Presentation Overview

From Table to Routine: Embedding Naturalistic Teaching in 1:1 Sessions

Behavior technicians working in 1:1 settings often operate within a strong discrete trial tradition — structured, table-based, and activity-driven. Yet the same clinical components that make those sessions effective (clear learning opportunities, natural reinforcement, responsive strategies, and shared control) can be embedded within everyday routines and home materials with equal rigor and greater generalization potential. This session reframes the routine as a professional-grade unit of instruction — as plannable, as structured, and as clinically rich as any formal activity. Participants will explore how NDBI strategies map onto naturally occurring joint activity routines, how to recognize and create embedded teaching opportunities within the flow of a session, and how to think strategically about the time slot they occupy in a child's day. The session also addresses the broader system the RBT works within: when a supervisor is simultaneously building caregiver capacity to replicate these interactions across the day, the technician's work becomes part of a much larger intervention effect.

Learning Objectives

What you'll learn...after completing this presentation, participants will be able to

  • Identify everyday routines and naturally occurring interactions as legitimate learning contexts, and recognize the key components within them — learning opportunity, motivation, natural reinforcer, and adult response — that can be intentionally leveraged during a 1:1 session.

  • Describe how specific NDBI strategies — including environmental arrangement, shared control, expectant pause, and natural reinforcement — can be applied within the flow of a routine or child-led interaction to create and expand embedded teaching opportunities.

  • Articulate the RBT's role within a broader intervention system in which a supervisor is simultaneously building caregiver capacity, and recognize how consistency between the technician's interactions and the family's everyday routines amplifies the overall impact of the intervention.

Continuing Education

The NDBI Navigator is an approved continuing education provider for the BACB, QABA, and IBAO.

Professionals from other disciplines will receive a professional development certificate, which they can submit to their respective licensing boards for consideration.

Your Presenter

Natalia Santamaria, MEd

Natalia Santamaría, M.Ed., is a specialist in Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBIs) and early intervention, with a Master's degree in Early Childhood Intervention and Child Development and a Master's degree in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA España). She is certified in Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) with advanced training across multiple NDBI models, and is certified by FIPP as a Mentor and Fidelity Coach for the implementation of caregiver coaching in early intervention contexts. A pioneer in the dissemination of NDBIs in Latin America and Spain, she led the Spanish translation of Help Is in Your Hands and the Spanish translation and cultural adaptation of participation-based assessment tools for early intervention. Her work centers on family-centered, caregiver-mediated approaches — embedded naturalistic instruction, functional goal-setting, and implementation within everyday routines — bridging the international NDBI research community with Spanish-speaking professionals. Through Motivatea, she provides professional development and training for therapists and caregivers across Latin America and Spain in evidence-based, family-centered early intervention practices.

Presentation Content

  1. 1

    • About the Presentation

    • Meet Natalia Santamaria

    • Professional Practice Reminder

    • Video: From Table to Routine: Embedding Naturalistic Teaching in 1:1 Sessions

    • Presentation Handout

    • Quiz

    • Survey