Mayflower Early ABA Services

07/27/2026

🎉 When Social Skills Become Real Friendships 💕

Something pretty special happened in our Teen Girls Group this week.

One of the girls invited the entire group to her birthday party — and for many of them, this will be their first time spending time together outside of Mayflower.

And that is what this group is really about.

These girls aren’t simply practicing how to make friends. They are forming real, meaningful friendships. They are choosing one another, including one another, and creating connections that are beginning to extend beyond our Friday night group. 💗

Our BCBA, Rita, had a lesson planned for the evening — because BCBAs love a good plan! But when she learned about the upcoming birthday party, she recognized a much more meaningful opportunity.

She pivoted.

Instead of following the original lesson, Rita helped the girls prepare for something that mattered to them right now: going to a birthday party together and feeling confident, comfortable, and included.

Together, they created their own Teen Party Bill of Rights and talked through real situations they might encounter: joining a conversation, introducing themselves to someone new, asking for what they need, taking a break if things feel overwhelming, saying “no thanks,” checking in on a friend who may be feeling left out, and knowing that they never have to change who they are in order to belong.

They also talked about the other side of belonging — welcoming others into conversations, respecting someone else’s “no,” noticing when a friend might need support, and helping create a space where everyone feels included.

This is one of the things we love about naturalistic, BCBA-direct ABA. Our clinicians can observe what is happening in the moment, recognize when a real-life opportunity is more meaningful than what was written in the lesson plan, and adjust immediately.

And perhaps our favorite part?

The social skills weren’t happening around the friendships.

They were happening because the friendships are real. 💕


🎂🎉💕 #🎂🎉💕

07/24/2026

Friendship Week at Rasing Raising Harts sounds FUN!!

Friendship Week offers a therapeutic, neuroaffirming space where rising 6th, 7th, and 8th grade girls can connect, build social confidence, and practice meaningful friendship skills.

While the program is designed for middle schoolers, if you believe your child may benefit, we encourage you to reach out to Adrien to explore possibilities.

Direct all questions to [email protected].
Ready to register? Head to: https://pci.jotform.com/form/261825287121153

07/18/2026

What makes someone a great friend… roommate… spouse… coworker… or teammate?

It isn’t just kindness.

It’s noticing what needs to be done BEFORE someone asks. 😌

That was the focus of tonight’s Teen Social Skills Group at Mayflower Early ABA Services. 💙

Many people think unloading the groceries or doing the dishes is simply about completing chores. Tonight, our teens explored something much deeper: these everyday actions communicate respect, appreciation, reliability, and LOVE.

As children grow into teenagers and eventually adults, learning to recognize what others need, contribute to shared responsibilities, and take initiative becomes an essential social and executive functioning skill, one that strengthens relationships at home and prepares them for success in college, the workplace, friendships, and independent living.

Together we explored:

✨ The difference between waiting to be asked and taking initiative.

✨ How our actions—and inaction—affect the people around us.

✨ Why contributing to a household is really about teamwork, not chores.

✨ How to break overwhelming responsibilities into smaller, manageable steps using executive functioning strategies.

✨ How perspective-taking helps us understand others and build healthier, more harmonious relationships.

Through discussion, real-life scenarios, and collaborative problem-solving, the girls practiced seeing situations from another person’s point of view while recognizing the important role they play in creating a positive home environment.

💙 One of our favorite takeaways from the evening:

Healthy relationships aren’t built only through words, they’re built through reliability, responsibility, and the small ways we make life easier for one another. Just as importantly, we can learn to notice and appreciate when others do these things FOR US. 🙏

🎨 We ended the evening by putting our creativity to work, brainstorming and sketching ideas for our upcoming Mayflower Craft Fair on August 22 at Vitamin Sea Brewing! We can’t wait to share what our girls create. STAY tuned!!!

These are the kinds of conversations that build confidence, perspective, independence, and relationships that last a lifetime. 🌸

07/12/2026

For most teenage girls, it’s easy to list the things they DON'T LIKE or wish they could change about themselves. We challenged them to do the opposite! 💛

This Friday, we had the joy of celebrating two very special birthdays in our Teen Girls Social Skills Group! 🎉💛

The birthday girls picked some of their favorite desserts, and we spent the evening celebrating not only another year of life- but also the unique qualities that make each of us who we are.

