ABA Inside Track – January 2026 Preview (January 7, 2026)

Episode Overview

In this lively preview episode, the ABA Inside Track team—Rob (Robert Perry Crews), Jackie McDonald, and Diana Perry Cruz—recap their podcast's upcoming January 2026 episodes, discuss professional resolutions, and highlight key happenings for the ABA community. The episode is a blend of programmatic updates, behavioral analysis insights, and the hosts’ characteristic warmth and wit, providing listeners with a look ahead at the podcast content and ways to stay engaged in the field.

January 2026 Preview: What's Coming Up

[00:34 – 07:37] Upcoming Episodes Breakdown

Book Club: "Atomic Habits" by James Clear

• Who’s involved: All hosts. The full episode is available to $10+ supporters on Patreon, with a sample for all listeners.
• Special Offerings: Two free CEs included with the full episode.
• Quote: “If you want CES, you have to listen to the whole thing.” —Diana, [02:56]

Motivational Interviewing Episode

• Guest: Dr. Monica Gilbert, author of How to Stop Talking and Start Communicating with Motivational Interviewing: Building Effective Partnerships with Caregivers. A Practical Guide for Behavior Therapists (Gilbert, 2025)
• Papers Discussed:
  • “A Behavior Analytic Account of Motivational Interviewing” (Christopher & Doer, The Behavior Analyst, 2009)
  • “Creating a Therapeutic Alliance with Caregivers, An Introduction to Motivational Interviewing” (Platner & Anderson, Behavior Analysis and Practice, 2024)
• Anticipated Themes: Integration of motivational interviewing into ABA, building therapeutic alliances, practical strategies for behavior therapists.

Risk Assessment Roundtable

• Guests: Dr. Stephanie Peterson, Dr. Becky Eldridge, Dr. Neil Dioshant—rare, multi-guest format!
• Listener’s Choice Topic!
• Papers Discussed:
  • “Functional Analysis: A Need for Clinical Decision Support Tools to Weigh Risks and Benefits” (Wiskirchen, Dioshant, & Peterson, Behavior Analysis Research and Practice, 2017)
  • “Toward the Development of a Functional Analysis Risk Assessment Decision Tool” (Dioshant, Eldredge, & Peterson, Behavior Analysis and Practice, 2020)
  • “A Pilot Evaluation of Expert and Novice Use of the Functional Analysis Risk Assessment Decision Tool” (Schroeder et al., Behavior Analysis and Practice, 2024)
• Quote: “Maybe only one other time have we had three guests and it was our neurodiversity panel.” —Diana, [04:54]

Changing Criterion Design (CCD) Deep Dive

• Solo/Panel: No external guest, but all hosts involved.
• Papers Discussed:
  • “Best Practices in Utilizing the Changing Criterion Design” (Klein, Houlihan, Vincent, & Panahan, Behavior Analysis and Practice, 2017)
  • “Using Mnemonics, Remote Coaching, and the Range Bound Changing Criterion Design to Teach College Students with IDD to Make Employment Decisions” (Brady et al., Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 2022)
  • “Effects of a Variable Ratio Reinforcement Schedule with Changing Criteria on Exercise in Obese and Non-obese Boys” (DeLuca & Holborn, JABA, 1992)
• Diana’s enthusiasm noted.
• Quote: “I got a little bit of a bee in my bonnet and wanted to talk about the changing criterion design...” —Diana, [06:29]

Notable Quotes and Moments

• Adapting to new years and calendars:
  “...hopefully all are in 2026. When you're listening to this, nothing weird happened. They didn't change the calendars or anything...” —Rob, [01:51]
• Patron engagement reminder:
  “That does mean if you are a subscriber... at $5 or up... you can listen to that [risk assessment]...and you can have it right away.” —Rob, [07:50]

Hosts' New Year’s Habits and Reflections

[07:50 – 16:14] Resolutions and Habit Formation Discussion

Jackie’s Habit

• Focus: Writing 30 minutes, three times a week, to improve manuscript output.
• Motivational Barrier: “I need to find more reinforcers for it because...it's important for my students and it's important for my job.” —Jackie, [09:32]

