Association for Behavior Analysis International

Considerable research has demonstrated the utility of various behavioral training strategies (e.g., behavioral skills training, interactive computerized training) to teach individuals to perform a variety of novel skills; however, there is relatively less research on training parents and school staff to perform novel skills, collect data, and analyze results – and even less so when the training is conducted remotely. This symposium includes four diverse empirical papers that explore the application of behavior analysis to teach a variety of skills to parents at home and staff members in school-settings, both remotely and in-person. Alami and Zonneveld will present a study evaluating the effects of a telehealth behavioral skills training package to teach parents to implement a behavioral feeding treatment at home to increase their children’s consumption of low-preferred foods. Jones and colleagues will present a study evaluating the effects of a remote behavioral skills training package on training special educators to conduct a multiple stimulus without replacement preference assessment, collect and analyze the data, and implement the results in brief teaching sessions. Nichols and colleagues will present a study evaluating the necessary and sufficient components of a previously validated interactive computerized training package for staff. Finally, Silva and colleagues will present a study evaluating the effects of a behavioral skills training package to train school personnel to implement a behavioral feeding treatment for three students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The results of each will be discussed within the context of limitations and implications for future research and clinical applications.

Attendees should have a familiarity of behavior analytic terminology and an understanding of single-subject experimental research designs.

The demand for Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) increased by 1,942% from 2010 to 2018, and the number of newly credentialed BCBAs is closely tracking that trend. Training and supervising professionals in the implementation of behavior-analytic interventions is a significant part of a BCBA’s job description. Interactive computerized training (ICT) is a staff training package that consists of instructions, modeling, interactive activities, and feedback and has been successful in training multiple behavior analytic techniques. The multiple components included in these training packages can make the creation of new training programs labor intensive. However, the dissemination and replicability of these training packages can be beneficial for both trainers and trainees. Thus, in this study, we conducted a component analysis of the different instructional components that make up the ICT package in an effort to determine which training components were most critical to the success of a previously validated ICT. Two undergraduate students were taught to how to implement and teach activity schedules with an adult confederate. Video training alone was unsuccessful for both participants. While one participant was successful with the complete ICT alone, the other participant required verbal feedback to meet criterion.

Behavioral interventions, including escape extinction and differential reinforcement, have shown to be effective interventions in treating feeding challenges in pediatric populations. Schools present a promising setting for treating feeding difficulties due to the large number of students served daily. However, limited research exists examining the implementation of behavioral feeding interventions in schools. Further, it is unclear to the extent that special educators and school-based clinicians have been trained to implement behavioral feeding interventions in school settings. In this study, we used behavioral skills training (BST) to train school personnel to implement a behavioral feeding treatment package for three students diagnosed with autism. All students presented with challenging mealtime behavior and a limited food repertoire prior to starting the treatment. The treatment package incorporated non-removal of the spoon, bolus-fading, and differential reinforcement. Results indicate the treatment package was highly effective in increasing acceptance of non-preferred foods and that BST was an effective approach in training school personnel to implement a behavioral feeding treatment package in a school setting.