Association for Behavior Analysis International

In 2010, the United States published 740 more articles about autism than any other country. This demonstrates the gross disparity between research completed primarily inside the US and in all other parts of the world. While there are many challenges related to completing behavior analytic research internationally, it is still very important to contribute global perspectives in the field. Particularly, it is crucial that under-developed and under-resourced countries are represented, as it is our obligation to disseminate behavior analysis where it is needed most. International research is critical to helping us understand how to effectively and sensitively do this. This presentation will discuss the challenges of international, collaborative research relating to autism and applied behavior analysis, including single-subject design, group design, and qualitative research. Specifically, this presentation will discuss ongoing research collaboration efforts in Indonesia, India, Kenya, Peru, and the Dominican Republic.

This presentation will discuss and analyze the efficacy of distance supervision practice using Skype with individuals all over the world. The Global Autism Project uses distance supervision with a number of international partners and supervisees. This supervision includes both BCBA supervision and non-BCBA supervision related to developing administrative and clinical practices at autism centers in other countries. The Global Autism Project is developing and implementing data collection procedures to analyze the differences and similarities in concerns raised during supervision between countries and cultures. Additionally, this research investigates characteristics of international partnerships that are correlated with successful development of ABA centers and successful progression toward BCBA certification. This presentation will share preliminary data results and implications regarding international distance supervision. This presentation will also discuss successful distance supervision strategies, common international distance supervision pitfalls and how to avoid them, and how to set up successful international supervision partnerships from the beginning.

This presentation given by the clinical director of Autism Care Indonesia will discuss an on-going research study regarding using telehealth to conduct functional analyses (FA). This research study investigates the feasibility of using telehealth protocols (Wacker, et al., 2012) to conduct functional analyses of problem behavior in an autism center in Indonesia. Using a previously effective methodology, this study uses distance coaching to assist a clinical director at a center in Jakarta, Indonesia, to conduct functional analyses of problem behavior. This study not only allows for reliable completion of FA for individual students, but also provides training in this methodology to the clinical director. This presentation will provide a review of the literature related to telehealth FA, a review of the research methodology, a review of preliminary data, and discussion of conclusions and implications. This presentation will discuss how to establish the telehealth protocols, some benefits of using telehealth to conduct FA, and some challenges and how to resolve them. This presentation provides a unique perspective of the specific ethical considerations, challenges, and benefits of conducting an international research protocol using telehealth.

This presentation will discuss the development process of a program evaluation tool for evaluating international autism centers. Currently, there is not an available program evaluation tool that sufficiently meets the administrative and clinical needs of autism centers in countries outside the United States. The themes identified in current program evaluation tools are often not culturally relevant to the development of autism centers in other countries, particularly developing countries. The Global Autism Project is in the process of validating a program evaluation tool used to measure progress in development of autism centers outside the United States. This program evaluation tool includes the following seven domains: Clinical Services (CS), Center Facilities (Ce), Administrative (Ad), Funding (F), Human Resources (HR), Outreach (O), and Awareness (Aw). This presentation will discuss the development of these domains and why they are important for assessing progress in international service delivery, in addition to the challenges and ethics of measuring progress in international partnerships.