ABA Strengths, Interests and Enjoyment Profile for Families

Complete the profile with the learner whenever that is possible and welcome. Use the person's words, communication and choices first. Add family observations with a clear label so the reader can tell who supplied each entry. Anyone completing it may skip a question. The profile is not a test or a demand for a complete inventory.

One copy should reflect a particular time and context. Interests, access, energy and ways of participating can change, so date the profile and add a new version rather than treating it as a permanent description.

Families and Caregivers / Progress, Quality, Rights and Ethical Care.

The CMS person-centered care overview describes care guided by a person's goals, preferences and values, with providers and patients working together. That broad principle supports asking what matters to the person. It does not turn this profile into an assessment, treatment recommendation or proof that care is person-centered.

Important boundary: This is a family-owned conversation profile, not a formal preference assessment. It cannot identify a reinforcer, infer motivation, score ability, determine assent or capacity, select a goal, prescribe access to an activity, revise a treatment plan or IEP, or certify a clinical or educational conclusion. A learner's current communication and right to change an answer remain more important than an old entry.

Begin with the learner's voice and the profile's purpose

Explain why the profile is being made. A learner may want staff to know that drawing is enjoyable but not want it used as a reward. Another person may enjoy talking about trains at home and prefer not to discuss them during a session. Recording those distinctions is more useful than producing a long list of supposed favorites.

Starting questionLearner or family entryWhen was this made? Add the date, place and people.Your entry: __________.What the learner understands about this profile.Your entry: __________.How does the learner want to participate? Record the current choice.Your entry: __________.Learner's own words, signs or selections.Your entry: __________.Family observations added separately.Your entry: __________.What should be skipped? Record the learner's or family's choice.Your entry: __________.Who may receive this profile.Your entry: __________.When should it be reviewed? Add a date or event.Your entry: __________.

Keep self-description and family observation in separate fields. Note when an answer is uncertain, not discussed or private. If the learner communicates by AAC, signs, gestures, pictures, movement or another method, preserve the method and context rather than translating it into a stronger conclusion.

The BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts addresses understandable communication, client and stakeholder involvement, informed consent, assessment selection and attention to client preferences within its scope. It applies to behavior analysts under BACB jurisdiction. A family profile cannot decide whether those standards have been met.

Describe strengths without turning them into scores

A strength can be something the person values, a way of connecting, an approach that helps, a skill used in one setting or a quality the family appreciates. State what was seen and where. “Builds elaborate structures with magnetic tiles for twenty minutes at home” is clearer than “excellent spatial ability,” which adds an interpretation the worksheet did not establish.

Strength or valued qualityWho described or observed itSpecific exampleSetting and support presentWhat remains unknownWhat communication or self-advocacy strength stands out? Add an example.Play, creativity or curiosity.Relationships or community participation.What daily-living or problem-solving strength stands out? Add an example.Movement, music, art or another activity.Persistence, humor, care or another valued quality.What strength does the learner name? Preserve the learner's words.

Describe an example before adding a broad label. Keep performance in one context separate from mastery across contexts. Do not treat a family observation as a standardized evaluation, and do not use a missing entry as evidence that the person lacks a strength.

For a learner with an IEP, the U.S. Department of Education's IDEA Section 300.324 says the IEP Team considers the child's strengths and parent concerns when developing the IEP. That regulation governs the IDEA process. This family profile neither becomes part of an IEP automatically nor changes who may make an educational decision.

Map interests and enjoyment to a specific context

Interest is not all-or-nothing. A person may like a topic, object or activity only with certain people, at certain times or when the person controls the pace. Record the conditions around enjoyment instead of assuming that an interest is always available for adult use.

Interest or activityLearner's description or responseWhen it appears enjoyableWhen it does notAccess or setup that mattersCurrent source of the entryIs there a topic or conversation the learner enjoys? Record the context.Object, collection or material.Creative or sensory activity.Is there a movement or outdoor activity the learner enjoys? Record the context.Social or shared activity.Quiet or independent activity.Is there a new interest the learner wants to explore? Record the learner's words.

Use the person's current response. Distinguish free access from an adult-offered choice, and distinguish choosing an activity from agreeing to a service. If a clinician needs to identify effective consequences or conduct a formal preference assessment, that is a separate professional process with its own methods and consent.

Record how participation works best

Enjoyment can depend on how an invitation is made, how much time is available, whether the learner can watch first, who else is present and whether stopping is easy. These details can help a team ask better questions without converting the profile into a prescribed procedure.

