Association for Behavior Analysis International

This presentation will address the question of effective practices for the treatment of individuals with autism spectrum disorder, from both an epistemological and a therapeutic perspective, and suggest the importance of a synthesis of two paradigms—behavior analysis and general systems theory—as a means of optimizing our assessment of the needs and the services provided to people with disabilities. Despite the development and the use of a wide array of behavior analytic practices that help all children with ASD to reach their full potential, a question that remains under-researched has to do with the effort expected from the child and his/her family and whether this effort can be somehow lessened without compromising the benefits. The answer to that question led to investigating the properties of another epistemological paradigm—general systems theory—its merits, its compatibility, and its complementarity to the discipline of behavior analysis. This presentation aims to demonstrate that the two paradigms are compatible and complementary and that their combination may lead to optimizing the therapeutic and pedagogical outcomes of behavior analytic practices. If we are to adapt a systemic perspective, according to which the joining of two or more systems leads to an outcome that exceeds by far the additive effects of those systems, it will be interesting to assess the potential emergent benefits of the synthesis of two compatible and complementary epistemological paradigms and how those translate into therapeutic outcomes.

Researchers and therapists in the field of autism spectrum disorder.

Functional communication training (FCT) has strong empirical support for its use when treating socially reinforced problem behavior. However, treatment effects often deteriorate when FCT procedures are challenged, leading to the recurrence of problem behavior, decreased use of the functional communication response, or both. Recent prevalence estimates suggest that treatment relapse is common in the clinic. Researchers have accordingly described a number of strategies for improving the long-term effectiveness of differential-reinforcement-based procedures (e.g., FCT), and quantitative theories of relapse (i.e., Behavioral Momentum Theory, Resurgence as Choice) provide falsifiable predications regarding modifications for mitigating treatment relapse. In this presentation, I share recent research on the prevalence of treatment relapse during routine, clinical service delivery and discuss our work on applying quantitative models of relapse to improve treatment durability. Future steps for advancing promising relapse-mitigations strategies will also be discussed, as will clinical considerations that limit the practicality of otherwise effective mitigation procedures.

BCBAs, applied and basic researchers

The rapid growth in computer technology means that nearly anything imaginable is either possible or will soon become possible. Behavior analysts, as specialists in learning and behavior, are uniquely trained to become strong collaborators on multidisciplinary teams focusing on projects to advance machine learning, simulation-based experiences, and much more. In this tutorial, I will discuss how we currently leverage such technology in my lab and integrate robotics, virtual reality (VR), and artificial intelligence (AI) in our behavior analytic research. I will share the outcomes of some of our current research projects as well as my collaborative efforts on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) grants.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

This study used independent ABAB withdrawal designs to determine whether BPT increased parent fidelity of implementation of function-based intervention which then resulted in decreasing rates of child challenging behavior while increasing rates of appropriate replacement behavior. Four participants aged 8-17 were included in the study with their parents serving as interventionists. The routines of concern were mealtime, toothbrushing, and room cleaning with various topographies of challenging behavior impacting the quality of these family routines. Each parent achieved high treatment fidelity with one session of BPT and bug-in-ear coaching. Three participants had an immediate decrease in challenging behavior upon the introduction of the intervention. Three participants showed reliable reversals to their challenging behavior with the withdrawal of the intervention and corresponding decreases in challenging behavior when the intervention was reintroduced. All parents reported high acceptability, ease of use, and contextual fit pre- and post-intervention. Results and implications for practice and future research were discussed.

Staff turnover can pose a significant problem for human service organizations. For Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) service providers, turnover may be particularly problematic due to the resources required for training. Accreditation organizations such as the Behavioral Health Center for Excellence® (BHCOE®) collect large amounts of organizational data that can point to trends in ABA organizations and provide a basis for problem identification and intervention. In this study, we evaluated BHCOE® data to examine potential predictors of staff turnover as well as staff and caregiver satisfaction in ABA organizations. Results of multiple regression analyses suggest that high rates of turnover among job classes (i.e., technicians and supervisors) correlate with each other’s turnover. Behavior Technicians are also more likely to turnover when wages are lower and caregiver satisfaction wanes. Staff satisfaction was not a significant turnover predictor but was generally predicted by caregiver satisfaction. These findings suggest that turnover and satisfaction are multi-faceted processes worthy of examination; we provide broad recommendations for improvement and avenues for further study.

