Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that can cause significant social, nonverbal communication and behavioral challenges. There is often nothing about how people with ASD look that sets them apart from other people. They may, however, communicate, interact, behave, and learn in ways that are different from most other people. Because there is no definitive medical test, diagnosing ASD can be difficult. Research has shown that intervention can improve a child’s overall development and the earlier it occurs, the more effective it may be. In this symposium, we introduce a diagnostic tool designed to improve a very early diagnosis of autism. The tool is informed by extensive research on the Model of Hierarchical Complexity, a behavioral developmental model of tasks. The Model allows for the scaling of behaviors, tasks, reinforcers, stimuli, etc. in terms of their Hierarchical Complexity, a form of difficulty. This kind of scaling explains developmental sequences. The symposium first describes the Behavioral Developmental Autism Instrument, including how it was devised and comparing it to other assessments. The second paper illustrates how the Model of Hierarchical Complexity can be used to generate a developmental sequence of reinforcers. The third paper applies the model to curriculum development.
Target Audience: People who are interested in knowing how the interventions work for instance when to know where to stop, which behavioral developmental stage to intervene at and what behavioral stage the child is functioning.
Learning Objectives: People who are interested in learning about how to develop an intervention based out of teaching curricula, developing the level of difficulty for a behavioral developmental task and understand at what level the interventions are appropriate.