The Honeymoon Phase

When a child starts ABA for the first time, some parents and clinicians have noted the occurrence of a so-called “honeymoon” phase, where the child is extremely happy to be at the clinic and is picking up new skills with very little resistance. Eventually though, as the child gets more comfortable, they may start to show more and more maladaptive behaviors and the sessions may shift from skill building to focusing on more replacement behaviors. Why may this happen?

Pairing and Demands

At the beginning of ABA, the therapist’s aim is to make sessions as fun and rewarding as possible. The goal is for the child to enjoy being there, create a therapeutic bond and see the reward for learning new skills. This process is called pairing. This also means that demands are fairly low, and the skills that are being taught may most of the time be things the client already knows how to do to a certain extent. However, ABA Therapy is still structured, which may be something new to the client. This structure can be challenging for the child as they learn boundaries and encounter social situations and skills that test their abilities. Along with growing in comfortability in the clinic, for some kiddos, this may lead to an uptick in behaviors.

An Approach Adjustment

In order to meet the child where they are at, the therapist may switch to focus on more of those problem behaviors, taking data to find the function and reinforcing safe ways for the child to communicate. After the child has successfully been able to employ that safe communication, the next step is to work on tolerance so that the client is able to recognize that while they may often times be able to get what the want, sometimes preferred things will have to wait until after necessary demands are met.

For example, lets say that during early table time sessions, the client is eager to participate because the tasks are simple and familiar. However, as the skills start to build and require more focus, the client may no longer want to transition from play time to table time, and may resort to maladaptiove behaviors. The therapist may then set the table time skills on the back burner and focus on teaching the child how to request for “more time” on their play acrtivities instead of using unsafe means. After the child successfully and independently is able to request “more time,” the therapist may then gradually go from honoring the request every time to every other time, and adjusting table time sessions to be more rewarding. Through this approach, the client is now able to both learn safe communication and build a tollerance for less prefered activities.

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Interoception and Autism

November 9, 2026

What is Interoception? Body: When your stomach rumbles and suddenly every food sounds delicious, you know you’re hungry. When you find yourself doing the potty dance, you know you need to pee. These little signs telling us what our body needs are called “interoception.” But what if those little signs we rely on were inconsisteny, or in some cases, completely absent? It would be a lot more difficult to care for yourself and even stabilize your mood. For a lot of individuals with autism, this is their every day struggle. Learning Body Cues Body: Now let’s expand on that scenario. Say that on top of your body cues being muddled, you have limited access to communication. This is something that many autistic children and their parents face day in and day out. What can help? Schedule When you cannot rely on a body cue to tell you when you need to eat, sleep or use the bathroom, a schedule might be in order. This can help train the body to know when it needs what, and in some cases it may even help develop those natural cues. Educate For some children, they may feel their body cues, but struggle to identify them. Using visuals and simple language to explain what sensations mean what can give your child autonomy and independence. Social stories can help to explain the scenarios around needs such as eating or using the bathroom in a context that may translate better to your child. Model This may be one of the hardest parts, but the best lesson is often the parent’s example. When you start to feel hungry, say out loud what you feel and what you’re going to do. When its bed time, narrate why you’re going to bed and how you know it’s time to sleep. you can even do the same thing with your household pet to make it more fun! Simplify Often times half the battle is communicating WHAT we need. Once you find out what cues your child is most apt to miss or ignore, practice simple ways that a need can be requested for, and reinforce it avidly!