Human behavioral pharmacology methods have been used to rigorously evaluate the effects of a range of centrally acting drugs in human beings under controlled conditions. Methods like drug self-administration and drug-discrimination have been adapted from non-human laboratory animal models. Because humans have the capacity to communicate verbally, self-report methods are also commonly used to understand drug effects. This presentation will provide an overview of these traditional human behavioral pharmacology methods, as well as more novel measures that have been introduced to the field. Representative data will be shared and the benefits, challenges and translational relevance of each method will be discussed. This session will cover guiding principles in the design of human behavioral pharmacology studies (e.g., using placebo controls, testing multiple doses) along with ethical (e.g., avoiding enrollment of individuals seeking treatment, determining capacity to consent) and safety (e.g., dose selection, pre-screening of participants for exclusionary health problems) that must be addressed when conducting these types of studies.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

We often solve problems by engaging in mediating strategies such as talking to ourselves. In order to accurately use and respond to these strategies, we must understand what we are saying. The term bidirectional naming (BiN) has been used to describe the integration of both listener and speaker behaviors that leads to speaking with understanding. In this talk, I will describe a series of studies showing that in the absence of either speaker or listener behaviors, participants often fail to solve problems in the form of matching-to-sample and categorization tasks. These results suggest that to solve complex tasks participants must be verbal. Thus, I will propose that the BiN repertoire is one of the most important skills learned during language development and must be prioritized in early intensive behavioral intervention.

Basic and applied researchers, clinicians.

Behavior analytic intervention programs frequently include the use of forced prompting to earn compliance with demands and reduce escape maintained challenging behavior. This approach is "effective" but raises ethical concerns relating to providing the least restrictive and most humane intervention that maintains the assent of the learner throughout the learning process. The purpose of this panel is to explore ethical considerations regarding the use of forced prompting and other extinction procedures by drawing from the Behavior Analyst Certification Board's Ethical and Professional Compliance Code (2014), Van Houten et al. (1988), and Pritchett et al. (2020). Each panelist will explore how which aspects of the 7 Steps to Earning Instructional Control addresses these ethical considerations and share what modifications they have made to their own practices to ensure they are maintaining assent with learners in delivering behavior analytic services and developing a strong teaching relationship focused on instructional motivation.

The target audience for this presentation are individuals who have implemented extinction procedures and address challenging behavior in their day to day practice when teaching in a school, clinic, or home.

If we truly intend to improve and impact the world with behavior analysis, it is imperative for researchers and clinicians alike to embark on new areas in which the field of behavior analysis has the ability to address cultural injustices that limit marginalized populations, women, and black, indigenous people of colour (BIPOC). Our field has the ability to inform and create change that will have collateral impacts on society to combat systemic barriers that limit those without societal privilege. An overview will be conducted of current societal norms with respect to racism, healthcare, and economic inequalities and ways in which behaviour analysis can analyze contingencies to improve access and opportunities for marginalized populations. Behaviour analytic interventions centred around processes highlighting how to deconstruct racism, remediate the healthcare system using behavioral economics, and income inequality will be discussed.

Advanced. BCBAs and BCBA-Ds. Discuss how we can effectively implement behavior change at any larger scale, such as community wide… Our field has struggled to apply change initiatives beyond small groups and individuals.

Our Ethics Code guides us to promote an ethical culture in work environments (7.01) and to not engage in discriminatory practices (1.05d). As behavior analysts we have the capacity to promote better work environments for marginalized groups that face discrimination because of their sexual orientation, gender discrimination, or skin colour. Factors that are known to be impacted include: recruitment and retention, participation numbers and representation of women and black, indigenous people of colour (BIPOC) in management positions, compensation for equal work and equal pay, microaggressions, and organizational policies and hiring practices that tend to favor biases towards white cis-gendered men (Cirincione-Ulezi, 2020; Iwata & Lent, 1984; Johns, 2013; Li et al., 2019; and Odum, 2000). Behaviour analytic interventions centred around processes highlighting equality, aligning organizational values amongst employees, as well as diversity appreciation will be discussed.

