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| Behavior Therapists: What They Do and Why They Do It |
| Friday, May 26, 2006 |
| 10:00 AM–5:00 PM |
| Piedmont |
| Area: PRA; Domain: Applied Research |
| CE Instructor: Theodosia R. Paclawskyj, Ph.D. |
| THEODOSIA R. PACLAWSKYJ (Kennedy Krieger Institute), ERIK A. MAYVILLE (Connecticut Center for Child Development) |
| Description: This is a workshop intended to make technical information accessible to anyone interested in the development and implementation of a behavior program for persons with developmental disabilities. There are many clinicians working in applied behavior analysis who implement programs for their patients or students without the means or opportunity to fully explain the background and rationale for treatment selection. However, families looking to help their children want to do so to the best of their abilities and would benefit from acquiring the knowledge that would allow them not only to carry over effective strategies into the home setting but to teach new behaviors on their own. Learning the foundations of applied behavior analysis allows a caregiver to move beyond implementation to intervention design. We will review applied behavior analysis in the contexts of both interventions for improving maladaptive behavior and for educational programming. Throughout the workshop, we will encourage open discussion of the rationale and practicality of what is described; especially in terms of why a strategy is selected over other possibilities, when do procedures feel artificial and when a more naturalistic approach is important, what procedures are essential yet difficult to routinely implement, what strategies are useful for maintaining consistency in public versus home or school settings, and how to manage conflicts between personal views on child-rearing with recommended behavioral interventions. For skill acquisition programs, we will also compare routine versus best practice interventions in special education as well as behavioral programming in special education versus general education settings. |
| Learning Objectives: - Draw comparisons between common behavioral interventions and their parallels in everyday interactions and situations - identify the critical skills necessary to develop both behavior reduction and educational programs - Define the essential components according to current best practices of a behavior program for decreasing maladaptive behavior - Define and Describe valid methods of descriptive, ecological, functional and reinforcer assessments - Define and Describe research-based interventions that target reduction of maladaptive behaviors through antecedent modifications, remediation of skill or performance deficits, environmental modifications, reinforcement-based interventions and specific consequences - Define and Describe research-based interventions in the educational setting that address skill acquisition, including the selection of different instructional strategies - List the common misconceptions about applied behavior analysis and discuss strategies to promote their resolution - Describe the full scope of behaviors and situations in which persons of all functioning levels can benefit from behavioral intervention - identify circumstances during which the provision of appropriate behavioral services is questionable and the mechanisms through which a well-trained behavior analyst can be identified |
| Activities: Presentation of information will take place in a lecture format with open discussion encouraged throughout the workshop. Participants will have the opportunity to view slides, videos, and hands-on demonstrations and role-plays as well as to bring up individual case examples. |
| Audience: Parents and caregivers of children and adults with developmental disabilities |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |