If you ask most people, they will report that they honestly want to improve and do everything they can to continuously Poogi over time. Though they may think they mean it, they often don’t. As I’ve argued before, many of us are overconfident. Simply put, many BCBA’s think that they are better than they really are.
What do most people mean when they say they want to improve? They mean they want ideas that might be called “tweaks.” –Here is a new book with great social skills activities we can add to the mix. This is a new great assessment device that is very helpful in pinpointing skills for activities of daily living. Here is a great tip for initial staff training. In other words, since many of us think we are so great, we don’t think massive improvements are possible. As long as we aren’t a HINIBUS, we are happy to make small changes.
Though many of us work long hours and follow the latest research, we know that not all children have fantastic outcomes. We think we are doing everything possible. But we aren’t.
Sure, we can be happy to accept small changes that are improvements. But if we really want to improve, we have to believe that no matter how good you are, massive improvements are possible. I’ve discussed some of those massive improvements – here and here.
But how can we prove that massive improvements are possible? Maybe what we are doing with our current resources is the best possible? As we know, it is incredibly difficult to measure program quality well. I’m glad that many are trying and I’m hopeful about that research, but as far as I’m aware there is nothing very convincing so far.
Admittedly, my position is not based on science, but faith that science will continually lead us to better answers. But I do know that if you don’t believe it is possible to significantly improve, you will stop trying. If you believe your program doesn’t have massive room for improvements, you are almost certainly wrong.