She started with the . To most, "washing hands" is one action. To Maya, it was eleven distinct, reinforceable moments. She watched Leo. When he successfully turned the cold-water knob, she didn't just give a generic "good job." She delivered a high-five and a sliver of a dried mango—his favorite "high-magnitude" reinforcer.
Next came . Initially, Maya used "hand-over-hand" guidance to help Leo scrub. But she knew that for Leo to be truly independent, she had to disappear. Slowly, she moved her hands to his wrists, then his elbows, then to a simple gestural point toward the soap. She was carefully shaping his behavior, replacing her support with his own autonomy. Designing Teaching Strategies: An Applied Behav...
Maya wasn't just teaching; she was . She wasn't looking for a "one size fits all" lesson plan. She was practicing Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) in its most artful form. She started with the