You wrote "non-compliant" in a session note. You believed it was true. There's a real chance it wasn't.
A learner who can't start a task, can't hold four steps in mind, or can't let go of a rule that just changed will look exactly like a learner who's refusing — right up until you know what to test for.
Start the courseFor BCBA®s who've written "non-compliant" and want a faster, more precise way to find out what's actually happening before it goes in the plan.
These usually don't get read as skill gaps. They get read as refusal.
- — A learner stares at an assignment without starting, and the plan targets "refusal to work."
- — Someone finishes the first two steps of a routine and wanders off, logged as "off-task."
- — Cleanup turns into a standoff most days, and the intervention is a token system built around motivation.
- — A worksheet comes back half-finished with the operation signs missed, and "check your work" doesn't change it next time either.
- — A rule changes mid-activity and the meltdown that follows gets written up with no antecedent, because nothing "happened."
- — The relationship with a learner wears thin from pushing compliance on a demand they don't yet have the skills to meet.
What this course is — and isn't
This course is
- A way to test whether a behavior reflects a missing executive functioning skill before you write a plan around motivation
- 14 activities across 7 executive functioning skills, built to double as data collection tools
- A three-part formula for building your own version of any activity for any learner
- Two full case studies you practice the framework on before you use it live
This course is not
- A replacement for a functional behavior assessment
- A diagnostic instrument for identifying an executive functioning disorder
- A claim that every behavior traditionally labeled noncompliant is actually a skill deficit
Why this course exists
Almost every clinician has written the word non-compliant in a session note at some point — believing it was accurate in the moment. Amelia kept running into the same pattern: a behavior read as refusal, addressed with tools built for motivation, that didn't move — because the missing piece was never motivation at all.
What she built instead is a set of activities that work two ways at once: they teach an executive functioning skill, and they generate the data that tells you whether that skill was the problem in the first place.
Amelia Dalphonse, BCBA®, is co-founder of Master ABA and the creator of this course.
What broke: behavior plans aimed at motivation, applied to behaviors that were never under motivational control.
What was built: a repeatable way to identify, test, and teach the executive functioning skill underneath a demand — without losing the functional assessment already in place.
Why it matters: imprecise language leads to imprecise intervention. Precise language is teachable.
The four-step process behind every case in this course
The same sequence, applied to every behavior you'd otherwise be tempted to call noncompliant.
Describe the observable behavior — no interpretation yet.
Break down the demand — what the instruction actually requires the learner to stop, remember, organize, tolerate, or begin.
Generate more than one hypothesis — skill, communication, motivation, sensory, and others.
Change one support, measure, and revise the hypothesis if performance doesn't move.
What you'll be able to decide by the end
Whether a behavior needs a consequence plan or a skill-building plan — before you write either one.
Which of the seven executive functioning skills is the more plausible hypothesis for a specific learner.
How to build a working activity for any client using the same three components every time.
What to measure so you can tell "learning the game" apart from "using the skill in daily life."
When to increase the difficulty of an activity and when to pull back without losing the learner's ascent.
How to bring a team a testable hypothesis instead of a label that ends the conversation.
What's included
Everything you need to run this framework on your own caseload.
Removes the guesswork of where to start with a behavior that's been mislabeled.
Each one includes setup, what to measure, and how to adjust it — removes the need to design assessment activities from scratch.
Practice the hypothesis-testing framework on Malik and Elena before you apply it cold with your own client.
Describe a real behavior and get help identifying the skill involved, adapting an activity, and writing a skill-based goal — removes the gap between finishing the course and applying it to your own caseload.
Released on passing the quiz — save your BCBA® number to your account first.
Rethinking Challenging Behavior
About as long as one supervision meeting — except this one changes what goes in the next ten session notes.
Who this is built for
This is for you if
- You write session notes and want the words in them to hold up
- You're building a plan around a behavior that hasn't responded to consequences alone
- You supervise staff and want them asking what a demand requires before reaching for a label
This isn't for you if
- You're looking for a diagnostic instrument for executive functioning disorders
- You want something to replace your functional behavior assessment process
- You want one universal activity list that requires no adaptation
Questions before you start
Does this replace my functional behavior assessment process?
No. This sits alongside a functional assessment, not instead of it. Function tells you what's maintaining a behavior. This course tests whether a missing skill is also making the demand harder to meet. Both can be true at once.
Do I need a background in executive functioning research to follow this?
No prior background is assumed. The course builds from the three-process model — inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility — into a practical seven-skill teaching framework you can use in a session this week.
Will this tell me exactly which skill a specific learner is missing?
It gives you a way to generate and test hypotheses, not a diagnosis. You'll work through two full cases using the same process before you apply it to your own clients.
How do I get my CEU certificate?
Watch the full video, then pass the quiz. The certificate is released by the quiz, not the lesson-complete checkbox — make sure your BCBA® number is saved to your account before you start.
Replace "non-compliant" with a hypothesis you can test.
For BCBA®s ready to ask what a demand actually requires — starting with the next note you write.
Start the course — $30