Association for Behavior Analysis International

Many people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) receive one or more prescription medications that are intended to somehow improve their behavior. Such medications are termed "psychotropic" drugs. Two such drugs, risperidone (Risperdal) and aripiprazole (Abilify), are approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for treating "irritability" in children and adolescents with ASD. "Irritability" refers to the occurrence of temper tantrums, self-injury, and other forms of challenging behavior. Many other psychotropic drugs are also commonly given to people with ASD. This paper will provide information about the prevalence of psychotropic medication use in people with ASD, the kinds of drug used, the evidence for their effectiveness, and considerations and strategies for practitioners of clients receiving multiple services.

Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder that affects many areas of a child's life. Therefore, an effective intervention program must be individualized to address the skill deficits and behavioral excesses in treatment setting, school, home, and community. Frequently, several well-documented instructional strategies must be simultaneously employed to teach children how to learn. This presentation defines Institute for Child Development (IWRD) model of supervision in special school in Poland to achieve positive outcomes for children and teenagers with autism. IWRD is the first and the only Institution in Poland, which is fully modeled on the treatment of Princeton Child Development Institute, USA. The mission of IWRD is to provide comprehensive assistance to children with autism to help them achieve the highest possible level of independence. Special school in Poland supervised by IWRD provides the education and care of mentally disabled children; and youth with multiple disabilities and autism. At primary level, there are five classes for children and teenagers with autism. Since February 2011, school has been under the supervision of the Institute for Child Development. During the presentation we will present scientifically proven techniques of applied behavior analysis used for developing new skills, independence and reducing unwanted behaviors. We will present the organization of work in a two-triple classes for children with autism. During the lecture we will present the footage showing the children's functioning before and after the introduction of effective learning techniques.

Effective and efficient parent training is essential to meet to the increased demands for treatment services for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but research comparing the effectiveness of different formats of parent training is limited. The present study investigated the effectiveness of group versus individual parent training in PRT on parent-created opportunities and children's self-initiations. Collateral changes in parental stress and children's maladaptive behaviors were also explored. Participants were 12 parents and 12 children with ASD between 3 and 14 years old. Data were collected within two multiple baseline designs across participants. Six parents participated in group PRT-training and six parents participated in individual PRT-training. Both group and individual parent training consisted of instruction in PRT-techniques, practice and video-feedback, but individual parent training also included guided practice. Preliminary results of four parents and children participating in individual parent training showed that all parents created significantly more opportunities during intervention (overall Tau = 0.87; 90%-CI = 0.61-1.13; p < 0.001) and for two children self-initiations increased significantly (overall Tau = 0.51; 90%-CI = 0.21-0.81; p = 0.006). Changes in collateral skills did hardly occur. More results will be presented and practical implications will be discussed.

Drowning is one of the leading causes of death in children under five years of age (Asher, Rivara , Felix, Vance, & Dunne, 1995). It is the third most common cause of accidental death in children in Britain, after road traffic accidents and burns (OPCS, 1988). The mortality rate from drowning for children with ASD has been estimated to be as much as twice that of the typical population (Mouridsen, Bronnum-Hansen, Rich, & Isager, 2008). The present study investigated the impact of a eight-week instructional programme on the acquisition of behavioural water safety skills in young people with autism. A multiple-baseline design (Horner & Baer, 1978) across behaviours was employed to determine the effectiveness of ABA-based methods to teach water-based safety skills. This doctoral study comprised of three phases and included six participants with varying presentations of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Example results for participant A are included. The results of this study showed that, by applying behaviour analytic methods children with autism can be taught critical water safety skills.