Supervisors and business owners

The field of behaviour analysis has seen recent exponential growth however we are surrounded by punishment, inequality, injustice, and anti-science rhetoric. For our science to realize its far-reaching impact, we must conceptualize a society, like Walden 2, as our terminal goal and shape societal responses to that achievement. This panel discussion will discuss current systemic problems within culture and how we, as behaviour analysts, can establish systems that are rooted in data and behavioural science. Topics that will be discussed include utopian behaviour society, perspective taking, and compassion.

Advance ~ BCBAs and BCBA-Ds. Complex concepts that go beyond introductory literature or the course sequence.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of over 1.5 million people across the world and have changed the lifestyle of humanity, possibly, for years to come. In this context, specific behaviors that had received minimal or no attention in the past have been moved up the social validity scale overnight. In this symposium we will evaluate various interventions addressing some key COVID-related behaviors. Online teaching and internet use has exploded during the pandemic. The first study looks at the potential role of social media in facilitating academic performance during online university-level courses. There are essentially no experimental analyses in the literature evaluating whether social media engagement (in the context of closed Facebook learning groups) could be an important channel for multi-component behavioral interventions. The second study presents a telehealth mask-wearing training program for children with autism presenting mask-induced problem behavior. The study evaluates a caregiver-delivered intervention among an international sample of participants from Belgium, India, Mexico, and Costa Rica. In the final study we turn to face touching. Face touching is thought to account for tens or hundreds of thousands of Sars-CoV-2 infections across the world due to physical contact with contaminated surfaces. It has been suggested that face touching, a high frequency behavior, may limit the protective role of hand washing, which occurs inevitably at lower rates. In this third presentation we evaluate the suppressive effect of contingent vibrotactile stimulation on face touching in a group of typical adults as they go about their daily lives. In addition to the treatment evaluation side of the study, it also provided an opportunity to conduct a thorough quantitative and descriptive analysis of face touching in ecologically relevant settings. Overall, these studies give a perspective of the diversity of behavioral applications that can be brought to bear in order to mitigate the effects of the current pandemic.

Students, practitioners and applied researchers.

SARS-CoV-2 is the virus causing COVID-19 and is spread through close person-to-person contact. The use of face masks has been described as an important strategy in the combat to contain and slow down its transmission while a vaccine is not made widely available. We evaluated the effects of telehealth training for caregivers to teach mask wearing to children with ASD. Six participants with a history of challenging behavior associated with mask wearing were recruited from different parts of the world, and trained using a combination of graduated exposure, shaping and contingent reinforcement. By the end of the intervention all participants wore a face mask for a target period of 10 min without exhibiting challenging behavior, and generalized the skill to a novel mask and a community setting. The findings support previous tolerance training treatment evaluations in children with developmental disability exhibiting resistance to healthcare routines. Clinical recommendations and areas for future research are discussed.

Facial contact behavior is a high frequency, high duration behavior that contributes to the transmission of communicable diseases by interaction with contaminated surfaces. Studies indicate that the Sars-CoV-2 virus remains viable for hours on surfaces such as paper, plastic, or metals. Hand-face contact has a long history among mammals and primates and is likely maintained by sensory consequences. It is estimated that thousands of infections may be mediated by hand contact with contaminated surfaces with pathogens being subsequently transferred to mucous membranes by hand contact with the mouth, nose, or eyes. We used contingent vibrotactile stimulation as an intervention to reduce hand-face contacts in ecological settings. Ten consecutively recruited adults wore one or two bracelets that delivered vibrotactile stimuli following face touching. Stimuli were delivered through Bluetooth-connected devices that were calibrated for each participant. We also evaluated the social validity of the intervention and how various environmental events were related to the level of face touching. In addition, the study provides an opportunity to discuss the quantitative characteristics of face touching. The results indicated that the face touching can be reduced considerably with this simple intervention.

In elaborating a natural science capable of exploring social behavior and large-scale cultural structures and processes, Skinner (1953) defined culture “as the contingencies of social reinforcement maintained by a group.” Over several decades, Skinner and others expanded on this work. Glenn (1986, 2004) offered, and in collaboration with others subsequently refined the heuristic of the metacontingency for understanding the dynamics of collective behavior. This construct proved particularly helpful in organizational and similar settings in which desired outcomes were relatively specific, and steps required to achieve those outcomes relatively constrained. Contemporary culturo-behavior scientists, however, are gaining the capacity and carry the obligation to contribute to addressing critical social and environmental challenges. Explorations of possible integrations of emergent or revised scientific models have become essential. Included in this symposium are sometimes contrasting examples of such frameworks (e.g., ecosystemic, evolutionary, systems analytic, or return to behavior-centered interventions); discussion of commonalities and distinctions among them; and potential contributions of these perspectives to a transdisciplinary culturo-behavior science powerful enough to contribute to “conditions under which human beings will show the productivity, the creativity, and the strength inherent in their genetic endowment and which are essential to the survival of the species” (Skinner, 1975).

Master's level students, BCBAs, other behavioral professionals with graduate degrees.

Culturo-Behavior Science (CBS), a recently formalized specialization in behavior analysis, brings together principles and techniques from Behavior Analysis, Behavioral Systems Analysis, Cultural Selection/Analysis, and Cultural Systems Analysis in order to understand how cultural phenomena develop and change over time. Culturo-behavior scientists are united by the philosophy of radical behaviorism and by their commitment to the application of the natural science of behavior to advance our understanding of behavior in its social and cultural environments. However, often debated among culturo-behavior scientists is both the extent to which a systems analytic framework should be adopted in CBS, and the role that basic laboratory preparations play in enhancing our understanding of cultural phenomena. With much still to discover about how behavior science can contribute to solving some of the world’s most pressing problems, the goal of this presentation will be to describe strategies for incorporating the diversity of thought embodied in CBS into teaching, research, and practice in CBS.

This collection of applied and descriptive research studies push our science in China and Italy. The first paper titled All For One And One For All used behavioral observation techniques to determine socially valid performance criterion for attending behaviors in typically developing students during group instruction. The second paper used functional behavior assessment and a conditioning procedure to replace stereotype with toy with a student having autism in an international primary school. The third paper outlines current dimensions of applied behavior analysis research in China. The fourth paper tested the effects of a different intensity CABAS®-based intervention packages using an alternating (ABACA) treatment design for 9 children diagnosed with Autism, aged 2 to 6 years old in Italy.

Designed for Supervisors, Directors, and Administrators

The present study used functional behavior assessment and a treatment package including conditioning of toy play with a student with autism in an international primary school. The functional behavior assessment confirmed that the behaviors were being maintained through automatic reinforcement. The procedure was a partial replication from research conducted with adults and preschool students. Our student was 11 years old and had a long history of stereotypy behaviors and a limited community of reinforcers. This study tested for the external validity of the treatment package.

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) was introduced into Mainland China at the beginning of the 21st century as a direct result of the rise of autism spectrum disorder. The following decades can roughly be divided into two phases in terms of the development of ABA in China. Phase one was the time period with a focus on dissemination of ABA practice in China and it lasted from 2000 to 2009. In phase two, which lasted from 2010 to the current date, initial research on ABA emerged in China while dissemination of ABA practice continued and accelerated. The objective of this presentation is to critically evaluate ABA studies conducted by Chinese researchers. For this purpose, the author conducted a systematic search for literature on ABA published by Chinese scholars. In this presentation, the author will use seven ABA dimensions (Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968) to measure the quality of the ABA literature and present results from quantitative analysis and qualitative evaluation of empirical studies published by Chinese ABA researchers. The author will also attempt to explain the unique feature of ABA research published by Chinese scholars by analyzing relevant cultural contingencies. Based on these descriptions and analyses, the author will make recommendations for the future development of ABA research in China.

We tested the effects of a different intensity CABAS®-based intervention packages using an alternating (ABACA) treatment design for 9 children diagnosed with Autism, aged 2 to 6 years old. The study was conducted in a learning and research centre in Italy prior and during the COVID-19 Pandemic, and is still ongoing. The obligation to stop the CABAS® intervention created an opportunity to change the treatment frequency while keeping the treatment integrity for all participants, and provide the experimenters with an opportunity to collect data and compare them on the optimal treatment intensity. Condition A constituted high educational intensity where each participant received 1:1 intervention for 12 hours a week, while Condition B constituted 1:1 intervention for 3 hours a week (during the first lockdown), and during Condition C, intervention was delivered for 6 hours a week (during the second lockdown).The dependent variables in the study were the changes in participant’s ADOS-2 and CARS-2 scores prior and after each treatment change, and participants number of Learn Units to Criterion rate. The early results showed a significant difference between before and after the low-frequency package was implemented, for the total scores and each sub-test of both instruments. So far, results suggest that normative tests, together with individual graphs’analysis, can help differentiate between treatment effectiveness and efficiency for each child. Further research is needed in order to make more generalized conclusions into the optimal intensity of intervention, especially in countries, such as Italy, where children with Autism can’t attend special schools or have insurance-covered intensive treatments.

The COVID-19 global pandemic of 2020 and the ensuing emergency guidelines had potential to limit the delivery of essential ABA-based Autism services. While literature outside of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has demonstrated efficacy of remote, video-conference modality for medical care, (i.e. telehealth or telepractice), replicable models of ABA-based telehealth were limited in ABA literature prior to 2020. In response to the public health crisis, a protocol modification assessment (PMA) and treatment selection matrix for modifying ABA programs for direct telehealth was developed and published in an emergency issue of Behavior Analysis in Practice (Rodriguez, 2020). The first panelist will present a model for training and implementation of the PMA in a multi-site provider organization, including confidence self-assessment results from the participating behavior analysts; the second panelist will present client outcomes in the form of pre- and post-implementation assessment change scores. A third panelist will share an innovative applied research approach to modification of a well-known curriculum (PEAK), in which the materials were transformed into an interactive video game that allowed for remote, highly engaging implementation. The panelists will offer guidance for future implementation and evaluation.

Participants should be familiar with the Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts (BACB(R) 2014, including considerations for competence to practice and efficacy of services); a review of literature related to telehealth service delivery (e.g. Ferguson et al., 2019); and PEAK Curriculum (Dixon, 2008) and its applications (Belisle, 2018) will offer participants context for engagement.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, roughly 1400 clients were transitioned to telehealth ABA services across 50+ regions of a multi-site provider organization. Many clients’ services were shifted within 1-2 weeks of the emergency orders; some were transitioned within days. While the modality of treatment offered clear benefits (i.e. continuity of care; provisioning of essential services without the risk of viral transmission), telehealth ABA has not been evaluated widely. Questions of efficacy are central to ethical compliance and provision of evidence-based, medically necessary treatment; therefore, clinical outcomes are urgently needed in order to determine whether funders will continue to adopt telehealth once the pandemic ends. This presenter will show an initial view of aggregated outcomes data, using pre- and post-assessment assessment change scores. The Vineland 3 is the primary measure of clinical outcomes in this presentation; the author will make recommendations for complementary measures to be used in future analysis.

When behavioral services are utilized to reduce problem behavior, psychotropic medication is also often prescribed by attending physicians. When a comorbidity is present, coordinating services between disciplines can present special challenges. This presentation will describe the need to reduce confounds between different treatment modalities, and present some techniques to reduce those confounds while evaluating and promoting ongoing treatment effectiveness. We will review several of the medications that are most commonly used to address problem behavior, describe some of the most common side effects as well as secondary behavioral effects that can impact treatment planning and documentation. We will discuss some common symptoms of various comorbidities, list steps for data collection, and suggest techniques on how to most effectively report and utilize data in coordination with both medical and non-medical professionals. Finally we will discuss the ethical requirement to closely coordinate ABA and medical services, and explore some of the related issues that are likely to arise in clinical practice.

The target audience should have as prerequisite skills knowledge autism spectrum disorder, behavioral service delivery, and behavior intervention plan.

Acceptance and commitment training (ACT) is an approach to language and cognition that is growing in traction across several practitioners inside and outside of the field of behavior analysis. ACT has been seen to be effective in interacting with levels of stress, burnout, and psychological flexibility. Given this, there has been limited research demonstrating ACT in a variety of clinical settings. Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) and clients alike may experience distress and burnout. The following three talks will discuss three different implementations of ACT-based interventions across three different clinical applications. The first talk will discuss the potential value in an online-based ACT intervention targeted for behavior technicians and their levels of burnout and overt levels of values-based actions. The second talk will discuss an application of a two-day ACT-based workshop designed to interact with three BCBAs and their indirect levels of psychological flexibility and burnout, weekly reported values-based actions, and performance on a values based check in system. The third talk will discuss the application of an ACT-based approach to rigid habit following in an individual with a dual diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Intermediate

Within the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA), behavior technicians can be described as a highly valuable employee within their organization due to their direct one to one work with clients. Over time, a behavior technician’s level of burnout may increase due to the prolonged emotional exhaustion that accompanies the work. One possible intervention to incorporate into the workplace is acceptance and commitment training (ACT). ACT is an evidence-based intervention that focuses on enhancing six processes (i.e., self-as-context, values, committed action, contacting the present moment, defusion and acceptance) to increase psychological flexibility. While there is research on ACT in various modalities, one emerging method of delivery is through online-based modules. The present study evaluates an online-based ACT intervention targeted to behavior technicians while simultaneously teaching them to engage in overt behavior directly tied to their values. It is hypothesized that the online acceptance and commitment training will be effective in influencing a behavior technician’s perception of burnout, increasing psychological flexibility, and stabilizing and or increasing values-based behaviors.

Acceptance and commitment training (ACT) has been growing in acceptability within the scope of behavior analysis (Enoch, & Nicholson, 2020). Since the start of the current COVID-related pandemic, researchers have moved to include programs related to psychological flexibility to mitigate possible effects the current shelter in place may have on our wellbeing and potential feelings of stress (Fieberg, Gould, Ming, Watson, 2020). Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) are often described as those who have stressful jobs that could lead to stress and burnout. ACT has been shown to mitigate workplace stress and increase levels of psychological flexibility (Pingo, Dixon, & Paliliunas, 2019). The following study explored the potential effect a two-day ACT workshop may have on the weekly overt values-based behaviors a BCBA reports to have completed, indirect measures associated with psychological flexibility (AAQ, CAQ-8) and stress, and performance on a check-in system designed to help aid BCBAs to check in with the colleagues they supervise. Using a multiple baseline design across three BCBAs, the results suggest the ACT workshop affected overt weekly reported values-based actions. Results also suggest the workshop was successful in improving performance on the check-in checklist. Further implications and suggestions will be discussed.

The majority of current behavior analysts are working within the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) population (BACB, 2020). ASD is often comorbid with other diagnoses including obsessive and compulsive disorder (OCD) (Lewin, Wood, Gunderson, Murphy, & Storch, 2011). Behavior analysts may not have experience with individuals who have this comorbid presentation(Broadhead, Quigley, Wilczynski, 2018). Research demonstrating the application of behavior analytic treatment of behaviors associated with comorbid diagnoses are necessary in the development of our field’s overall utility. In this paper, we will demonstrate the efficacy of a treatment package utilizing acceptance and commitment training (ACT), and mindfulness-based training for the reduction of compulsive behaviors in an 11-year-old individual diagnosed with OCD and ASD. Sessions were conducted via telehealth for 2 hours each day, 3 days per week, across 4 consecutive months. A reversal design was utilized to test for treatment efficacy. In baseline, the participant was engaged in a variety of compulsive behavior in the bathroom for up to 9 hours per day. Results indicated that the treatment package was effective in the reduction of the duration of engagement in compulsive behaviors. Overall duration of engagement dropped from 9 hours to 45 minutes. Results, implications, and overall social validity will be discussed.

