For nearly a decade, TaSheena Hogue, a board certified behavior analyst, has been providing therapy to individuals with developmental disabilities, working in clinics, daycares, residential facilities and homes. Her work in applied behavior analysis gave her a passion to teach these methods to others.
“I wanted to be able to enhance the educational outcome for those who serve individuals of that population,” Hogue said.
In February 2023, she launched Tangible Habits, a service that supports families and schools by giving them the tools necessary to help the children they interact with on a daily basis. Hogue has made it her goal to offer support to the parents, education to the educators and care for the caregivers.
One-on-one consultations
When a parent faces a particular challenge at home or in the school setting, Hogue can provide the tools and resources to help resolve the situation.
“If a parent is struggling with any sort of behavioral concern that they have with their child, it may be related to communication needs,” Hogue said. “Oftentimes, we see children exhibiting any sort of impeding behavior, whether it’s aggression or tantrum-like behavior, because there is a lack of communication skills. We work through ways to support them, whether it’s through a device, whether it’s through signs, or just really trying to understand ‘What is it they are trying to communicate? What’s the reason behind the behavior?’”
During her consultations, Hogue is able to help parents with a variety of scenarios such as toilet training, play skills or problem behaviors. Through the use of effective research-based strategies, she tailors her approach to their child’s needs.
“In the home, a lot of it is related directly to how to engage and operate with their child,” she said.
Parents often need help navigating the educational system as well.
“I can support them within the school or daycare they are in, whether it’s from an IEP (individualized education plan) advocacy standpoint, whether it’s something within the community like outings or social events. I work through a lot of those skills with them,” she said.
RELATED: Supporting Kids Through Mental Health Challenges
Staff development
Hogue offers workshops and coaching to educators to help them achieve their goals in a classroom setting.
“I primarily support school districts,” Hogue said. “However, I target any area where there are any sort of educators, whether that’s schools, daycares or after school programs, as well as any sort of organization that is looking to enhance or improve their outcome, any sort of educational or behavioral needs.”
Hogue employs a three tier approach that begins with the whole classroom, then to group setting interventions and finally to individualized plans to meet a child’s needs. She targets early intervention and highlights reinforcement to help make the educators’ goals more attainable.
“Tangible habits. I believe that whatever we put our minds to, I want it to be tangible and an outcome we see that comes into play. There are so many things out there, however, it’s not focused specifically on the science of applied behavior analysis, and that’s my focus. I want to spread that around the community so that others see how this is beneficial and useful to their lives. We’re taking it from a preventative approach, and we’re trying to work through those problems from an early perspective.”
Forming community
In addition to workshops and consultations, Hogue would like to offer parents opportunities to come together in community.
“I would love to do some sort of parent support group. Having the opportunity to have parents with students with the same individual needs, to feel heard and just to vent or if they want to share what resources are out there. It can be an in-person group or a virtual group. They can just come with any questions they may have to help understand the nuances of that.”
For more information, visit Tangible Habits LLC.
