Association for Behavior Analysis International

This presentation describes teaching procedures that help children with autism learn to engage in the give and take of ordinary, daily conversation with parents, teachers, and peers. Our research on these intervention strategies began in 1993, and continues today. Scripts and script fading are not procedures for teaching children to speak, but procedures for teaching them to interact. These strategies help young people with autism learn the nonverbal components of conversation (approaching and visually attending to another person), as well as the verbal components (initiating conversation, waiting quietly while others talk, and then responding to what they say). We will discuss some of the factors that interfere with the acquisition of social-interaction skills and will show videotapes that illustrate scripts and script-fading procedures. The goal of these intervention strategies is to teach children to engage in real conversation with us.

Licensed Psychologists and/or Certified Behavior Analysis

The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) was developed over 20 years ago by Andy Bondy and Lori Frost. PECS was founded on the principles of applied behavior analysis, especially the analysis provided by BF Skinners work on Verbal Behavior. Early descriptive reports indicated that PECS was highly effective with young children with autism and related disabilities in rapidly establishing functional communication. Ongoing work with PECS has demonstrated its effectiveness with children and adults with a wide array of communication deficits. Research from around the world continues to document the success of this program in terms of the speed of acquisition, and its positive impact upon behavior management issues, social skills, and the development and expansion of speech. Reports from recent reviews and international conference presentations indicate that PECS is extremely popular and has very high social validity ratings from parents and professionals. This talk will outline the key elements of the PECS protocol, how it can best be implemented at school, home and in the community, and common mistakes that may undermine the utility of the system.

Licensed Psychologists and/or Certified Behavior Analysts

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 describe how educators/teachers and parents can work together to ensure that all students with ASD receive the high quality education to which they are entitled.

Licensed Psychologists and/or Certified Behavior Analysts

The number of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) has increased substantially and many students with ASD are general education classrooms. The transition to a less restrictive educational placement presents special challenges for students with ASD whose early learning experiences have consisted primarily of structured 1:1 teaching. Teachers need effective instruction that can be integrated into typical classroom routines and activities. In addition, landmark legislation (IDEA and NCLB) requires the use of instructional methods that are based on scientific research. Direct Instruction can provide a practical and effective option. Direct Instruction programs are scientifically-based but, more importantly, they are empirically-validated. More than 30 years of research has shown Direct Instruction to be effective in addressing the needs of students ranging from those with severe disabilities to those identified as gifted, suggesting that the principles underlying effective instruction are more important in the process of learning than the special characteristics of any particular student population. Direct Instruction programs are based on two overarching beliefs: All children can be taught and all teachers can be successful when given effective materials and presentation techniques. In this session, Dr. Watkins will discuss how Direct Instruction programs can address the unique needs of learners with ASD while supporting the acquisition of academic skills. The presentation will provide an overview of Direct Instruction, present video examples of instructional programs, and describe features of instructional design and delivery methods of DI programs that make them effective and efficient tools to teach children with autism spectrum disorders.

Licensed Psychologists and/or Certified Behavior Analysts

This presentation describes behavioral intervention programs that help adults with autism complete tasks in work, community, and residential settings. The presentation suggests that preparation for adulthood should begin in childhood, asserts that the curriculum should be as comprehensive and evaluation criteria as rigorous in programs for adults as in programs for children, and stresses the value of low client-teacher ratios. Our data suggest a number of skills that are key to adults successful transitions from education programs to supported employment and other community settings. These skills include remaining engaged without direct supervision, using delayed reward systems, completing assignments at criterion, following activity schedules, and exhibiting low levels of disruptive behavior. Discussion of keys skills will be supplemented by videotapes.

Licensed Psychologists and/or Certified Behavior Analysts

Evidence-based practice has become a popular buzz-phrase recently. Several groups have developed autism practice guidelines that are described as evidence-based, and that phrase is being used to market many interventions. Some laws and policies even mandate that practices be evidence-based. This would seem to be a good thing for behavior analysts and consumers of ABA services. But is it? Although evidence-based practice originally referred to practices that have proved effective in scientific studies, developers of some autism practice guidelines have defined evidence to include information that is not scientific at all. A number of others have defined science in a way that excluded most behavior analytic research. And some interventions that are being promoted as evidence-based have not been tested directly in anything resembling scientific studies. In light of these multiple, confusing usages, how are parents and practitioners to know whether they can have confidence in recommendations that are said to be evidence-based? Which of the many autism practice guidelines are grounded in real science? Why has the science of behavior analysis been ignored by so many guidelines developers, and what can be done about that? What is the best available scientific evidence about various interventions for autism? This presentation offers some answers to these questions, and some suggestions for using genuine scientific evidence to improve the practice of behavior analysis.

Licensed Psychologists and/or Certified Behavior Analysts

Two of the major defining characteristics of an autism spectrum disorder are qualitative impairments in language and in social interaction. Behavioral teaching strategies have been documented to be effective in helping children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder to develop many critical skills. There is a considerable amount of information available regarding a variety of issues related to the selection of learning objectives and specific strategies to teach skills. However, parents and professionals often find it difficult to motivate a child to participate in learning activities to acquire those skills, to initiate social interactions, and to spontaneously use the skills in their everyday activities and interactions. Some of the most important concerns of those who interact with these children relate to the motivation to participate in learning activities and spontaneously use newly acquired skills outside of specific training sessions. Parents and professionals must address issues involving the evaluation and development of effective social reinforcers that will directly impact the motivation of the child to spontaneously interact with others. Why should a child want to participate in learning activities, to interact with us, or to tell us about something important to them? Answers to these questions are related to the issue of effective reinforcement. There are multiple sources of reinforcers readily available to children, many of which do not require their interaction with others, and can often be obtained with very little effort on the childs part. This presentation will provide an analysis of motivational factors that are involved in both structured teaching sessions and in everyday activities. Methods will be presented to help identify and capture effective motivational factors that influence the childs willingness to participation in structured learning sessions and lead to the child running to rather than running from those who are involved in instruction. Techniques for helping to create motivational conditions that will lead to increased spontaneous language and other social interactions will be reviewed. Additionally, methods will be presented to help praise, smiles and other subtle forms of social feedback from parents and instructors acquire reinforcing properties.

Licensed Psychologists and/or Certified Behavior Analysts

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of instructional techniques for teaching students with autism. Even within ABA, there are many different instructional approaches which can be used effectively to teach skills to students. Educators and parents can be confused with the array of options, and can have difficulty deciding on which approach to use in a given educational context. This presentation will summarize different ABA approaches for teaching skills, and will highlight the potential relevance and utility of each approach. Specifically, well-documented methods which will be covered include discrete trial instruction, incidental teaching, and other naturalistic strategies. In addition, some promising directions which have become clinically prevalent in recent years will also be discussed, including the use of the Verbal Behavior classification system and rate-building to achieve fluency. The presentation will highlight the unique applications and specific advantages of each approach. It will also summarize how the use of multiple methods of instruction results in a more comprehensive program, thereby meeting the needs of learners in more complete and efficient ways.

Licensed Psychologists and/or Certified Behavior Analysts

Treatment outcome research consistently shows a great deal of variability in outcome for children receiving even the best of behavioral interventions. What is needed is a methodology for identifying which behavioral intervention would lead to the best outcome for a specific child. Thus how do we tailor our treatments to the needs of the individual child? Given the importance of early intervention, how can we make sure we choose the best treatment initially in order to take advantage of this early window of opportunity? This presentation will describe recent research looking at specific child characteristics that may suggest particular treatment strategies.

Licensed Psychologists and/or Certified Behavior Analysts