| Abstract: The autism services community is increasingly challenged to define the value of services provided to children with autism and their families. The issue of how that value is defined and measured remains open. The question becomes whether the framework for outcomes for a child with autism should not be any different than those for all children: the capacity to succeed in the world on their own terms and participate – emotionally, socially, and economically – as active, members of family and community. While specific condition-based treatment targets may be critical goals of therapeutic interventions for individuals with autism, a parallel reference point for their impact on life-course outcomes will allow us to measure, and optimize, the personal, community, social, and economic value of such services. Measuring value in such a way will require us to look beyond ‘response to treatment’ for autism-related symptomatology and disability, and embrace more integrated, non-categorical metrics reflective of the impact of interventions on the child’s life-course development. In this presentation Dr. Merahn will present an established, validated “whole child” model of care planning and delivery and share a set of options for radically new frameworks for how we consider, measure, optimize, and value the impact of therapeutic interventions on children with autism and their families that have the potential to reset the conceptual foundation for the autism care community with regard to the of its efforts to support optimal life-course outcomes for children with autism and their families. At the conclusion of the session, participants should be able to 1. Define life course outcomes, list their 5 foundational elements, and differentiate between "response to treatment" and life-course outcomes for children with autism. 2. Describe key principles and components associated with potential life course outcome measures and their association with the value of behavioral analytic services to children with autism and their families. 3. Evaluate their organizational capacity to integrate a life-course outcomes perspective into their clinical operating model. |
| Abstract: Utilization of client outcome data enables practitioners to measure the efficacy of applied behavior analysis interventions in real time and allows for continuous monitoring of progress with the ability to adapt and refine interventions as needed. This study evaluated the effects of utilizing a client outcome data tool to measure regional performance of the number of learning opportunities presented per hour during client's sessions. A staff training package was then implemented to increase the frequency of learning trials presented per hour to children with autism across five service regions. The training package consisted of modeling in-vivo, goal setting, self-monitoring, performance checks, and utilization of the client outcome software platform to monitor treatment implementation, including the number of trials per hour. Initial results show a statistically significant increase from baseline in the average number of learning trials conducted per hour during client's sessions, across all 5 regions. Utilization of a client outcome data tool would provide a data-driven approach that empowers practitioners to provide more effective, efficient, and individualized ABA services while tracking the fidelity of treatment implementation. |