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| Life-Quality Programming for People Unable to Provide Preferred Experiences to Themselves |
| Saturday, May 29, 2004 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| Berkeley |
| Area: PRA; Domain: Applied Research |
| CE Instructor: Martin Thomas Ivancic, Ed.D. |
| MARTIN THOMAS IVANCIC (Western Carolina Center) |
| Description: People who are unable to independently contact the things they enjoy in their lives are dependent upon other people for their life-quality. Behavior technologies have identified how to assess reinforcers, preferences, and happiness indices for people, but these procedures have been typically used only as a means to developing more complex skills. For people who are not expected to increase their current life-quality by acquiring new skills, this workshop offers programming for life-quality that considers contact with preferred stimuli as a terminal goal. The programming divides a participant's day into nine intervals. The task for the care provider is to generate predefined approval or satisfaction responses (approach responses, happiness indices, etc.) from the participant in each of these intervals. Higher percent intervals of these satisfaction responses are considered an indication of increased life-quality for that person. Data can be managed to identify and then schedule toward more preferred experiences and away from less preferred events. Quality assurance and validity for this programming is based on the on-going (i.e., across the day, every day) participant voice about the quality of his or her daily experiences. Such programming may be the essence of what many who work for people with disabilities call person-centeredness. |
| Learning Objectives: At the completion of the workshop, participants will be able to: Learn to determine the programming technique with the highest potential for a participant by reviewing the parameters of habilitation found in skill acquisition programming, reinforcer assessment, preference assessment, happiness indices, and "Golden Rule Therapy." Identify individuals who may benefit from this form of life-quality programming based on their current skills. Review the behavioral techniques available for providing life-quality programming (single, paired, and multiple-stimulus choice; contingent vs. noncontingent experiences; increasing happiness indices; decreasing unhappiness indices or discomfort). State the "clinical conundrum" which forbids ever eliminating training opportunities, but maximizes immediate life-quality regardless of skill acquisition potential. Review Life-Quality Tracking Programs and Shopping Programs designed to provide immediate life-quality across the day, every day, to people who cannot bring the life they prefer to themselves. Study data provided by 32 individuals over the last three years in Life-Quality Programming for clinical and management issues. Receive copies of and practice the definitions, goals based on the self-direction domain of habilitation, written programs, data sheets, and data bases necessary to conduct Life-Quality Programming. |
| Activities: Well as critique suggested definitions of participant life-quality reports for their conventional validity (e.g., a smile) and make suggestions for supporting evidence for definitions considered less conventional (e.g., opened eyes). In addition, participants will assemble materials (definitions, programs, data sheets, summary sheets) necessary to implement Life-Quality Programming in their settings. |
| Audience: Persons responsible for providing life-quality for an individual or group of people who are unable to bring the things they like to themselves because of development (e.g., profound, multiple handicaps), accident (e.g., head-injury), or illness (e.g., advanced forms of Alzheimer's or Parkinson's Diseases). |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |