There is tremendous value in actually seeing what other people are doing. Sure, it is great to read the latest research and go to conference presentations. But there is no substitute for actually seeing what’s happening. You learn things from seeing a program or a procedure that you simply can’t pick up from reading or listening to presentations.
At the beginning of my professional life, I did whatever I could to go visit programs that were supposed to be of very high quality. That’s a lot of work to set up and arrange the visits. I cold-called the directors of the programs, and they were very accommodating. Some of them even spent hours with me showing me around and teaching me about their programs.
During my first year in a real / non-internship type job, I took at least four vacation days to visit programs that were supposed to be of the highest quality in my area. In later years, I continued this practice and had the opportunity to visit many, many different types of programs over the years, which was a fantastic learning experience. On a few occasions, I even took trips by plane to go visit programs. I met a lot of people this way and it was an excellent way to learn things that probably wouldn’t have been possible in any other way.
There was a lot less interest in behavior analysis back when I was starting my career. I expect if someone today attempted to replicate my procedures, program directors in 2021 are not likely to be so accommodating. This is even more true after COVID-19.
On the other hand, maybe it isn’t nearly as necessary as it was 25 years ago. Today we have something that we didn’t have 25 years ago–online video platforms. On various platforms, you can view videos of people working with children with autism. Like Eddie Murphy warned, you are likely to see some stuff that sucks, but you will see some great stuff too. Regardless of how you do it, find a way to go see what other people are doing. If you don’t, you won’t Poogi nearly as much as you could.