When Community Shapes the Work: Professional Learning in Behavior Analysis
One of the clearest themes of 2025 at Do Better was that professional learning in behavior analysis did not end when an event concluded. Learning continued through conversation, shared problem-solving, and ongoing dialogue among practitioners navigating real-world constraints.
Much of what Do Better created this year did not begin as a polished product or a predetermined curriculum. It began with questions raised by behavior analysts, supervisors, and educators working in autism services, schools, clinics, and community settings. Community participation did not sit alongside the work. It directly influenced what the work became.
Learning That Responded to Real Practice in Behavior Analysis
Throughout 2025, members gathered regularly in live learning spaces to discuss clinical decision-making, supervision challenges, ethical considerations, and systems-level barriers that affect applied behavior analysis in practice.
These discussions focused on practical questions behavior analysts frequently face, including how to support assent while maintaining instructional momentum, how to write goals that meet requirements without losing meaning, how to supervise ethically in high-pressure environments, and how to adapt programming across home, school, and clinic settings.
Rather than treating these conversations as separate from professional development, they became an essential part of how learning was shaped. Repeated themes and shared challenges highlighted where additional guidance, tools, or frameworks were needed.
From Practitioner Conversation to ABA Resources
Many of the resources developed in 2025 grew directly from these practitioner conversations. Tools were created in response to patterns that emerged across settings and roles, rather than from abstract planning or isolated content development.
Resources addressed areas such as:
- assessment and goal writing in applied behavior analysis
- supervision and staff training support
- assent-based and trauma-informed ABA practices
- behavior support planning without coercive approaches
- functional communication and AAC implementation
- instructional design and case conceptualization
Drafts were often shared, discussed, and revised based on practitioner feedback. This iterative process allowed resources to reflect real-world constraints and practical decision-making, rather than idealized conditions. The result was a growing library of tools designed to support everyday professional judgment in behavior analysis and autism services.
This approach reflects a broader shift within applied behavior analysis toward community-driven, practice-to-research models of professional development.
Mentorship and Context-Specific Support for Behavior Analysts
Trail Guides mentorship provided a dedicated space for behavior analysts working in school settings. These monthly discussions focused on IEP development, functional behavior assessments, inclusion, and collaboration within educational systems.
Conversations were grounded in the realities of school-based practice while maintaining attention to neurodiversity-affirming and neuroscience-informed approaches. Topics evolved based on participant needs, allowing mentorship to remain responsive rather than fixed.
This context-specific support highlighted how professional learning must account for setting, role, and system-level constraints. Strategies that work in one environment often require adaptation in another, and mentorship spaces allowed practitioners to work through those differences collaboratively.
Practitioner-Led Learning Through the Rejected Conference
The Rejected Conference further reflected Do Better’s commitment to practitioner-led learning in behavior analysis.
This conference featured presentations and workshops led by practitioners highlighting the work they are doing in their own settings. Sessions focused on applied practice, innovation, and adaptation rather than polished or performative presentations. The emphasis remained on sharing real examples, challenges, and lessons learned through experience.
By centering practitioner work, the conference reinforced the value of knowledge developed through practice and implementation. It also created opportunities for peer learning that felt relevant and immediately applicable.
Why Community-Driven Learning Matters
Behavior analysis and autism services operate within complex systems shaped by policy, funding, staffing, and cultural expectations. No single framework or training can address every challenge practitioners encounter.
Community-driven professional learning allows patterns to emerge across experiences, settings, and roles. When those patterns inform resource development, supervision practices, and ongoing education, learning becomes more relevant and more ethical.
In 2025, Do Better’s approach to professional development reflected this understanding. Learning spaces were designed to support dialogue, reflection, and shared problem-solving, with resources emerging alongside the people using them.
Carrying This Work Forward
Community continues to play a central role in how Do Better approaches learning and resource development. Practitioners are not treated as passive recipients of information, but as collaborators whose experience shapes what is built next.
As new trainings, tools, and frameworks are developed in 2026, they will continue to be informed by the questions, challenges, and insights shared by behavior analysts working across autism services and related fields.
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