http://www.abilities.today/learn

Let's Talk Senior Care, 353 S. Lewis Lane, Carbondale, IL (2025)

12/11/2025

🌿 New Podcast Episode Alert! 🌿
Cozy Couch Podcast, Episode 10:
Every Stage Matters — Behavioral Science for All Seasons of Life
featuring Dr. Zoe Lucock 🎙️✨

Hear Dr. Lucock break down the idea that behavioral science truly supports us at every age and stage. An easy, insightful listen — perfect for your morning coffee or afternoon walk. ☕🚶‍♀️

Check it out here 👇
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfozhQvhhJ8

12/10/2025

✨ Attention Families & Caregivers! ✨ Have you heard about the National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices (NTG)’s Family Webinar Series on Aging, Dementia & Intellectual Disability? It’s an incredible free resource for anyone supporting a loved one aging with an intellectual disability.

🧠 What this series offers:
Session 1: The Aging Process
Session 2: Early Screening for Cognitive Changes
Session 3: Life Planning for Different Phases of the Life Journey
Session 4: Behavioral Changes Occurring with Dementia
Session 5: Family Panel – Sharing Real-Life Experiences from Caregivers and Families

💡 Whether you’re a parent, sibling, direct support professional, or family friend — these webinars give you expert insight, practical strategies, and a supportive community to help you navigate aging, dementia, and life planning for adults with ID.

👉 All sessions are offered at no cost, and many are recorded — so you can watch on your own schedule.

12/09/2025

If you’re supporting older adults or individuals with suspected dementia, understanding the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) is important.

The GDS outlines 7 stages of cognitive decline, from no impairment (Stage 1) to severe dementia (Stage 7). Stages 1–3 cover pre-dementia, while Stages 4–7 describe dementia. By Stage 5, a person can no longer live independently and will require daily support.

✨ Why should BCBAs know this? Dementia screening tools like the GDS help you:
✔️ Select goals that match a person’s cognitive abilities
✔️ Provide interventions that are realistic and humane
✔️ Adjust expectations for learning, memory, and skill acquisition
✔️ Improve the accuracy and ethics of your FBAs
✔️ Collaborate more effectively with medical and interdisciplinary teams
✔️ Distinguish between behavior barriers vs. cognitive limitations

Behavioral intervention in aging is not one-size-fits-all. The GDS gives BCBAs a developmental roadmap, helping us support older adults with dignity, competence, and person-centered care. Understanding cognitive stage is the foundation for meaningful and ethical treatment planning.

12/08/2025

“Shine On You Crazy Diamond” by Pink Floyd hits differently when you work in aging and dementia care. 🎵💛

The song was written as a tribute to Syd Barrett, whose decline—marked by disorientation, memory loss, and profound personality changes—mirrors what many families see when a loved one begins to fade from dementia. The lyrics reflect that bittersweet mix of love, grief, nostalgia, and the longing for someone who is still here… but not fully the same.

For caregivers, clinicians, and families, this song becomes more than music—it’s a reflection of the emotional landscape of dementia care:
✨ remembering who they were
✨ honoring who they still are
✨ holding onto connection in new ways

Aging is complicated. Decline is heartbreaking. But love, dignity, and memory still shine through.

12/08/2025

We provide consultation and supervision for BCBAs who want to transition into senior care and build real competency in this growing specialty. 🧓🏽👵🏼✨

Supervision available in:
CA, CO, DE, FL, ID, IL, ME, NH, NM, PA, SC, WV

What you’ll gain:
✅ Skills to support older adults and adults with dementia
✅ Opportunities to broaden your clinical practice
✅ Guidance from behavior analysts experienced in aging and gerontology

Learn more:
🔗 www.abilities.today

12/07/2025

Art matters in dementia care—far more than many people realize. 🎨 Creative expression becomes a powerful bridge when memory and language begin to fade. Art supports emotional regulation, reduces distress, strengthens identity, and creates meaningful moments of connection for people living with dementia. 💛

For BCBAs working in senior care, art is more than a leisure activity—it’s a clinically meaningful intervention. Art promotes activity engagement 🧩, supports socialization 🤝, encourages fine and gross motor skills ✋, and offers a structured, reinforcing way to reduce behavioral expressions tied to boredom or unmet needs.

Over the past year, we’ve highlighted incredible art programs and artists who lived with dementia. Their stories remind us that creativity doesn’t disappear with diagnosis—it shifts. With the right support, art becomes a pathway for joy, dignity, and engagement at every stage of the disease.

In dementia care, art isn’t just an activity.
🌟It’s quality of life.
🌟It’s communication.
🌟It’s personhood.

Here are some programs we've highlighted this year:
👉Arts for Dementia: https://artsfordementia.org/
👉Opening Minds through Art: https://scrippsoma.org/
👉Project Present: https://projectpresent.org/
👉Painting with Purpose: https://www.alz.org/news/2022/painting-with-purpose

12/06/2025

Competency in dementia care matters — especially for BCBAs entering clinical practice. Because ABA doesn’t yet have its own established set of competencies for senior care or dementia care, we rely on the rich, evidence-based frameworks developed by other disciplines. And that’s a strength, not a weakness.

