Association for Behavior Analysis International

Public education is the one great entitlement that is designed to help every citizen in the United States achieve their potential. For students with disabilities, including students with ASD, the right to a free, appropriate public education (FAPE) is further guaranteed by federal law. There remains, however, much debate over what constitutes FAPE for students with ASD and even if these services can be provided in the context of public schools. The purpose of this presentation is to review the research on what constitutes a high-quality preschool and elementary school program for students with ASD and to describe how behavior analysts can work with public schools to insure that all students with ASD receive the high-quality education to which they are entitled.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (hereafter IDEIA) places increasing pressure on teachers of students with disabilities to improve student outcomes. Two ways in which the law accomplishes this is by (a) requiring individual education program (IEP) teams to identify and use evidence-based interventions (called peer-reviewed research in the law) in developing students special education programs, and (b) requiring that teachers collect and use data to monitor students progress in their programs. The objectives of this session are to (a) provide an overview of the IDEIAs requirement regarding evidence-based interventions and progress monitoring; (b) explain how this requirement will change the ways in which teachers will be required to educate students in special education and that parents will work in IEP teams; and (c) describe a process for ensuring that students receive scientifically validated treatments and that teachers collect formative data to monitor student progress. Additionally, the session will include a question and answer period to address other legislative and litigative issues in the education of students with autism.

This session will summarize the evidence-based transition strategies identified by a comprehensive literature review conducted by the National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center. Examples of applying strategies related to student-focused planning, student skill development, interagency collaboration, family involvement, and program structure with students with autism and other developmental disabilities and their families will be described.

Children and youth with Asperger Syndrome have dramatically increased over the past decade. These individuals are significantly taxing the skills and resources of parents, school personnel, and other service providers, at least in part because of significant lack of understanding of the disorder and those strategies and methods that have proven most effective in producing desired outcomes. Related to their unique characteristics and needs, the success of individuals with Asperger Syndrome requires use of scientifically-based and specially designed methods. This session will focus on an analysis of issues and effective practices and strategies for educating, managing, and supporting learners with autism related disabilities, including identification, diagnostic, curricular, policy, and programmatic issues; management, structuring and support measures; academic and learning facilitation strategies; and social interaction and social skill enhancement methods.

The New England Center for Children is a private, nonprofit autism education center that offers state-of-the-art skill education and clinical programs for more than 300 children diagnosed with autism and other related disorders. In 2005, NECC was the recipient of the SABA Award for Enduring Programmatic Contributions to Behavior Analysis. We are committed towards sharing our expertise regarding autism intervention with others by conducting empirically-validated assessment and treatment, publishing in leading journals, and presenting at regional and national conferences. In providing services to individuals with autism for over 30 years, we have developed a substantial curriculum of teaching procedures that have been rigorously refined and replicated in 15 partner classrooms in local public schools. We are currently conducting research in a variety of areas that may further our understanding of how to best approach behavioral correlates of autism, including teaching techniques for children with severe learning problems, managing challenging behavior, and early intervention practices. In this presentation, we will focus on some areas of autism research that could make a significant impact including increasing appropriate play skills using video modeling, teaching social skills, and decreasing problem behavior using function-based interventions, obviating the need for aversive control techniques.

April 2005 marked May Institutes 50th year of providing comprehensive services to children and adults with Autism. A national organization, with centers from Maine to Florida and Massachusetts to California, May Institute has been at the forefront of providing applied behavior analysis to over 26,000 individuals to individuals with autism, brain injury, developmental disabilities, and behavioral health needs annually at nearly 200 service locations in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest, and the West Coast. Mays staff of over 2000 includes more than 40 licensed and credentialed doctoral-level behavioral professionals and an additional 50 staff with BCBA and BCABA certification. Perhaps the most enduring contribution to the field made by May Institute is that it has been instrumental in bringing behavior analysis into the public domain to bridge the gap that might otherwise exist between a research-based methodology and the mainstream application of that methodology; between internally validated procedures and externally validated standards of practice; and between a demand for behavioral services and the development of mechanisms for funding them. This presentation will highlight May Institutes comprehensive autism services, including 6 private schools, a nationwide network of home and school based services, adult living and vocational services, and a program of applied research, competency-based training, peer review, and professional development which has been the standard of practice at May over the last 25 years.