|
| TeachTown: Incorporating ABA Best-Practices into Computer-Assisted Treatment for Children with Autism |
| Saturday, May 27, 2006 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| Regency VII |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Research |
| CE Instructor: Christina Whalen, Ph.D. |
| CHRISTINA WHALEN (TeachTown), BRAD MCGUIRE (TeachTown), MANYA C. R. VAUPEL (TeachTown) |
| Description: The use of computers with children with autism is becoming increasingly prevalent yet this technology still seems relatively untapped with its potential. In this workshop, all of the essential elements of ABA for children with autism will be discussed including Sd's, prompting, discrimination, acquisition, reinforcement, generalization, data-collection, information sharing, and research. These topics will be discussed in terms of how to incorporate the best-practices of ABA into computer technology. One example of a program that attempts to incorporate all of these essential elements, the TeachTown program, will be presented and attendees will receive free demo copies of the software. It is suggested that attendees bring laptop computers for a more hands-on experience. |
| Learning Objectives: 1) What are ABA best-practices and how will we know when we are doing it? 2) How can we use computers to improve existing ABA practices? 3) How can we better manage data from ABA programs? 4) How important is generalization? What is the best approach for incorporating generalization into treatment? How can we measure generalization in ABA programs? 5) What research has been done on using computers with children with autism and what research still needs to be done? 6) What is the TeachTown program? How does this program incorporate ABA best-practices? |
| Activities: Review of ABA therapies available for children with autism; review of "best-practices" in ABA therapy; review of studies using computers for children with autism; discussion of advantages & disadvantages of using computers for children with autism; review and hands-on demonstration of TeachTown program along with discussion of "best-practices" in ABA; discussion of generalization and ideas for incorporating generalization into computer-assisted programs. |
| Audience: Parents, teachers, professionals, and researchers specializing in autism, language delays, or other special needs. Basic understanding of ABA and ABA principles (e.g. reinforcement, prompting, discrimination, etc.) - these terms will be reviewed briefly but workshop is ideal for those with basic understanding of these principles. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Intermediate |