Over the last year, we highlighted several organizations whose gerontology and dementia-care competencies help guide our practice — from assessment and communication to ethics, safety, and caregiver collaboration. These frameworks remind us that high-quality dementia care is multidisciplinary, person-centered, and deeply rooted in dignity.

👉American Geriatrics Society (Physicians, Multi-Disciplinary, and Interprofessional Healthcare Professions)
https://www.americangeriatrics.org/geriatrics-profession/core-competencies

👉American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
https://www.abpn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/2011_core_GP_MREE.pdf

👉Association of Directors of Geriatrics Academic Programs
https://adgap.americangeriatrics.org/education-training/competencies-and-milestones/minimum-competencies-geriatrics-imfm-residents

👉Pikes Peak Geropsychology Knowledge and Skill Assessment Tool
https://copgtp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Pikes-Peak-Evaluation-Tool-1.4.pdf

👉Essential Competencies in the Care of Older Adults (PT)
https://aptageriatrics.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/APTA_Geriatrics-PT-Essential-Competencies.pdf

👉AGS Position Statement on Interdisciplinary Team Training in Geriatrics
https://agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jgs.12822

👉Competency Initiatives in Professional Psychology
https://www.apa.org/ed/graduate/competency

👉Karel, M. J., Knight, B. G., Duffy, M., Hinrichsen, G. A., & Zeiss, A. M. (2010). Attitude, knowledge, and skill competencies for practice in professional geropsychology: Implications for training and building a geropsychology workforce. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 4(2), 75–84. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018372

👉ABA Practice Guidelines for Autism
https://www.casproviders.org/asd-guidelines

12/05/2025

❓Have you heard of the NTG-EDSD (Early Detection Screen for Dementia in Adults with ID/DD)? It’s one of the most important tools we have for identifying early cognitive changes in individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities — a group often underdiagnosed or diagnosed far too late.

For BCBAs, this tool matters.
✨ Many behavior changes we see in adults with ID/DD may actually be early signs of cognitive decline — not “noncompliance,” not “regression,” and not a sudden rise in challenging behavior.
✨ The NTG-EDSD helps us differentiate what’s behavioral from what’s neurological.
✨ Early detection means earlier supports, better planning, and improved quality of life.
✨ It helps the whole team (behavioral, medical, and caregiving) communicate using the same structured, organized information.

If you’re a behavior analyst working with aging adults or long-term ID/DD populations, the NTG-EDSD is a tool worth knowing, using, and teaching others about. Early screening = early dignity. 💛

12/04/2025

Have you ever read “Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge” by Mem Fox? It’s a beautifully touching children’s book — and a great way to introduce kids (and adults!) to the meaning of memory.

The story follows young Wilfred, who discovers that his friend Miss Nancy has “lost her memory.” Wanting to help, he sets out to collect items that spark her joy, comfort, and connection. It’s sweet, simple, and a powerful reminder that memories aren’t just facts — they’re feelings, sounds, smells, and moments that make us who we are.

This book is a wonderful resource for families who want to help children understand dementia with compassion and curiosity. Sometimes a story teaches the heart better than any lecture ever could. 💛📚

12/04/2025

❄️⛄The holidays bring family, gatherings, and special moments — but they can also be challenging for loved ones living with dementia.

One of the biggest communication mistakes we make without realizing it is asking:
“Do you remember me?”
“Come on, you know who I am!”
“Do you remember when we…?”

These questions can create embarrassment, frustration, or even lead to arguments.

A more supportive approach is to remove the pressure to remember. Try:
💛 “Hi Grandma, it’s Sandy! It’s so good to see you.”
💛 “I remember when we used to bake cookies together every Christmas.”
💛 “I’m happy to be here with you today.”

This shifts the focus from memory tests to connection, warmth, and shared presence — which is what truly matters.

Let’s spread compassion this season and set our loved ones up for success. 💛✨

12/03/2025

🎓Thinking about improving your skills in dementia care?

Check out this continuing-education opportunity from Abilities Behavior Services: “Behavior Assessment for Dementia Symptoms.” The course covers practical strategies to assess and better understand behavior symptoms in dementia — essential knowledge for caregivers and professionals supporting older adults.

If you're passionate about delivering compassionate, effective care, this CE is a valuable step forward. 💛

12/02/2025

🤖 Thinking about how tech can help with dementia care? 💻 AI companion apps like CogniHelp are influencing care plans. These tools offer daily personalized puzzles, reminders, journaling support, and cognitive tracking — all designed to help older adults stay engaged, organized, and mentally active.

For those of us in behavior gerontology, this means another option for data collection, to support dignity, routine, and independence for clients living with cognitive decline.

Have you tried anything like this with your loved ones or clients? Share your experiences — and let’s talk about how tech + compassion can work together. 💙

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