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| Incorporating Generalization and Maintenance into Skill Acquisition Programming for Learners with Autism and Related Disorders |
| Friday, May 27, 2005 |
| 10:00 AM–5:00 PM |
| Boulevard B (2nd floor) |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Research |
| CE Instructor: David A. Celiberti, Ph.D. |
| DAVID A. CELIBERTI (Private practice) |
| Description: Educators and other providers are often faced with situations in which the skills of learners with autism and related disorders do not generalize or maintain over time. Many providers fail to recognize the steps they should be taking to promote generalization and maintenance; nonetheless, the field of applied behavior analysis possesses a framework and a number of methods that can be implemented to circumvent these challenges. During this workshop, the various forms of generalization (stimulus, response, and temporal generalization) will be described along with specific methods that may increase the likelihood that generalization will be observed. Efforts to address generalization and maintenance need to be individualized for each learner, tailored to the target skill, and planned for in a systematic manner. More specifically, methods will be presented that can be incorporated at three broad phases in the teaching process, during treatment planning and prior to the initial teaching of a target skill, during the process of teaching the particular target skill, and after the target skill is mastered. A model for determining how best to maintain target skills after they are mastered will also be offered. |
| Learning Objectives: After this workshop, participants will be able to: - Differentiate the various types of generalization. - Recognize common obstacles that impede generalization and maintenance. - Design and implement a variety of strategies to promote generalization. - Design and implement a variety of strategies to promote maintenance. - Recognize learner and task characteristics that will inform when such strategies could be implemented. - Evaluate the effectiveness of efforts to promote generalization and maintenance. |
| Activities: Although workshop is primarily didactic, participants will be given many opportunities to engage in discussion and will participate in tasks that will concretize and synthesize the didactic information and increase the likelihood of later implementation. Videotape vignettes of teaching interactions will be provided to illustrate an array of generalization and maintenance strategies. Data collection tools and tracking forms relevant to generalization and maintenance will also be shared along with a bibliography of articles related to generalization. Examples will be provided throughout the presentation and adapted to the interests and needs of the participants. |
| Audience: This workshop will benefit professionals from a variety of disciplines, as well as parents who are significantly involved in the educational programming of learners with autism and related disorders. Participants should be familiar with behavior analytic teaching procedures, such as discrete trial instruction. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Intermediate |