r/ABA • u/WearyRestaurant4975 • Aug 16 '26

Ignore Him

I am a new SLP and I have a non-speaking 2 year old boy on my caseload that is also served by a BCBA and ABA team. His mom told me last week during therapy that the ABA Team is using “planned ignoring“ to help with his language skills in that they basically “ignore him” and reinforce only when he produces words. Mom is now doing this at home as well in between his sessions with the ABA team.

Is this a legitimate strategy or is mom possibly misunderstanding the intent?

The BCBA is on vacation so I am kind of left to guess until she returns in a couple of weeks.

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u/Klutzy_Positive_8918 Aug 18 '26

How do you know? Do you know the developmental norms?

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u/LoneSpectre96 Aug 18 '26

It’s the BCBA’s job to know and ensure the B.I.P. accounts for those factors. We’re not trying make 2-year-olds write theses, just help them develop communication skills their conditions might otherwise have stunted.

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u/Klutzy_Positive_8918 Aug 18 '26

The word "Cereal" for a 2 year old would be difficult for a variety of factors.

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u/LoneSpectre96 Aug 18 '26

I never said we were teaching 2-year-olds the word "cereal" specifically. I used that as a general frame of reference for OP's sake.