Association for Behavior Analysis International

The effectiveness of behavior support has been demonstrated across school, home and community settings. However, challenges often arise in the delivery of behavioral services that may negatively impact the effectiveness of treatment. Consistent implementation of behavior support strategies is a vital component of successful treatment outcomes and influences the effectiveness of the treatment (Allen & Warzak, 2000). In home and community settings, typically behavior analysts train parents with the expectation that parents are primarily responsible for implementing interventions. In many cases however, parents may be experiencing circumstances that function as impediments to successful implementation (Stocco & Thompson, 2015). Behavior analysts may have little influence in mitigating these circumstances but can work with parent training and support groups to address these barriers (Allen & Warzak, 2000). Behavior support literature indicates that collaboration between families and practitioners can result in successful treatment outcomes as well as improvements in quality of life for families (Lucyshyn, Blumberg & Kayser, 2000). This panel will discuss parent and practitioner accounts of challenges that often arise in behavioral service delivery and how these issues may be addressed in home and community settings through collaboration of behavior analysts and parent training and support organizations.