|
| Keep Calm and Carry On: Teaching Toleration of Non-Preferred Activities/Items to Individuals With Autism |
| Friday, May 27, 2016 |
| 4:00 PM–7:00 PM |
| Columbus Hall EF, Hyatt Regency, Gold East |
| Area: AUT/EDC; Domain: Service Delivery |
| CE Instructor: Nicole Pearson, Psy.D. |
| NICOLE PEARSON (NYC Autism Charter School), JENNIFER JAYE (NYC Autism Charter School), REBECCA WELLS (New York Center for Autism Charter School), LEIGH COOPER (NYC Autism Charter School) |
| Description: Many individuals with autism exhibit challenging behavior when confronted with non-preferred items or activities. While behavior intervention plans are often put in place to decrease maladaptive behavior, much more can be done through targeted programming to offset the likelihood of challenging behavior occurring in these instances. Specifically, programming to increase the toleration of non-preferred activities and items will increase appropriate responses and potentially establish a generalized repertoire of appropriate alternative responses and self-regulation skills that can be used in other non-preferred scenarios. This workshop will enable participants to develop, plan, and implement effective, evidence-based skill acquisition programming to increase the toleration of non-preferred activities and items in individuals with autism. Through an analysis of toleration programming components and case studies, participants will learn how to identify and break down goals into successive steps and how to shape toleration. This workshop will review the types of skills that can be targeted (e.g., eating a variety of foods, tolerating medical exams, tolerating wearing an ID bracelet), and allow participants to apply what they’ve learned through interactive, small group activities. Because programming can occur in school, home, and/or community settings, participants will also learn best practices and implementation procedures for working collaboratively with families/caregivers. |
| Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the workshop, the participant will be able to: (1) describe how the principles of shaping apply to instruction to teach students with autism how to maintain appropriate behavior in the presence of nonpreferred activities and/or stimuli; (2) list components of effective teaching strategies to teach individuals with autism to maintain appropriate behavior around specific activities (e.g., birthday parties) and/or stimuli (e.g., automatic toilet flushing signals); (3) design a program that includes teaching procedures, plans for systematic fading of teaching procedures and/or reinforcement, data collection options and generalization to a novel setting for at least one activity or stimulus (e.g., getting a haircut); (4) use information about programming for effective home/school collaboration and parent training best practices to apply teaching strategies to home/community environments. |
| Activities: Workshop objectives will be met through a balanced presentation of lecture, guided practice, video demonstrations, and small group activities which will then be discussed with the larger group. Specific small group activities to include: each group will select a target skill from a list of potential targets (e.g., getting a shot, tolerating an ID bracelet, eating a new food) and create a de-sensitization procedure from start to finish; discuss data collection options and include strategies for generalization, fading, and parent training; problem solving a case study scenario; identifying alternatives/modifications that can be used if teaching to toleration is not an option. |
| Audience: The intended audience includes BCBAs and related providers currently providing behavior analytic services in home, school, and/or community settings; teachers/administrators; parents of individuals with autism. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Intermediate |
| Keyword(s): autism education, desensitization, parent training, toleration programming |