Many students with autism and other developmental disabilities have difficulty sequencing their own behavior during free-choice situations. Rather, they rely on adults to prompt them to engage in particular activities. Many do not interact appropriately with play materials or may select one activity and engage in it for an extended period of time. Photographic activity schedules have been shown to be an effective tool to teach children to sequence their own behavior and transition smoothly between multiple activities. Children learn to follow the visual cues in the activity schedule to make transitions instead of relying on adult-provided prompts. Activity schedules also provide a context for teaching basic and complex choice-making behavior. As children develop verbal behavior, social scripts can also be added and then later faded to promote social interaction. Activity schedules have been used successfully in a variety of settings with both children and adults with various disabilities. They are easy to use and can be adapted to most environments. In the present tutorial, participants will learn how to use activity schedules with clients/students as well as learn about recent research on using these techniques to promote complex social play.

Practitioners and applied researchers.

Many people who could benefit greatly from ABA services cannot gain access to them due to lack of financial resources and insurance. Medicaid funding of ABA services is one mechanism to enable financially and socially disadvantaged people to benefit from ABA services. The session will involve discussions by behavior analysts from 4 areas of the United States regarding how behavior analysts have and could address public policy issues related to Medicaid programs funding ABA services. The activities and contributions of behavior analysts in 3 states and the Washington DCs will be presented. The sequences of events in each jurisdiction differ, but some general strategy recommendations will be addressed along with suggestions regarding with issues unique to a jurisdiction. Audience participation will be encouraged.

Attendees will be most likely to benefit from the presentations if they are not only knowledge regarding behavior analysis principle, ABA services, but also have some exposure to and/ or experience regarding public policy, Medicaid funding if possible.

Medicaid is an important source of funding for medically-necessary services for children with autism. Although State Medicaid programs vary in their reimbursement practices, children receive a variety of services that address core deficits and behavioral challenges in autism, some of which may not be covered under commercial insurance plans due to benefit exclusions or other limits under private insurance. Data from 2005 showed that only 29 states provided Medicaid reimbursement for applied behavior analysis (ABA). The District of Columbia was excluded from this study due to poor quality data. Therefore, the purpose of this talk is to examine the process by which ABA services are obtained and reimbursed through Medicaid in the District of Columbia. The impact of this process on service providers will be evaluated to help identify barriers to obtaining ABA-based treatments through Medicaid in the District. Finally, we will explore the relationship between state licensure of BCBAs and Medicaid reimbursement.

The difference between curricula and pedagogy is highlighted best when we consider what we teach versus how we teach it. There exists an interaction between development and instruction such that instruction can only be effective if the educator considers the learner’s level of verbal development. The ways in which we teach must cater to the current verbal developmental cusps found within the learner’s repertoire. While the progression of instructional objectives targeted within a curriculum will change as the learner acquires the necessary prerequisite skills to move forward, attention should be placed on modifying the ways in which we teach those subsequent objectives. Research in the field of verbal behavior development has proven time and time again that the acquisition of skills can be accelerated if the method of teaching is consistent with the capabilities that the learner exhibits, i.e. the presence of verbal developmental cusps within their repertoire.

Educators, Practitioners, and Researchers

The passage of a licensure law is by no means the end of the road for the behavior analysis community in states that have just reached this milestone. The local chapter that supports behavior analysis activities should immediately begin to identify potential members of the licensing board that can be nominated and ultimately will be put in place to serve on the board. This panel will enable those that are on the brink of implementing licensure to be equipped with a step-by-step protocol by which to fully participate in this process. A number of things need to be identified that help to maintain the momentum that led to the passage of the licensure law in the first place. These catalysts will be identified and outlined for interested Behavior Analysts in states that are at this process step in their licensure law.

An overview will be provided of the range of activities that behavior analysts should consider for maximizing the likelihood of behavior analyst licensure adequately protecting the public and supporting the profession of behavior analysis. Elaboration of particular strategies and tactics for doing so will be tailored to address questions raised by attendees.

Our verbal behaviour is an essential skill for navigating our social world and our inability to understand the value of the words we use can contribute to social conflicts, aggression, racial bias, prejudice, discrimination, and many other social issues. In an effort to combat these societal limitations and move towards an inclusive culture in which everyone’s individuality is championed; our language must be explored and compassion, perspective-taking, and empathy must be promoted. In this panel we will discuss a behavior-analytic description of perspective-taking and its role in establishing compassion skills and utility in social justice, overcome the deeply ingrained societal gender binary system in favour of a compassionate, gender expansive society, and how our language establishes and can topple societal prejudice. Behaviour analysis can replace current behaviours around social relations and replace them with compassion. The anticipated result would lead to impactful acquisition of social justice rights for those from marginalized populations.

