Association for Behavior Analysis International

Using the basis of Practical Functional Assessment and Skills Based Treatment, modifications were made in order to meet the individualized needs of the subjects. Subjects were chosen based on significant rates of problem behavior including aggression, property destruction and screaming. For one subject the modifications included the use and fading of edibles as well as the conditioning of non-edible reinforcement. For the other subject the modifications included the use and exchange of money. Both modifications proved successful in promoting the acquisition of acceptance of denial and delay. In order to demonstrate generality and effectiveness of Skills Based Treatment, the setting for each subject differed. One subject attended clinic-based sessions while the other subject was taught in a self-contained classroom setting. Acquisition occurred both when taught in small blocks of 2 to 3 hours and when taught across an entire school day. The data demonstrates that as acceptance of delay and denial is learned, problem behaviors decrease to socially significant levels. Additionally, functional communication skills were acquired and generalized across people and settings.

One in 691 children born in the US have Down syndrome, the most common chromosomal abnormality and leading cause of intellectual disability. Impairment in exploratory motor behaviors (such as reaching and grasping a play object) is a known component of the Down syndrome phenotype and is generally attributed to more generalized motor delays as well as associated hypotonia (Bauer & Jones, 2014). Exploratory motor behaviors are considered a “pivotal skill” in early development, which, when improved, may provide opportunities for increased development of other skills in infancy and early childhood. In 2014, researchers Bauer and Jones published a paper calling for increased behavioral intervention on exploratory motor behaviors (EMB) for infants with Down syndrome; however, to date, no research has been published exploring the efficacy of a behavioral intervention to increasing these critical skills. The purpose of this study was two-fold. First, we investigated the extent to which parents of infants with Down syndrome (ages 5-9 months) were able to use a behavioral intervention as a means for increasing and improving their infants EMBs following telehealth training (BST) and coaching. Second, we examined the efficacy of the parent-implemented play-based ABA method for improving EMBs for the infants. Follow up & generalization are described.

Individuals who have limited communication skills often use maladaptive behavior to communicate. In the past 40 years, we have used functional communication to teach individuals a replacement behavior to reduce the challenging behavior. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Systems help individuals with limited communication skills use functional communication. One of these communication systems is Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). A system designed for children with a diagnosis of autism, PECs has been empirically supported for use with this population. However, as the field of applied behavior analysis grows, PECS has been utilized with many other diagnostic populations. However, the research that involves other diagnostic populations outside of autism is limited. The purpose of the current systematic literature was to summarize PECs treatment outcomes for participants who carried a diagnosis outside of autism. The most common treatment outcome was the acquisition of PECS, which most of the participants acquired. Other treatment outcomes were maintenance, acquisition of other language or spontaneous vocalizations, generalization, preference for AAC systems, acquisition compared to other AAC systems, and effect on challenging behavior. However, many of the other treatment outcomes had limited participants to determine the overall effectiveness of these treatment outcomes on populations outside of autism.