Diana’s Habit

• Same as Jackie—dedicated, scheduled writing time to advance academic work.
• Hydration anecdote: Shares how the Water Llama app motivated her to drink more water via sticker animals—and how habit faltered when the reinforcement ended.
  • “Every day that you drank the requisite amount of water, you got a little sticker animal...Then when I collected all of the stickers, I stopped using the app and I stopped drinking water.” —Diana, [10:53]

Rob’s Reflections

• No new habits, but open to optimizing existing ones—snacking, mindfulness.
• Notes the difference between planning and action (ref. James Clear), aiming to avoid “just more planning.”
• Tabletop role-playing games as a sustained new habit.
• On “stuff”: “Maybe I'll look at...healthier foods or focusing on eating more kind of vegetable snacks. How about that?” —Rob, [14:25]

Notable Banter

• “I am perfect and don't have much to work on. Thanks.” —Rob, tongue-in-cheek, [14:08]
• “Listen to the changing criterion design. That's where you want to...use that for your water drinking habits. You're going to go overboard.” —Rob, [16:07]

Event Spotlight: Stone Soup Conference

[16:15 – 18:47] Annual ABA Conference

• Date: January 23, 2026 (Diana’s birthday—“Friday birthday, best birthday.” [16:32])
• Description: Online ABA-focused conference; hosts are attendees, not speakers this year.
• Notable Presenters: Dr. David Cox, Pauli Giovannoni, Dr. Tiffany Kodak, Matchicoria, Dr. John Michael Garcia, among others.
• Host Testimonial: “Consistently every year it's just been like a good, just like slew of like good talk, good talk, good talk, good ideas, good ideas, you know, actionable steps. It's been great.” —Rob, [17:41]
• Discount: Use code ABAIT26 for $20 off registration.
• Link and details are in the episode notes.

Platform and Website Updates

[18:47 – 23:21] New ABA Inside Track Website Preview

• New Website Launch: March 2026 for the podcast's 10-year anniversary.
• Improvements: Easier navigation, direct episode/CEU access, account system showing all completed “courses” and certificates, aligned with BACB standards.
• Automated Certificates: Certificates now sent immediately after quiz completion, reducing Diana’s admin workload.
• Transition Plan: Listeners may want to note past orders; certificates will still arrive via email.
• Quote:
  • “We’re going to, you know, be including transcripts more readily... not doing those by hand. We have AI service that does that for us.” —Rob, [19:51]
  • “We really do hope that you enjoy it and that it will serve your needs, our needs, and the BACB's needs.” —Diana, [23:09]

Hosts’ Closing Thoughts

[23:21 – 24:59] Final Chat & Community Building

• Looking Forward: More time for content, engagement, and new releases thanks to the streamlined site.
• Hopeful Note: “Lots of fun things still to come in this new year, but for the short term, we got a lot of fun episodes. We got the Stone Soup conference. And then, you know, if you have any extra time that you want to waste, you can wonder what the new website will look like. It's...cute. You know, it's...a website, though.” —Rob, [23:55]
• Warm wishes: “We hope you all had fabulous holiday season and are enjoying some time off as you listen to this.” —Rob, [24:33]

Key Timestamps

| Time | Section/Event | |-----------|----------------------------------------------------------| | 00:34 | Episode rundown begins | | 02:26 | January episode preview; Atomic Habits book club | | 03:00 | Motivational Interviewing episode details | | 04:55 | Risk assessment panel preview | | 06:29 | Changing Criterion Design preview | | 07:37 | Listener’s choice acknowledgment: Risk assessment | | 07:50 | Patreon, CEU access and engagement explanation | | 08:19 | New Year’s resolutions, habit talk | | 16:15 | Upcoming Stone Soup Conference details | | 18:47 | Website update preview | | 23:21 | Closing and holiday well-wishes |

Final Takeaways

• Rich January Content: Motivational interviewing and risk assessment with respected guests, plus a timely deep-dive into CCD.
• Community Engagement: Special conference discount and new features to enhance listener experience.
• Personal & Professional Habits: Hosts candidly share real-world challenges and goals, echoing themes from "Atomic Habits."
• Big Tech Upgrades: A milestone new website and streamlined CEU process are coming soon.

For Listeners

Stay tuned to the ABA Inside Track feed to catch all the discussed episodes, enjoy conference discounts, and explore enhanced podcast features in early 2026. The hosts’ blend of expertise and humor ensures both practical value and entertaining listening!