Acorns to Oaks

Make Belief
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Raising a child is never one-size-fits-all, and neither is therapy. Acorns to Oaks is a podcast about helping children grow, families feel supported, and care feel more human. Hosted by behavior analysts and healthcare professionals, each episode explores the real-world challenges families face, breaking down ABA, child development, feeding, behavior, and the systems that shape care today. We believe in individualized treatment, compassionate care, and asking the most important question first: what matters most to your family?

  1. 2d ago

    Parent Questions: Development, Independence, Tantrums and House Rules

    How do you know whether your child’s development is on track? When should you look for additional support? Why do children have tantrums, and how can parents encourage confidence and independence at home? Christine and Sarah answer some of the questions parents ask most often. They discuss developmental concerns, early intervention, play, communication, comparison, emotional outbursts, sensory overload, natural consequences, household rules, and the importance of reinforcing effort. Throughout the conversation, they return to one central idea: children need adults to look beyond the behavior, understand what may be happening underneath it, and teach new skills with patience, consistency, and connection. Acorns to Oaks is presented by Nurture & Nature ABA, providing compassionate ABA therapy and parent support in Valley Village and the San Fernando Valley. Learn more or schedule a consultation: nurtureandnatureaba.com Follow Nurture & Nature on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized clinical care.

  2. Jul 17

    Supporting Medically Complex Autistic Children: Inclusion, Burnout and Pain

    Supporting an autistic child with complex medical needs requires thoughtful coordination across home, school, healthcare, and behavioral services. In this episode, Christine Dixon and nurse Sarah Merrill discuss the accommodations families may want their school teams to consider, including medication, feeding, breaks, safety planning, nursing support, adaptive equipment, and communication between school and home. They also explore caregiver burnout, the limitations of respite care, the importance of coordinated support, and the emotional weight of constantly planning for a child’s future. For professionals, the conversation offers direct guidance on staying within scope, respecting nurses and families, protecting privacy, avoiding intrusive questions, and adapting ABA sessions when a child is in pain or recovering from a procedure. The episode concludes with practical insight into pain scales, teaching the difference between “hurt” and “sick,” and reducing the exhausting guessing game experienced by many families. Acorns to Oaks is presented by Nurture & Nature ABA, providing compassionate ABA therapy and parent support in Valley Village and the San Fernando Valley. Learn more or schedule a consultation: nurtureandnatureaba.com Follow Nurture & Nature on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized clinical care.

  3. Jul 10

    Supporting Autistic Children with Complex Medical Needs, Part 2

    What happens when autism support must also account for feeding tubes, seizures, mobility needs, hospital visits, communication limitations, and other significant medical concerns? In Part 2 of this conversation, Sarah and Kristine explore how families and providers can support medically complex autistic children without losing sight of autonomy, comfort, communication, and quality of life. They discuss gradual food expansion, the limits of behavioral intervention, the effect of poor sleep on learning, visual preparation for medical care, adaptive communication, insurance barriers, emergency planning, and the role schools can play in creating meaningful access. The conversation also asks an important question for clinicians: Is a goal worth pursuing simply because it can be measured, or should every goal produce a meaningful improvement in the child’s life? This episode is intended for parents, caregivers, ABA professionals, nurses, educators, therapists, and referral partners. Medical decisions should always be made with the child’s qualified healthcare team. Acorns to Oaks is presented by Nurture & Nature ABA, providing compassionate ABA therapy and parent support in Valley Village and the San Fernando Valley. Learn more or schedule a consultation: nurtureandnatureaba.com Follow Nurture & Nature on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized clinical care.

  4. Jul 4

    When Autism Care Gets Medically Complex

    In this episode of Acorns to Oaks, Kristine Dixon and Sarah Morrow talk about supporting autistic and neurodivergent children with complex medical needs. They discuss epilepsy, medication changes, sensory sensitivities, hospital and dental visits, pain communication, parent stress, safety planning, and why medical needs must come first in ABA. This conversation is especially relevant for parents, caregivers, providers, nurses, school teams, and referral partners supporting children whose care requires coordination across multiple systems. One of the most important ideas in this episode is that not every behavior should be treated as a behavior first. For medically complex children, changes in attention, irritability, rigidity, toileting, fatigue, or distress may be connected to pain, illness, seizure activity, medication effects, sleep disruption, or another medical concern. Ethical behavioral care has to slow down enough to ask what the body may be communicating.  Acorns to Oaks is presented by Nurture & Nature ABA, providing compassionate ABA therapy and parent support in Valley Village and the San Fernando Valley. Learn more or schedule a consultation: nurtureandnatureaba.com Follow Nurture & Nature on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized clinical care.

  5. Jun 26

    Self-Care, Boundaries, and Puppy Power in ABA

    Sarah and Kristine are joined by Reese for a conversation about self-care, burnout, boundaries, and what helps behavior analysts stay grounded in the work. They talk about the early years of becoming a provider, carrying client concerns home, sleep, exercise, nature, hydration, community, professional boundaries, psychological safety, and what it means to enter a family’s home with humility and clarity. This episode is a thoughtful reminder that self-care is not separate from clinical work. It is part of how providers stay healthy enough to support families well. Self-care in clinical work can sound soft or optional, but this episode frames it differently. Sarah and Kristine talk about self-care as part of being able to show up safely, professionally, and effectively for families. The episode also names the importance of boundaries, including moments when providers need to respond directly to inappropriate or unsafe behavior.  Acorns to Oaks is presented by Nurture & Nature ABA, providing compassionate ABA therapy and parent support in Valley Village and the San Fernando Valley. Learn more or schedule a consultation: nurtureandnatureaba.com Follow Nurture & Nature on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized clinical care.

