Helping Parents Understand Applied Behavior Analysis: Creating a Parent Guide in 10 Steps

Helton et al. (2018) wrote a how-to paper. It lists ten clear steps to build a one-page parent guide. The guide turns ABA terms into everyday words. No kids were tested; the paper is a recipe for clinicians.

The team did not collect data. Instead, they show each step with an example. The final product is a single sheet parents can tape to the fridge. The sheet uses plain talk, not jargon.

Morris et al. (2021) extends this work. Their review gives you ready-made handout content that fits inside the ten-step guide.

Garikipati et al. (2024) also extends the idea. They show that parents who receive clear written tools can run ABA at home and still get strong skill gains.

Danforth (2016) is methodologically similar. Both papers hand clinicians a single-page parent tool—one is a flow chart, the other is an info guide—so you can pick the format that fits the family.

You can finish the ten steps in one lunch break. Swap your usual jargon sheet for the new plain-language version. Parents leave the meeting with one page they actually understand, and you spend less time re-explaining reinforcement next session.