Episode #219: Using Descriptive Praise to Help Transform Behavior with Bailey Payne

Are the learners in your class or therapy room engaging in behaviors that create barriers to learning? What can you do?

Bailey Payne, author of Behavior Breakthrough: 12 Skills to Transform Behavior at Home and in the Classroom, offers data-driven, evidence-based strategies to help parents and educators reshape their responses, modify environments, and create lasting change. Her book makes Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) concepts accessible, empowering caregivers and teachers to foster a more peaceful learning space.

Where to start?
Bailey emphasizes teaching essential skills using a clear framework: Why is it important? What is it? How does it look in practice? Today, we explore descriptive praise—a powerful tool for guiding children toward positive behaviors. Unlike general praise, descriptive praise explicitly recounts a child’s actions, showing them how to access attention appropriately without resorting to behaviors that produce a barrier to learning.

With teachers already overwhelmed, strategies like descriptive praise offer a simple yet proactive way to remove learning barriers. By intentionally reinforcing desired behaviors, educators can create a more structured, supportive environment—one where every child has the opportunity to succeed.

#autism #speechtherapy

Today’s Guest:

Bailey Payne, M.S., is a licensed behavior analyst with a master’s in clinical psychology from Pittsburg State University. With extensive experience in psychology and behavioral analysis, she has worked in state hospitals, autism programs, and academic settings. She has served as a consultant for school districts, Head Start programs, and private therapy in Bowling Green, Kentucky. As an instructor at Western Kentucky University, Bailey is dedicated to empowering individuals by focusing on their strengths and values in natural environments.

What’s Inside:

• How to break through barriers to learning.
• Teaching skills to transform behavior.
• What is descriptive praise, and how can it help?

Mentioned In This Episode

• Behavior Breakthrough: 12 Skills to Transform Behavior at Home and in the Classroom
• Bailey Payne
• Behavior Breakthrough with Bailey Payne (@behavior_breakthrough) on Instagram
• BehaviorBreakthrough (@behaviorbreakthro) on TikTok
• ABA Speech: Home
• Join the ABA speech connection membership

If you found this podcast helpful, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me to support more people—just like you!
If you have not done so already, subscribe to the podcast. This ensures that you do not miss an episode!

Listen on
Apple Podcasts

Listen on
Stitcher

Subscribe
via Email