Our lesson centered around self-love and radical self-acceptance.

Each girl was invited to reflect on and share something she genuinely loves about herself. For some, those words came easily. For others, recognizing their own strengths, talents, beauty, and worth was much more challenging.

And that’s where the power of friendship took over.

When someone struggled to think of something positive about herself, her peers stepped in with heartfelt affirmations. The room quickly filled with reminders of one another’s kindness, creativity, resilience, humor, compassion, intelligence, and the countless qualities that are often easier for others to see than for ourselves.

It was such a beautiful reminder that sometimes our friends can hold up a mirror to the parts of ourselves we’ve forgotten to notice.

To end the evening, each girl decorated her own mirror- a symbol of the reflection she sees every day and a reminder that true beauty extends far beyond appearance. We hope that every time they catch their reflection, they’ll remember not only what they see looking back at them, but also the words their friends shared: that they are valued, capable, beautiful, and worthy exactly as they are.

Happy Birthday to our two wonderful girls! 💕 Thank you for letting us celebrate alongside you. Here’s to another year of friendship, confidence, self-discovery, and learning to see ourselves through the same compassionate lens we so freely offer to others.

✨

07/04/2026

🎆 Fourth of July can be fun… and HARD. 🇺🇸

Hot weather. Crowds. Loud noises. Long days. Trafic. Changes in routine. Sugar. Late bedtimes.

That’s a lot for any child — and especially for kids who thrive on predictability.

If today feels overwhelming, you are not alone.
A few proactive ABA-based tips to make the day go smoother:

✔️ Prime before you go
Talk through the plan ahead of time:
“First we go to the cookout, then we eat, then we watch fireworks, then home.”
Predictability lowers anxiety.

✔️ Set clear expectations
Keep it simple:
“Stay near mom.”
“Use walking feet.”
“Ask for help if it’s too loud.”
Short, clear, achievable.

✔️ Bring your supports
Headphones 🎧
Earplugs
Favorite comfort item
Snacks
iPad/tablet
Sensory tools
Pack an ice pack to hold/cold drink before getting in a hot car
Preparation is not “giving in” — it’s setting your child up for success.

✔️ Have an escape plan
Know where the quiet space is.
The car is always an option. Watching fireworks from inside the car still counts.
Leaving early is not failure.

✔️ Build in motivation
Use First-Then:
“First cookout, then popsicle.”
“First fireworks, then favorite show.”
"First car seat, then iPad"
"First bathroom, then swim"
Motivation can carry kids through hard moments.

✔️ Watch for signs of overload early
Whining, covering ears, clinging, pacing, refusing — these are often signs your child is struggling, not “misbehaving.”
Intervene early before it escalates.

✔️ Adjust your expectations
Not every child will sit for fireworks, socialize, or stay all day.
That’s okay.

Success might look like 20 peaceful minutes instead of 3 stressful hours.

✨ Sometimes the best parenting is knowing when to stay… and when to go.

Give yourself grace today.

Protect your peace.

Meet your child where they are.

❤️ Happy Fourth of July from Mayflower Early ABA Services.

07/02/2026

✨ Most parents don’t realize how important THIS skill is…
Watch closely.

At 20 months and 33 months, Drew is watching his big brother Jonah carefully — copying the way he puts the straw in and out of the cup, and even copying the sounds he’s making.

This is more than a cute moment.
This is social learning.
Imitation begins early in development, but when toddlers start copying their siblings and peers, it tells us something important:

They’re paying attention.
They’re connecting.
They’re learning.
Through imitation, children build:

🗣️ Language
🧠 Play skills
🤝 Social connection
💡 Problem-solving

One of the early differences we often notice in children with Autism is difficulty with imitation — especially copying sounds, actions, and play from others.

When imitation is hard, learning from the world around them can be harder too.

