Advanced Behavior Analysis

10/29/2025

Parents, you are equal members of the IEP team. Not guests. Not observers. You have rights, and your voice matters.

Here’s what every parent should know:
✅ You can request an IEP meeting anytime — not just once a year.
✅ You can say no to a goal or ask for data before agreeing.
✅ You’re allowed to bring an advocate, BCBA, or anyone who supports your child.
✅ You have the right to request data-based changes (not just “we feel like it’s fine”).

Advocating isn’t about being difficult. It’s about being informed and persistent.
The squeaky wheel doesn’t just get the grease, it gets the services. 🧠

10/20/2025

You may have seen posts about the Department of Education and talk of moving special education oversight to Health & Human Services (HHS).

Let’s break it down clearly, calmly, and without the noise.

This proposal could shift who manages IDEA funding, compliance, and protections for students with disabilities.

Some believe this change could streamline services. Others worry it could weaken oversight, reduce consistency across states, and disrupt supports that families and professionals rely on.

As behavior analysts and disability advocates, this matters deeply to us.
The systems that fund and protect special education directly affect the children, families, and professionals we serve every day.

💭 We want to hear from you:
How could these changes impact your students, clients, or school community?

What are you hopeful or concerned about?

Drop your thoughts below ⬇️

10/13/2025

🐾✨ Meet the trainers who don’t just teach dogs… they teach PEOPLE how to thrive with their dogs!

Dog Training Elite will be joining us at Advanced Behavior Analysis’ Inclusive Family Fun Fest & Disability Resource Fair on November 15th, 2025 🎉

From puppy basics to service dog training, they’ve spent 40+ years helping families create lasting connections with their furry friends. 🐶💛

📞 Call 801-266-4802 to schedule your FREE in-home evaluation—because a well-trained dog means more freedom, safety, and fun for the whole family.

10/08/2025

You won’t always get it right. And guess what? That’s okay.

You’re human
Your child is human
And perfect parenting isn’t a real thing

What is real?
Messy moments
Big feelings
Saying the wrong thing
Taking a breath
Coming back to reconnect

Repair is where trust is built
Not in being flawless, but in showing your child that love sticks around even when things go sideways

Swipe through to see how repair matters more than perfection

10/06/2025

Your kid is melting down.
And honestly, so are you.
Your nervous system is right there in the room, buzzing away.

Co‑regulation is not about faking calm.
It is about staying connected, even when you feel flooded.

Good news: you do not have to be a Zen master to pull this off.
Swipe for simple, doable moves you can try when your own alarms are blaring.

10/01/2025

Polyvagal Theory gives us the ladder.
ABA gives us the tools.
Together, we get the full picture of behavior from the inside out.

Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, helps us understand how the nervous system shifts between different states depending on whether we feel safe or threatened. These states shape how we behave, learn, and connect.

Here’s how it shows up in real life:

👩‍🏫 Ventral (Green Zone):
The system feels safe. The body is calm, socially engaged, and ready to learn.
→ This is the zone where ABA can teach, reinforce, and build meaningful skills.

🔥 Sympathetic (Orange Zone):
The body is mobilized fight or flight mode.
→ In this state, demands may feel threatening.
→ Our job is to reduce demands, offer movement, and support discharge of energy instead of pushing harder.

💤 Dorsal (Red Zone):
The system is in shutdown freeze, numbness, collapse.
→ Cognitive processing is offline.
→ Here, ABA must shift to quiet presence, safety-building, and reducing sensory overwhelm.

Why does this matter?
Because when we understand what state someone is in, we stop mislabeling trauma responses, nervous system survival strategies, or sensory overload as "noncompliance" or "problem behavior."

This is the evolution of behavior analysis:
💡 Behavior happens in the body — not just in response to external triggers.
💡 The nervous system tells us what the body can or can’t do in that moment.
💡 When we lead with safety, behavior change follows.

ABA is evolving. Are we evolving with it?

09/29/2025

We’ve been taught to track the ABCs of behavior:
A → Antecedent
B → Behavior
C → Consequence

But here’s the thing… without the Nervous System in the mix, we’re missing the whole picture.

✨ The same demand can feel easy one day and impossible the next. Why? Nervous system state.
✨ A regulated brain can problem-solve. A dysregulated brain goes into fight, flight, freeze, or shutdown.
✨ Reinforcement only works if the brain is calm enough to take it in.

No regulation = no learning.

ABA + nervous system awareness = deeper understanding, trauma-informed care, and more compassionate practice. Because the body drives behavior.

09/25/2025

🍂🎉 We are thrilled to announce the event partners for our 4th Annual Fall for All: Family Fun Fest & Resource Fair! 🎉🍂
Get ready for resources, games, and treats brought to you by some incredible community partners!
📅 November 15th | 11AM–2PM
📍 Miller Conference Center, Sandy UT
🎟️ Tickets are FREE (yep, you read that right) — snag yours now on Eventbrite before they’re gone!
💛 Bring the whole family for a day of fun, connection, and celebration. We can’t

09/24/2025

Regulation isn’t magic.
It’s observable. Measurable. Teachable.
ABA can operationalize the steps to regulation:

✅ Asking for help
✅ Engaging in movement
✅ Requesting sensory input
✅ Using calming self-talk

When we teach regulation like any other skill, we give clients REAL tools for lifelong independence.
Self-regulation is the ultimate functional skill.

09/23/2025

"I don’t wanna do it!"
Is it refusal?
Is it escape?
Or is it a nervous system screaming "I don’t feel safe enough to do this right now!"
When we reduce dysregulation to "noncompliance," we pathologize survival responses.
👉 The nervous system doesn’t care about your demand hierarchy.
👉 It cares about SAFETY.

Before writing "escape-maintained" on your FA, check for:
⚠️ Sensory overload
⚠️ Cognitive overwhelm
⚠️ Co-regulation needs
⚠️ Emotional flooding

09/19/2025

We love our data sheets. We live for our graphs.
But let’s not forget:
The nervous system is running its own analysis before we ever pick up a pencil.
⚡ The environment → ⚡ The senses → ⚡ The brainstem → ⚡ The behavior.
If we ignore nervous system state, our data is missing context.
A dysregulated system produces different behaviors than a regulated one. Every time.

➡️ Nervous system-informed ABA is the future.
➡️ Safety is the first intervention.

09/18/2025

✨ Immediate Openings Available! ✨

Advanced Behavior Analysis now has spots open for in-home and clinic-based ABA therapy services.

🕘 9AM–12PM
🕛 12PM–3PM
🕒 3PM–6PM (immediate openings for Medicaid & Select Health)
📞 Call today to reserve your spot: (877) 222-4621

Let’s work together to support growth, learning, and thriving!

At Advanced Behavior Analysis, we are committed to broadening and improving the lives of children through Applied Behavior Analysis Therapy. Contact us.