Association for Behavior Analysis International

Autism intervention staff training has been the focus of numerous publications in the applied behavior analytic literature. Although recent publications have focused on behavior skills training (cf., Parsons et al., 2012), the work of Mont Wolf and his colleagues (Wolf et al.,1995) was seminal in articulating the steps of a teaching interaction found to be effective for working with adjudicated youth. ASAI agency members have been operating from the elements of those teaching interactions (cf., McClannahan et al.,1982; Leaf et al., 2015) for decades, teaching staff at all levels to use them with colleagues to celebrate praiseworthy performances and to instruct on performances which need to be different. Despite the uniform agreement of the value of these interactions, no data to date have been published that quantify the use of these procedures nor have there been demonstrations of a functional relationship between them and staff performance. This paper will present 6 months of data from the five international ASAI members displaying the use of these dimensions while providing hands-on training to teachers employed at ASAI member agencies. The data will be discussed in terms of its generality to educating autism interventionists and future research questions in need of answers.

The science-based autism intervention model used by the Alliance for Scientific Autism Intervention (ASAI) agencies , originally developed by Drs. McClannahan and Krantz, has a number of advantages in establishing skillful clinical and professional repertoires. The model includes not only didactic teaching but also hands-on training, both of which are necessary to establish the highest quality professional and clinical skills in those instructing individuals with autism. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the Institute for Child Development’s (IWRD) model of training and supervision in IWRD-Recommended Institutions throughout Poland to achieve positive outcomes for children and teenagers with autism. The systematic supervision and training model provided by IWRD specialists is used to develop skills of clinicians in various agencies to use effective, science-based teaching techniques; data collection tools, and individualized motivational systems. The training model also helps staff to involve families in the educational process and teaches program leadership to conduct professional evaluations annually for all therapists. Data will be presented across a 7-year period from all IWRD-Recommended centers documenting the number of children in therapy, educational programs, supervision hours, and evaluations conducted (with average evaluation scores).