Association for Behavior Analysis International

The behavior technicians who work with persons with autism are the personnel on the front-line during intervention sessions in the Home-Based programs. The behavior technician must have a minimum theoretical knowledge for a well understanding of the program written by the behavior analyst - supervisor, he must have the capacity to record the data correctly with great accuracy for a good analysis of the results, he must have fluency in the necessary skills for the application of the programs and he must give maximum opportunities of learning for the person during his/her sessions. The quality of their training is one of the keys for an efficient application of programs developed by the behavior analyst - supervisor. We repeated the utilization of the Behavior Technician Training Program (BTTP), previously presented in Paris during the poster session of the international conference of ABAI in November 2017, to train our new staff. We used BTTP with two new technicians have not received any prior training. The results show that both technicians meet the criteria before the 150 hours of the program.

The training of behavior-technicians is a priority for ABA-based home-service delivery. If the acquisition of technical competencies and theoretical knowledge is important, their maintenance and their daily practical use have predominant importance. The supervision of behavior-technicians by the behavior analyst-supervisor is therefore essential. However, it’s necessary that the behavior analyst-supervisor be able to rely on a clear reference framework of observable and measurable behaviors to objectively measure the skill level of the behavior technician. To increase the frequency of behavior to occur in the future, it must be reinforced. That’s why it’s necessary to ensure the maintenance of the skills and the improvement of the behavior-technicians by facilitating the reinforcement of their competence by the behavior analyst-supervisor with appropriate and clear feedback. To reach this goal, we have developed a direct supervision curriculum. This curriculum was used with 2 behavior-technicians, who were trained by the Behavior Technician Training Program (BTTP), to maintain or increase their performances. This curriculum of supervision uses the same data collection as the BTTP. The results of the supervision curriculum show good maintenance or improvement of the competencies of the behavior technicians.

In France, applied behavior analysis is being taught very little at the universities, even though the best practice guidelines by the French National Authority for Health is recommending its use for the treatment of individuals with autism (HAS, 2012). In order to develop and maintain competency and motivation for direct staff in service agencies for these individuals, it is important to provide training and supervision. Usuually, this training is conducted by supervisors at the workplace. How can we offer a training programme that takes little time and is still effective? From this perspective, the Programme d’Amélioration des Compétences de Terrain (PACT) has been developed. The PACT is an individualized curriculum that optimizes the type of staff training being delivered. The aim is to not only offer structured training for improving quality of ABA-based treatment, but also to respond in an organized way to the issue of staff turnover. This poster presents the current state of development of the PACT, after its first year of implementation, at a center for specialized behavioral support for 14 children with autism on Reunion Island, France.

More than forty years of evidences establishes the behavior analytic approach to Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) as the strongest treatment for persons included in this spectrum. One of the key components for the continued offer of this treatment is to spread the accumulated knowledge of Behavior Analysis and offer opportunities for young undergraduates students to experience it firsthand. The Centro para Autismo e Inclusão Social (CAIS) at Universidade de São Paulo (USP) offers since 2007 a supervised and intensive theoretical and direct training to undergraduates and fresh graduates where they can experience firsthand behavior analytic procedures with this population. Collecting data, training in charting and writing a final report are included in the training. Postgraduate students are responsible for evaluation and planning of those activities. After tested for five years, this training has been included in the syllabus of the psychology graduation course as a formal discipline. Three measures are obtained: performance students in the theoretical classes, performance of the participants in practicum activities, and a behavioral product, the charted progress of the autistic children that undergo treatment at USP´s Social Clinic. The three measures show an increase of correct responses in the two groups (students and children).