Association for Behavior Analysis International

As part of the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services' expansion of community-based services and supports for children and youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), a brief Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)-based service delivery model (up to six months) was launched in September 2011 in regions just north of Toronto, Ontario Canada. The objective of this expansion was to ameliorate long waitlists for families seeking behavioural services for their child/youth, and build capacity in various settings, by providing quality services to a large number of families with ongoing and changing needs. To date, the collaborative efforts of four community-based agencies have provided approximately 2000 children/youth the opportunity to participate in this short term service delivery model. Each parent/caregiver and their child/teen (if applicable) are involved in choosing a goal or concern across one the following domains: 1) Behavior management/emotional regulation; 2) Communication; 3) Social/interpersonal; and 4) Activities of Daily Living (ADL). The following presentations will provide an overview of the model of service delivery across four community agencies; the functional behavioral assessment; and behavioral outcomes of n=200 cases including case studies. Finally, strengths and the limitations of providing short term applied behavioral analysis will also be discussed.

In September of 2011, as a result of an Expression of Interest (EOI) proposed by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, short-term Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) services began to be provided to children and youth diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum up to the age of 18 across Ontario including in York Region and Simcoe County. As per ministry requirements, services are provided for two to six months, two to four hours a week. The focus of this presentation is to provide an overview of the York Region and Simcoe County ABA program that is comprised of four community agencies partnership. The Primary objective of this program is to teach caregivers of children with ASD the principles of ABA and how to apply strategies to reduce problem behaviour and/or acquire new skills. 1-month follow-up sessions are conducted to determine behaviour change and parent success in maintaining or exceeding their expected outcome after discharge. The presentation will highlight the unique collaboration across the four agencies in providing applied behavioural analysis in a short term delivery model to 1047 clients in a fiscal year. In addition, the demographics of clients supported and domain selection will also be presented.

A York Region/Simcoe County partnership across four community agencies in Ontario Canada provides applied behavioural analysis in a short term model to 1047 children/teens diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum in a fiscal year. The objective of this and similar programs in Ontario is to provide caregivers and their children (if applicable) the opportunity to determine their current concern or pick among four domains available. If the caregiver chooses a social skill, activities of daily living or a communication goal, a functional skills assessment (FSA) is conducted to determine pre-requisites, appropriateness of goal and next steps. If the caregiver determines that reducing a challenging behaviour is a concern, a Functional Behavioural Assessment (FBA) is conducted to determine the function as well as the conditions that precede and follow the concern. The FBA is conducted for all children/youth that require support for behaviour challenges within this model of service. The following paper will provide an overview of the FBA structure, including the process and methods used. Results from 200 functional behavioural assessments will be presented including the prevalence of identified functions and the comparisons across the various methods utilized.

A York Region/Simcoe County partnership across four community agencies in Ontario Canada provides applied behavioural analysis in a short term model to 1047 children/teens diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum in a fiscal year. Services are provided using a mediator model to teach caregivers to teach a skill and/or reduce a challenging behaviour exhibited by their child/teen. The clinicians responsible for teaching caregivers utilize a behavioural skills training and/or general case approach during services delivery. Services are conducted at home and in other relevant community locations including schools if permitted. The following paper will review the effect sizes of approximately 200 single cases that have been provided support under the behaviour domain. In addition, case(s) will be presented illustrating how the functional behavioural assessment is used to develop a treatment plan and the results associated with this plan. Finally, an overview of the strengths, limitations and future directions of a short term applied behaviour analysis services will be presented.