A new school year is upon us and I can already hear the crying and fighting in so many homes over homework assignments. Does homework really serve a purpose? While it has some relevance in high school, the benefit of homework in middle school is much less consistent. At the elementary level, homework has still less value than believed...other than to bring in more unneeded stress and disrupted bedtimes. Homework is practice. Homework should – only – be given in smaller portions and proportionate to age starting at no more than about 30 minutes (on some nights of the week) for elementary age children. Homework should also and only include that which the teacher is generally certain his/her st
A couple weeks ago, a young BCBA took issue with me when I wrote that the framework for autism services was educational and that we were, in fact, teaching. While she wasn't fully clear in her disagreement, my understanding was that she had an incorrect perception of 'ABA' as a decontextualized kind of 'medical treatment' as would be using a bronchodilator for wheezing or insulin for diabetes. At its foundation, Applied Behavior Analysis is an educational model which prioritizes appropriate alternative skills, corrects barriers to learning, teaches new skills, targets socially valid child-centered competence/autonomy and works on the the concurrent needs of all involved. From social skill de
