Understanding Fidelity in ESDM Direct Practice

Join a dynamic and informative one-hour Zoom workshop designed for early childhood professionals seeking to deepen their understanding of the ESDM Fidelity System in direct intervention with children. This session introduces key resources and tools to support accurate, consistent, and high-quality delivery of the 13 intervention strategies that comprise the ESDM fidelity framework.

Learners will explore how to assess and reflect on their own intervention practices using structured fidelity criteria and learn how each strategy contributes to meaningful developmental outcomes. The workshop also highlights common challenges in fidelity scoring and offers practical guidance for applying techniques with clarity and confidence.

Whether you're new to the ESDM or looking to refine your direct intervention skills or deepen your understanding with fidelity, this free session offers practical insights to strengthen your practice and promote positive child outcomes. Previous experience or certification in the ESDM is not required to attend. Class size is limited to support an engaging online learning experience.

Date: Coming December 2025 or January 2026
Time: TBD
Please note: BACB continuing education units are not available for this workshop. Any handout materials will be sent to the registration email the day before the workshop.

Introductory ESDM
Parent Coaching 

A four-session Zoom workshop for early childhood professionals to explore the foundations of coaching families through the ESDM. Combining group learning with self-guided activities, participants will gain both knowledge and practical skills to help families plan, practice, reflect, and problem solve in a supportive, safe learning environment.  Professionals will be expected to practice topics directly with families and share non-identifying information about their coaching experiences for expert guidance on applying these topics. Previous experience or certification in the ESDM is not required to attend this workshop. Class size is limited to 10 to maximize the online learning experience.  
Learners completing this workshop will:

1. Define parent coaching and its "active ingredients" for family-centered care.
2. Name stages of behavior change to assess parent motivation (or readiness, willingness, and ability) to take action toward desired outcome(s). 
3. List evidence-based coaching tools of joint planning, observation, active practice, reflection, and problem-solving with parents.
4. Recognize active listening strategies that support communication and feedback from parents, including sample resource handouts for coaching.
5. Evaluate parent coaching language and actions with manualized fidelity tools. 

Intermediate ESDM
Parent Coaching 

Learners completing this workshop will:

1. Evaluate family-centered coaching language and actions with manualized ESDM coaching fidelity tools.
2. Define Stages of Change (or Transtheoretical Model), Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
3. Evaluate specific strategies from Stages of Change, MI, and ACT with ESDM parent coaching. 
4. Recognize active listening strategies that support communication and feedback from parents, including sample resource handouts for coaching application.

Infant Start 

A five-session Zoom workshop on coaching families through eight infant characteristics based on the ESDM that may be limiting social interaction and social learning. Eligible for early childhood professionals who have taken the Introductory ESDM Parent Coaching Workshop and work with families of 20-month-old or younger infants with social-communication vulnerabilities or concerns, strategies aim to build development around each infant target. An autism diagnosis is not required. Professionals will be expected to practice topics directly with families; share non-identifying information about their coaching experiences for expert guidance in use of these topics; and use Google Classroom to access and submit workshop materials.

Learners completing this workshop will:

1. Identify infant behavioral cues of engagement and disengagement to help parents recognize in their interactions with babies.
2. Name and define the eight infant characteristics that serve as the coaching topics with families.
3. Facilitate parents' practice, reflection, and problem-solving with the Infant Start Manual and other resource handouts for coaching and evaluating parent-infant progress.

Joint Activity Routines 

A five-session Zoom workshop for early childhood professionals to explore joint activity routines (JARs) as the interactive teaching framework of the ESDM assessment and intervention strategies. Through JARs, children and one or more partners come together to choose and set up an activity; carry out an initial play idea or routine of the activity called the theme; add on other materials, actions, or steps to vary and extend the activity, interaction, and learning opportunities; and reach an ending in the activity to put away related materials before choosing what to do next and repeating this framework. By doing activities together, whether it is toy play, books, social games, mealtime, getting dressed etc., JARs support children’s early attention, social, communicative, and critical thinking skills within the context of meaningful and rewarding exchanges and relationships. Combining group learning with self-guided activities, professionals will gain both knowledge and practical skills for using this framework characterized by joint engagement, shared positive affect, and spontaneous social learning with children and their families. Class size is limited to 10 to maximize the online learning experience. 

Learners completing this workshop will:

1. Define joint activity routines and its four phases.
2. Describe why joint activity routines are important to children’s development and relationships with others.
3. Name joint activity routine strategies that use child-preferred activities for intrinsic meaning, motivation, and engagement.
4. Self-evaluation, reflection, planning, and problem-solving resources for ongoing technique use of intervention strategies.

Learning about the ESDM 

Learners completing this workshop will understand:

1. The science of ABA, child development, and relationship learning in the ESDM approach to early autism intervention. 
2. ESDM assessment, program development, fidelity, and data management procedures. 
3. ESDM intervention strategies for early-in-life learning inside everyday activities young children do with their families and other caregivers. 
4. Evaluation-reflection resources to take action with the above topics.

Talking Bodies 

Learners completing this workshop will:

1. Understand children’s talking bodies as a process of sending and reading others’ messages through the face, body, and voice.
2. Discover how to support and extend children's talking bodies with interactive strategies aimed at play, caretaking, or other family-based routines.
3. Access evaluative-reflective resources to promote caregiver-child active communication and shared learning experiences.