  6. Jun 18

    The Hidden Challenges of Being a Behavior Analyst

    In this episode of Acorns to Oaks, Kristine and Sarah talk honestly about the challenges of being a behavior analyst. They discuss cancellations, scheduling, telehealth, assessment, insurance barriers, treatment integrity, building new programs, and the emotional reality of caring deeply while learning not to take every stress home. They also explore the pressure in the ABA field to constantly “do better,” and why improvement and pride in the work can exist at the same time. This conversation is for behavior analysts, RBTs, parents, caregivers, and anyone who wants a more human look at the work behind ethical, compassionate ABA. This episode speaks honestly about some of the harder realities inside ABA. Kristine and Sarah discuss insurance barriers, the pressure within the field to constantly “do better,” and the emotional weight of problem-solving work. The goal is not to dismiss criticism or avoid accountability. It is to hold two truths at once: the field should keep improving, and many behavior analysts are already doing thoughtful, ethical, meaningful work every day. That balance is central to Nurture & Nature’s approach: compassionate care, clinical humility, and pride in doing the work well. Acorns to Oaks is presented by Nurture & Nature ABA, providing compassionate ABA therapy and parent support in Valley Village and the San Fernando Valley. Learn more or schedule a consultation: nurtureandnatureaba.com Follow Nurture & Nature on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized clinical care.

  7. Jun 11

    When ABA Gets Complicated: Masking, Feeding, Trauma, and Trust

    In this episode of Acorns to Oaks, Kristine and Sarah discuss five of the most controversial topics in applied behavior analysis. They explore whether teaching social skills can become masking, why treatment goals should be tied to the individual’s autonomy, and how ethical care should never be about changing who someone is. They also talk about extinction, forced feeding, planned ignoring, distress, financial incentives, insurance pressures, and what trauma-informed ABA should look like in real life. This conversation is thoughtful, direct, and rooted in respect for the people and families receiving care. Rather than avoiding the hard questions, Kristine and Sarah talk through them with honesty, clinical experience, and a commitment to doing no harm. ABA is often discussed in polarized terms. For some families, it has provided support, communication, safety, and meaningful progress. For others, the history and practice of ABA raise serious concerns about compliance, masking, distress, and whether autistic traits are being treated as problems. This episode does not dismiss those concerns. Instead, Kristine and Sarah talk through them directly. They discuss where criticism has validity, especially around forced compliance, food, distress, and treatment that ignores the individual. They also explain how ethical ABA should be different: centered on autonomy, safety, functional skills, social validity, family support, and the goals of the person receiving care. The larger question is not simply whether ABA is good or bad. The better question is: what does ethical care actually look like, and how do we make sure the individual is respected at every step? Acorns to Oaks is presented by Nurture & Nature ABA, providing compassionate ABA therapy and parent support in Valley Village and the San Fernando Valley. Learn more or schedule a consultation: nurtureandnatureaba.com Follow Nurture & Nature on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized clinical care.

  8. Jun 5

    5 Controversial Topics in ABA: Consent, Compliance, Neurodiversity, and Modern Care

    In this episode of Acorns to Oaks, Kristine and Sarah discuss five of the most common and important controversies surrounding ABA therapy. They explore whether ABA helps children or teaches conformity, when intervention can become coercive, how consent and assent apply to young or nonverbal children, why total compliance should not be the goal, and whether modern ABA can support neurodiversity rather than suppress it. This conversation focuses on ethical, individualized care built around safety, autonomy, communication, family values, and meaningful goals. It is especially helpful for parents who have heard mixed things about ABA and want to better understand what compassionate modern ABA should look like. ABA has become a widely discussed and sometimes controversial topic, especially among parents, autistic adults, clinicians, and advocates. Some concerns come from outdated practices, some from poor implementation, and some from real experiences where therapy may have felt too focused on compliance, conformity, or suppressing differences. In this episode, Kristine and Sarah do not dismiss those concerns. Instead, they talk through them directly. They explain that modern ABA should not be about forcing a child to appear “normal” or teaching blind obedience. Ethical ABA should focus on meaningful goals, communication, safety, independence, family values, and the child’s autonomy. They also discuss why assent matters, why nonverbal communication should be respected, why total compliance can be unsafe, and why stimming is not automatically something to stop. The larger point is that ABA is not one-size-fits-all. The quality, philosophy, training, and values of the provider matter. Acorns to Oaks is presented by Nurture & Nature ABA, providing compassionate ABA therapy and parent support in Valley Village and the San Fernando Valley. Learn more or schedule a consultation: nurtureandnatureaba.com Follow Nurture & Nature on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized clinical care.

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About

Raising a child is never one-size-fits-all, and neither is therapy. Acorns to Oaks is a podcast about helping children grow, families feel supported, and care feel more human. Hosted by behavior analysts and healthcare professionals, each episode explores the real-world challenges families face, breaking down ABA, child development, feeding, behavior, and the systems that shape care today. We believe in individualized treatment, compassionate care, and asking the most important question first: what matters most to your family?

Information

  • Creator
    Make Belief
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    15
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Nurture and Nature ABA
  • Show Website
    Acorns to Oaks