ABA data management question

[salondon]

Hi all

Can someone give me some tips on how to organise the ABA folder? I know the lead tutor should do it, however, any top tips/tricks to make it all manageable?

Thanks
SA

[AgnesDiPesto]

A summary sheet listing the skill targeted, date started and date met.
To be honest thats about as much as any non ABA person who wants to see it will look at. Also if people join the programme later they can look back and see what has been taught.
Our ABA staff also graph behaviour data eg to show self harm, stim etc, again thats an easy way to show negative behaviours reducing (and prove progress)

[salondon]

Yes Agnes, my new tutor asked about graphs and we dont have any. Getting the folder in shape now

[moondog]

Shouldn't they be doing this?

[salondon]

They should moondog. Till now, weren't doing it(I only recently started ABA - 3 months ago) and recently there has been an explosion of data and the folder is all over the place. I am contemplating whether I should ask one of the tutors to do the admin for me or do it myself. I personally think I should do it - it saves money and keeps me in control. I already have a supervisor and a consultant.

There is data in the standard sheets - ABC, Self help skills, reciprocal imitation, reinforcers etc. But not very well organised and the graphs are missing. Not sure why my supervisor and existing(experienced) tutor didnt ask for it. I am data-collection agnostic but whatever I am reading VB/ABA should have proper data to prove what's working and what's not.

[moondog]

Data collection and organisation essential.
You doing it will keep you in the know yes, but personally find this alarming as every ABAer knows (or should know) that without organised data, it means nothing.

If you go to an ABA conference (as I do a lot) you always see someone walking around in a t shirt saying 'Where's the data?'
I want one of those.

[moondog]

Just seen something else. So, consultant, supervisor, lead tutor and tutors and they can't organise the data?!

[salondon]

Moondog, I didn't put this quite right. The folder was small and pretty organised till very recent weeks. Now the tutors are saying this needs to be organised and new tutor is asking for graphs. That is why I am wondering

• Who should I get the organising to do? (I didnt assign a lead tutor. Mistake?). If I assign a lead tutor, should I get them to work 1hr/week on admin rate(lower than tutoring rate?) and do it? or do they do it in their session?
  
• Or should I do this myself.
  

I already do the printing of sheets, folder dividers etc.

Trying to think what else I should be doing. i.e. what is it that a lead tutor will do with regards to admin, that I cant do myself.

Does that make sense?

[moondog]

I'm not sure as I don't work on home based programmes but rather ABA in the context of public sector state special schools so a teacher would take charge.

I'm just surprised your consultant and supervisor having given explicit guidance on this. That is, how data is taken, where it is stored and so on. After all, they are surely making decisions based on the data itself?!

[salondon]

Thanks again Moondog. They have given me all the data sheets and I print them and they are in the folder. The ONLY missing piece (from what I can tell so far) was the graphs. Not sure why that wasn't done.

But I am trying to understand how other people do the admin - do they do it themselves or lead tutor does it. And what is their top tip for data management. Do I make sense?

[salondon]

I guess what I am saying is that tutors have offered to organise it(now that we have many data sheets), I am trying to see how other people do it - DIY or get the tutor to do it.

[moondog]

Oh ok. For that, I think someone who ran a home programme would be a better bet than me then.
Certainly good for you to get acquainted with the data yourself though.

[dev9aug]

Ideally the supervisor should be telling you what data to keep at any given time. The lead tutor should be responsible for printing off the data sheets, keeping everything up to date and making sure that everybody is taking data consistently. However we never quite managed in a year in a home programme so ended up doing most if it ourselves to make sure a) it was being done properly, b) we knew what was happening during the programme.

[salondon]

Looks like we are heading that direction Dev.

[StarlightMcKenzie]

I had a consultant who came and worked/advised me, and me and the tutors organised the data/admin.

Sometimes I'd give the tutor an extra bit of money to take the folders at the weekend and do a couple of hours on that and making resources. It was a hard job because DS progressed so fast that new targets were introduced every 4 or 4 sessions and I found it difficult to keep up with a toddler.

But I stayed involved because 1) I wanted to keep on top of his programme knowledge-wise and 2) I just coukdn't afford to pay for everything.

[Liliuk]

1 recap sheet with all the programmes at the front (try to keep to one page) then 1 sheet in each section with programmes detailed, date introduced and mastered.

If you want more details to do graph, you could have a data sheet for number of trials and response. I personnaly never did because I do it myself.