Association for Behavior Analysis International

Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (e.g., autism) require more visits to the emergency department than neurotypical children. This, in part, is due to the escalation of challenging behavior to crisis state and higher rates of co-occurring medical conditions. Challenging behavior also makes providing preventative and routine medical care difficult, often resulting in longer lengths of stay and more invasive forms of medical care (e.g., restraint or inpatient hospitalization) for procedures that typically are completed in less-restrictive settings. The invited panelists will present their perspectives on the application of behavior analysis and patient-centered care in hospital settings. Considerations for establishing care models for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities and challenging behavior will be discussed.

Advanced; necessary requisite skills and companies for attendees to gain the most from the panel discussion included (a) completion of graduate-level work focusing on applied behavior analysis, (b) licensure and credentials as someone able to legally and ethically provide behavior-analytic services, (c) some experience beyond graduate school working in the healthcare setting.