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| Teaching Teens Tools for Terrific Transitions |
| Friday, May 22, 2009 |
| 6:00 PM–9:00 PM |
| North 221 C |
| Area: TBA/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Frank Bird, M.Ed. |
| KIMBERLY CROSLAND (University of South Florida), Stacie Neff (University of South Florida), Jessica Thompson (Centre for Neuro Skills (CNS)) |
| Description: Most youth find the transition to adult life challenging and youth who are exiting the foster care system or have emotional/ behavioral disorders may be particularly challenged as they may be less equipped to handle adult responsibilities. This workshop will describe a structured curriculum for teaching young adults several key skills/tools for building better relationships and transition skills. The tools taught are based on the basic principles of operant conditioning and the curriculum uses a combination of interactive teaching styles including games and role-play scenarios. The techniques for teaching young adults and some unique perspectives from past experiences will be valuable information for those working with this population. Additional strategies regarding competency testing, antecedent classroom manipulations, and the use of teen oriented reinforcers during the classroom based training will be detailed. To improve learning and encourage active participation, the workshop will incorporate dynamic demonstrations and practical exercises. |
| Learning Objectives: Objectives: By the end of the workshop, each participant will be able to:
•Identify and describe a minimum of three strategies used to teach transition/social skills to young adults
•Understand how the principles of behavior analysis are successfully applied within a curriculum to teach young adults social and transition skills
•Describe the key components necessary for effective and interactive instruction of young adults in a classroom based setting
•Detail the importance of using pre-and post competency testing via prescribed role-play scenarios for classroom based training |
| Activities: This workshop will involve extensive participation, demonstrations via role-play scenarios, and fun, practical exercises for participants. The workshop will start be discussing the materials and other key items needed for a successful training environment when working with youth. The curriculum will then be taught to participants as if they were actual youth attending the training to provide the most optimal learning environment for participants. Three tools will be covered: Stay Close, Use Reinforcement, and Pivot. The tools taught are based on the basic principles of operant conditioning and the curriculum uses a combination of interactive teaching styles including games and role-play scenarios. Each of these tools will be presented from a youth perspective, using youth examples and youth role-play scenarios. Throughout the workshop, the instructors will be modeling what should happen during a training for youth by providing reinforcers to participants to encourage active participation and to teach participants the importance of using multiple teaching strategies to engage youth. |
| Audience: Behavior Analysts, teachers, youth care workers |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |