Association for Behavior Analysis International

Children with pediatric feeding disorders are unable or refuse to consume a sufficient volume or variety of food to meet their nutritional needs. In some cases, children with feeding disorders are selective by variety or texture. In others, they refuse food entirely and may be gastrostomy-tube or liquid dependent. There is a great deal of empirical support for the behavior analytic treatment of pediatric feeding disorders, and the demand for these types of services is quite high. Thus, there is a need for incoming behavior analysts to become involved in this growing field. Panelists will discuss their current positions in the field of pediatric feeding disorders as well as past positions they have held and their pathways to getting to where they are now. Additionally, panelists may discuss previous or current research projects with which they have been involved related to the topic of the behavior analytic treatment of feeding disorders. Following this, opportunities to ask questions and further discuss career options within the field of pediatric feeding disorders will be provided.

Interventions in the clinical setting have been established as an effective means for treating challenging behaviors and increasing skill acquisition, however, truly effective interventions equate to comprehensive interventions. For an intervention to be comprehensive, the target behavior must be addressed across a variety of stimuli, one of the most important of these being the school setting. The school setting has proven itself to be one of the more difficult in which to transition, being problematic even for well-practiced behavior analysts. Poor learning history with schools have led toward an apprehensiveness across professionals with regard to collaboration. The combination of apprehension and poor learning history often leads to ineffective school-based treatment, wherein the client and their development suffer. Beyond basic apprehension, taking the school on as a client opens up a whole series of ethical considerations that, if left unaddressed, can leave a well-meaning behavior analyst unknowingly at risk. This presentation will cover strategies to ensure the most ethical and effective school-based practice, while addressing potential strategies to correcting the poor learning history.

The field of Behavior Analysis has grown and diversified over the last 60 years in both its basic and applied approach. As the field continues to grow, the expansion of the current scope of practice becomes increasingly relevant for the continued evolution of the field. Interdisciplinary collaboration and diversification of practice, as well as, research has become a distinctly important topic of discussion for the field. Research and practice across standard disciplinary bounds has begun to emerge, especially between behavior analysis and medicine. Despite the initial emergence of this collaborative approach it remains an area largely uncharted and often difficult to break into, particularly for graduate students. This panel will discuss various steps the field can take to expand the scope of practice between behavior analysis and medicine, as well as, describe some of the available avenues of research and application that are currently emerging through the cross disciplinary work of behavior analysis and the medical field. The Panelists: Dr. Keith Allen, Dr. Alison Cox, and Dr. Manish Vaidya will discuss the various projects they are involved in and how these areas expand the scope of practice for behavior analysts and promote cross disciplinary work.

Behavior analysts often discuss the need to disseminate our science. How do we effectively disseminate the science of behavior analysis? Should we maintain our precise language or utilize language that would be better consumed by the audience that we are interacting with? How do we set the occasion for interacting with other professionals such that we can initiate conversations regarding behavior analysis and the partnerships that we could create? This panel discussion is designed to address these issues and provide examples and non-examples of successful dissemination. Our panelists will give their perspectives on these questions, provide examples of their successful dissemination efforts, as well as explain barriers they have faced in their attempts to disseminate.

Organizational Behavior Management (OBM), in short, is the science of improving people's lives in the workplace. Many students become interested in practicing OBM, but where does one start? The intention of this Professional Development Series (PDS) panel is to provide students with an introduction to applications of Organizational Behavior Management, emphasizing that gaining experience in OBM does not mean one must become a consultant or make a huge career change, but that it can (and should!) be done �inside�: inside current ABA organizations and programs! Two case studies will be the focus of this panel: one highlighting the use of OBM in clinical settings, and the other on using OBM in schools.