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| Contemporary Assessment and Treatment Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorders |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 3:30 PM–4:50 PM |
| North 126 |
| Area: AUT/CBM; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Melanie Mills (Judevine Center for Autism) |
| Discussant: Rebecca Rubie (Judevine Center for Autism) |
| CE Instructor: Michael Weinberg, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: The assessment and treatment of autism spectrum disorders are becoming increasingly more relevant given the drastic increase in the diagnosis of the disorder. The following symposium will target some key issues in the assessment process that will lead the clinician to the implementation of more efficacious interventions. In addition to addressing key assessment issues, the symposium will also target the parenting aspect of effective autism interventions. Parent training is a crucial aspect of autism treatment that helps to facilitate generalization and maintenance of behavioral gains. This topic will be discussed in the context of competency based training and testing, as well as video and audio coaching strategies for parents of children with autism. The final talk in this symposium will detail a behavioral system for providing behavior analytic services in a public school system, discuss barriers to successful implementation, as well as show clear clinical improvements in individual students – when the organizational system is in sync with clinical goals. |
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| Assessing Preference for Attention in Children Diagnosed with Autism |
| JODI NUERNBERGER (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire), Cierra Ann Micke (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire), Kelly Paulson (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire), Carrie Haessly (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire), Kevin J Schlichenmeyer (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire), Matthew Newquist (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire), Kevin P. Klatt (University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire) |
| Abstract: The social skills of children with autism are an area of focus for most professionals working in this population. Some of the core deficits of children that are on the autism spectrum include a lack of spontaneous eye contact or joint attention skills. Children with autism will typically fail to seek out social attention or to share in social experiences with peers or family. The following project will assess the preferences that children with autism have as it relates to attention. Given some of the deficit areas of this disorder and how they impact the level of attention that is requested can be key determinants of tretament strategies for children that are on the spectrum. Issues with joint attention have been shown to be related to the intensity of the social skills deficits that some of these kids demonstrate. The manner in which attention is delivered and the types of attention were examined in this study. |
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| Competency Based Parent Training for Autism Spectrum Disorders |
| JOHN M. GUERCIO (Judevine Center for Autism), Melanie Mills (Judevine Center for Autism), Brooke Diane Walker (SIU Carbondale) |
| Abstract: The project will assess the effects of a 3-week staff/parent autism training program. The program is comprised of a series of workshops, videotaped modeling, and feedback geared towards successful intervention with individuals with an autism spectrum disorder. Each module of the training is accompanied by a competency based post test. Each trainee had to score at or above a pre-set criterion score in order to move on to the next module. The teaching skills of each of 3 parent dyads will be assessed via a multiple baseline design across parents. A variety of dependent measures will be used to assess treatment efficacy for the parent training package described above. The measures that will be used will include the frequency of specific contingency statements, correct implementation of reinforcement protocols, and the frequency of inappropriate responding observed across 20 minute therapy sessions. Results showed that each family dyad demonstrated an increase in appropriate teaching and therapeutic scales as well as decreases in subjective measures of stress and anxiety. |
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| Performance Management in Schools Serving Children with Autism |
| CHRISTINA A. WEISE (Southern Illinois University Carbondale), Mark R. Dixon (Southern Illinois University), Dawn J. Scheff (Southern Illinois University - Carbondale) |
| Abstract: Clinical interventions for children with autism have been highly successful over the past decade. Demand is increasing as well as the supply of BCBAs. Unfortunately, the organizational system that needs to adopt the newly developed behavioral programming is often far from adequate to support the increased work requirements of teachers and associated staff. This presentation will present a behavioral system for providing behavior analytic services in a public school system, discuss barriers to successful implementation, as well as show clear clinical improvements in individual students – when the organizational system is in sync with clinical goals. |
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