Participation featureWhat tends to helpWhat can make participation harderLearner's current choice or signalQuestion for the teamHow is an activity introduced? Record what helps.Choice of materials or orderIs time needed to watch, think or prepare? Record what the learner indicates.Social, noise, movement or space conditionsCan the learner pause, change or stop? Record the current route.Communication or access supportHow does transition into or away from the activity work? Record the question.

Use the ABA strengths and interests worksheet to prepare a focused conversation, then route any access or clinical question to the responsible process. This section can point to a communication profile, sensory-preference worksheet or formal access request when more detail is needed. It does not authorize a support or decide that one condition is clinically necessary.

The AHRQ SHARE Approach supports meaningful dialogue about options, benefits, harms, risks and what matters most to a person. It is a health-care shared-decision resource. Here it supports asking and checking understanding, not selecting an ABA intervention.

Keep interest, assent and formal assessment separate

A smile, approach, repeated request or long engagement may be worth describing. None is a universal code. The same action can have different meanings in different contexts, and a learner can enjoy an activity while declining the way it is being offered.

Current observationExact contextPerson who observed itPossible question, not conclusionWhat response should be checked nowDid the learner approach or select something? Describe only what happened.Learner stayed, returned or requested moreDid the learner change, pause or leave? Describe only what happened.Learner declined, protested or showed uncertaintyDo family and provider read the response differently? Record both views.Interest changed from an earlier version

Write what happened before writing what it might mean. Recheck the learner's current communication. Use the separate assent-and-dissent tool when the functional job is to track willingness to participate in services. Use a qualified clinician's current process when the question is a formal assessment.

Turn the profile into respectful, answerable questions

The profile becomes useful when a family can ask a specific question without asking the worksheet to make the decision. “Please use music in treatment” skips the clinical and learner-choice steps. “Jordan enjoys choosing one song during family routines; how will the team ask whether Jordan wants music involved here?” preserves those steps.

Profile entryFamily's question or requestResponsible responderInformation or review neededWhat should not be assumedRequested reply dateWhich strength does the family want recognized? Write the specific question.Interest the learner wants availableIs there an activity the learner does not want used in care? Preserve that boundary.Participation support to discussDo home and provider observations differ? Write the point to clarify.Question about assessment or treatment

Name the person who can answer. Preserve the current treatment plan while a request is pending. Record whether the question needs clinical, access, privacy, educational or another review rather than treating every profile entry as an instruction.

Record the response and keep the profile revisable

“The team reviewed it” is not enough to preserve what happened. Record the team's understanding, any correction from the learner or family, what was agreed, what was declined or deferred, and the next review point.

Follow-up fieldRecorded entryWhen did follow-up happen? Note the date and people.Your entry: __________.Team's summary of the learner or family entryYour entry: __________.Did the learner or family correct the summary? Record the correction.Your entry: __________.Support or next step agreedYour entry: __________.Was a clinical, educational or access question routed elsewhere? Record the route.Your entry: __________.Request not agreed or still pending, with reason givenYour entry: __________.Who is responsible next? Record the person and due date.Your entry: __________.Version date and next reviewYour entry: __________.

Add dated changes instead of erasing earlier context. An updated profile can show that an interest ended, an old observation no longer fits or the learner now describes a preference differently. It should not be used to hold someone to a past answer.

Fictional example: art, maps and choosing how to join

This example is fictional and shows documentation separation only.

FieldFictional entryLearner voiceJordan selects “drawing” and “maps” on a picture-and-word choice page and says, “I like making routes.” Jordan chooses both without a prompt.Family observationJordan's parent, Priya, reports that Jordan draws transit maps at home and sometimes invites a sibling to add station names. Priya labels this as a family observation, not a measured skill.ContextJordan appears most engaged when allowed to choose the paper and watch another person start. Jordan sometimes leaves when an adult changes the drawing without asking.Important limitJordan asks that completed drawings not be used as rewards or taken apart. The profile does not label drawing as a reinforcer. It also does not give a provider permission to use drawing in a procedure.Family questionPriya asks Casey Lee at Harbor ABA Services how the team will invite Jordan to share the interest, check Jordan's current choice and keep access separate from clinical decision making.Team responseCasey repeats the distinction, records that the BCBA will review the question and leaves the treatment plan unchanged.ReviewJordan, Priya and Casey plan to revisit the profile in one month. No preference-assessment result, assent determination, treatment goal or IEP decision is recorded.

The example uses no real learner, family or provider. It cannot show that drawing is an effective reinforcer, that Jordan has mastered a skill, that a support is clinically appropriate or that a formal team must accept the family's request. Those questions require current person-specific review.