Association for Behavior Analysis International

Children with neurodevelopmental disabilities are twice as likely to be admitted to the hospital and almost three times as likely to have multiple admissions to the emergency department compared to their neurotypical peers. Many children with neurodevelopmental disabilities also engage in behavior that poses a risk of harm to themselves or others and impedes their access to medical care—both contribute to lengthy inpatient admissions. The effects of improperly managing such behavior in the hospital can be extensive. Staff encounter higher rates of injury and greater levels of stress. Hospitals experience large financial deficits. Caregivers report decreased satisfaction in services with continued delays to their child accessing medical care. The invited panelists will share their perspectives on overcoming the barriers to serving these patients by presenting avenues for navigating the hospital system. The discussion generally will entail training and supervising staff, accounting for various stakeholders’ needs, and identifying tactics to disseminate the importance of science.

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.