in 1990. It became HOPE. HOPE became HEART. And now it's changing how entire organizations think about compassionate care in ABA.

Friday, May 22, 2026 | 8:00–11:00 AM PDT
Moscone Center West, Level 3, Room 3020 | San Francisco
BACB/IBAO Ethics CE | Intermediate Level

Register at ABAI —

03/18/2026

🌈 Neurodiversity Celebration Week
Honoring Autonomy. Protecting Communication. Teaching with HEART.
Every learner communicates—through words, picture/icon selection, gestures, movement, play, proximity, withdrawal, and everything in between. Neurodiversity Celebration Week is the perfect moment to highlight a framework that helps teams respond with dignity and clarity when a learner says “not right now.”
This is where the HEART Flowchart comes in.
________________________________________
❤️ H — HONOR
When a learner withdraws assent, we pause.
We remove the instructions or materials that signal demands.
Honor is the first safeguard of autonomy.
💛 E — EMPATHIZE
We name what we see and match the learner’s language level and tone.
Empathy turns a moment of distress into a moment of connection.
💙 A — ANALYZE
We look at what happened—not to blame, but to understand.
Timing. Reinforcement. Procedures. Patterns.
Analysis is how we protect future learning opportunities.
💚 R — RETHINK
This is the BCBA’s moment to step in with intention.
Rethink reinforcement. Rethink instructional practices. Rethink goals.
Rethinking is not remediation—it’s refinement.
💜 T — TROUBLESHOOT
We identify new goals, especially assent adjacent ones.
We write goals that increase opportunities rather than restrict them.
We collaborate with caregivers.
We schedule a follow-up.
Troubleshooting is how we build systems that honor autonomy long term.
________________________________________
✨ Why HEART Matters
Because honoring neurodiversity means honoring communication in all its forms—calm, disruptive, unconventional, emerging, or beautifully unique.
Because assent is not a checkbox; it’s a relationship.
Because learners thrive when their voices shape the teaching process.
Learn about the HEART framework and troubleshooting worksheet at ABAI Workshop 15
https://www.abainternational.org/Shopping/Group-Listing.aspx?intgrpkey=265

03/17/2026

🍀 Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Today I’m thinking about how often we talk about “luck” — and how, in our field, meaningful progress doesn’t come from luck at all. It comes from listening and observing.
In assent-informed practice, we don’t chase compliance.
We look for the gold: a learner’s unique preferences, sensory joys, and authentic communication. We follow the rainbow of their signals — conventional or unconventional — and build play chains and formal communication systems that expand their options, not restrict them.
If this approach speaks to you, I’d love to have you join me at the ABAI Pre-Conference Workshop ( ), where I’ll be teaching the HOPE Profile — a framework for honoring autonomy, supporting engagement, and building communication that truly reflects the learner’s voice.
Here’s to a day of noticing, honoring, and celebrating the beautiful diversity of how humans communicate. 🌈💛

REGISTER NOW: https://www.abainternational.org/shopping/item-with-ce-listing.aspx?intItmKey=38497

03/16/2026

**🌟 Happy Neurodiversity Celebration Week! 🌟**

This week is a powerful reminder that human communication, learning, and connection come in *many* forms — all valid, all meaningful, all worthy of respect.

In our work, we meet individuals whose communication styles are beautifully diverse:
✨ conventional and unconventional
✨ spoken, gestural, AAC‑based, or emerging
✨ rooted in unique preferences, sensory needs, and authentic expression

That’s why I developed the **HOPE Profile** — a strengths‑based framework that:
• Identifies each learner’s *unique preferences*
• Honors *all* forms of communication
• Builds *play chains* that spark engagement
• Shapes *indicating responses* that reveal likes, dislikes, and interests
• Supports the development of *formal communication* for the greatest range of options and autonomy

The HOPE Profile isn’t about changing who someone is.
It’s about expanding what’s possible — with dignity, curiosity, and collaboration at the center.

If you’re attending **ABAI**, I’d love to have you join me at my **pre‑conference workshop**, where we’ll dive into:
• How to use the HOPE Profile with emergent communicators
• How to identify and shape early indicating responses
• How to build communication systems that honor neurodiversity
• How to create environments where learners can thrive

Let’s celebrate neurodiversity not just this week, but in every interaction, every session, and every system we build.

**Here’s to honoring every voice — in whatever form it takes. 💛**

03/16/2026

Thrilled to be part of this impressive line up and eager to share practical tools for effective collaboration!

03/14/2026

03/13/2026

✨ Exciting news! ABAI just sent out their official announcement for this year’s pre convention workshops — and I’m honored that my session, Assent-Based Treatment with Science, Compassion, and Common Sense: The 8 Steps Assent Toolkit, is included.
This workshop is all about honoring each learner’s unique ways of communicating assent, dissent, likes, and dislikes. We’ll explore practical tools like the HOPE Profile and HEART Framework, which help clinicians “recognize and respond to a wide range of communicative behaviors—including unconventional expressions of assent, dissent, likes, and dislikes” .
If you’re passionate about compassionate, individualized, neuro affirming care — and you want actionable strategies you can use immediately — I would love to have you join me.
💛 Let’s keep building a field where dignity, autonomy, and joy guide our decisions.
Register now!

02/05/2026

What an inspiring conversation with the brilliant Dr. Jamie Hughes‑Lika. When our skill sets come together, we create the conditions for true communication breakthroughs — especially for learners with the most complex needs.
Free practical tools will be released alongside the podcast in May, and I can’t wait to share them with this community.

02/04/2026

So excited for my discussion with the ever-impressive Dr. Jamie Hughes-LIka tomorrow. Details to follow!!