That’s why we pay attention to these small moments — because they’re actually big developmental milestones. ❤️

07/02/2026

☀️ Summer, Screens, and Real Life ☀️

We live in a world of instant dopamine.
Video games. YouTube. Social media. Endless scrolling.
And while screens aren’t “bad,” too much of them can make real life feel harder.

Why?

Because real life asks kids to do things screens don’t:

➡️ wait
➡️ be bored
➡️ problem-solve
➡️ handle frustration
➡️ be flexible
➡️ work for reinforcement

Screens reward immediately.

Life doesn’t.

And when children spend too much time escaping into electronics, they can miss important opportunities to build resilience.

The truth?

Boredom is not bad.
Boredom builds creativity.
Waiting builds patience.
Struggle builds confidence.
Discomfort builds psychological flexibility.

At Mayflower, we encourage parents to think differently:
Instead of just reducing screen time...

👉 Increase the reinforcement value of real life.

That means praising and reinforcing the skills you want to grow:

💛 “I noticed you figured that out without your iPad.”
💛 “Wow, you handled waiting really well.”
💛 “That was hard, and you stuck with it.”
💛 “I love how flexible you were.”

Because kids repeat what gets attention.
And remember:

Don’t just remove screens. Replace them.
Try building reinforcement into:

🌱 water play
🌱 scavenger hunts
🌱 helping cook
🌱 bike rides
🌱 Evening beach trips
🌱 Playing in the sand
🌱 obstacle courses
🌱 chalk
🌱 forts
🌱 sensory play
🌱 board games
🌱 family walks
🌱 Community playgrounds
🌱 libraries

Your child does not need constant entertainment.
They need opportunities to learn:

I can be bored.
I can wait.
I can handle hard things.
And that’s where resilience grows. 💛

06/30/2026

The most POWERFUL TOOL we have as parents isn’t control… it’s CONNECTION. 🤍

Before a child can learn from us, trust us, or follow our guidance, they need to feel safe and connected.

In ABA, we call this pairing — building ourselves into reinforcement so our presence predicts safety, fun, and support!

RESEARCH consistently shows that strong parent-child connection improves:

✨ Cooperation

✨ Emotional regulation

✨ Communication

✨ Resilience

✨ Behavior outcomes

Connection doesn’t mean saying “yes” to everything!
It means showing your child: I see you. I hear you. I’m with you.

THE HOW: Ways to build connection every day:

• Follow their lead in play
(Let them choose. Join their world without directing it.)

• Give behavior-specific praise
(Instead of “good job,” try: “I love how gently you asked for help”).

• Use “special time”
(Even 10 minutes a day of undivided attention can strengthen connection).

• Get on their level
(Eye-level interaction feels safer and more engaging).

• Narrate the positives
(Catch what’s going right more often than what’s going wrong).

• Repair after hard moments
(Conflict happens. Reconnection teaches more than perfection).

• Be present, not perfect
(Children don’t need flawless parents. They need connected ones).

At Mayflower, we believe meaningful progress starts with relationships first. Because when connection comes first, learning follows. 🌱

06/29/2026

✨ Psychological Flexibility: Learning to Carry Hard Things ✨

At Mayflower, we spend a lot of time helping children build flexibility—not just in routines, but in their thoughts and emotions too.

Life is full of hard moments:
“I can’t do this.”
“This is too hard.”
“What if I fail?”

These thoughts are normal.

But psychological flexibility teaches us something powerful:
💛 You can have hard thoughts and still keep going.

This idea comes from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)—a framework that helps us change our relationship with uncomfortable thoughts and feelings instead of getting stuck in them.

ACT teaches us to:

👉 Make space for hard feelings instead of avoiding them
👉 Stay present in the moment
👉 Notice thoughts without letting them take over
👉 Remember that thoughts are not always facts
👉 Focus on what matters most
👉 Keep taking small steps forward

At Mayflower, we help children learn:
🌱 “I feel nervous, and I can still try.”
🌱 “This is hard, and I can handle hard things.”
🌱 “I made a mistake, and I can keep going.”

Because growth doesn’t happen when everything feels easy!
Growth happens when we learn we can carry discomfort—and move forward anyway!