Intermediate - BCBAs and BCBA-Ds ~ A discussion on verbal behaviour and ways in which our language informs our social world and the need to see the value of the words we use as it relates to social conflicts (e.g., aggression, racial bias, prejudice, discrimination, and many other social issues).

In their seminal article, Baer, Wolf and Risley (1968), stated that behavior analytic intervention is expected to result in strong, socially important, and generalizable behavior change which, in this case, should mean more positive adult outcomes in ASD. Unfortunately, despite a nearly three decade-long emphasis on evidence-based, behavior analytic intervention in ASD, adult outcomes remain poor “for almost any outcome you choose.” (Roux, et al, 2015, p. 8). While there may be several reasons for continued poor outcomes (including the challenge of simply defining “good outcome”), the potential of behavior analytic intervention to develop more positive adult outcomes has yet to be fully realized. Such outcomes, however, are well within the reach of our behavior analytic technology. But to do that, the contingencies governing our behavior will, most likely, need to shift. For example, we will need to shift from contingencies that reinforce the technical precision of our classroom-based interventions to contingencies the reinforce the somewhat less technical precision of community-based intervention (assuming the target has a fair degree of social validity). This tutorial will identify a number areas, both internal and external to the field, where a “contingency shift” may be necessary if the power of behavior analytic intervention to significantly improve outcomes for adults with autism is to be more fully realized.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Neither behavior nor culture are static and as a field, we have an ethical obligation to promote an ethical culture in work environments for staff and clients (7.01) and to not engage in discriminatory practices (1.05d). As behavior analysts, are responsible for promoting culturally sensitive programming and to build the capacity for cultural responsiveness through training, supervision, and workplace values. As we broaden our consumer base, work with more diverse populations and practitioners, and with the rise of telehealth consultations, it is important to understand the many variables that should be taken into consideration when working across settings and populations. This panel will discuss frameworks for building cultural responsiveness, the implications of microaggressions, the dissemination of the services across rural settings, the ethics of culture, and breaking down professional stigmas in the field.

Intermediate ~ for BCBAs, BCaBAs, supervisors and those getting supervision.

The purpose of this symposium is to discuss issues in behavior analysts training and practice. In the first presentation, authors discuss how empirically supported interventions are sometimes viewed as more important than client context and values. Authors discuss that contingencies must be analyzed, including those that generated the systematic reviews and meta-analysis, and a solid behavior analytic training should be the focus, instead of replicating different packaged interventions. In the second presentation, authors will discuss possible problems that the indiscriminate and non-analytical use of manualized interventions might bring to our field, such as the decreased probability of new problem-solving responses when it comes to clinical practice. In the third presentation, authors will discuss if the problem posed by Michael in 1980, the shift in?emphasis, away from the general concepts and methods of the science of behavior, is still a current problem in behavior analytic training and practice. In the fourth presentation the authors will discuss the selection and definition of behavioral goals as part of a process that should value family culture and what they consider important for themselves and their child/adolescent/adult with developmental disabilities. Questions raised by all presentations bring forward the need for reflections about practices that would allow us to provide culturally competent and socially valid services, within a radical behaviorist perspective.

Audience should have at least basic knowledge of Skinner`s articles and books on Radical behaviorism. They should also be updated on evidence-based practices for autism spectrum disorder. They should be service providers for developmental disabilities and be in a graduate program in Behavior Analysis, Psychology or Education.

Parsimony is a concept that must guide the behavior of all scientists, not only behavior analysts. This concept means that we should select the simplest and most logical explanation for the phenomenon under study, instead of competing views or interpretations. It does not mean that we investigate simple things or explain it simple, but that we should use the simplest account of the phenomena before moving on to more complex interpretations. In 1980, Jack Michael made a “state of union” message, alerting our community about clinicians or eclectic professionals adding behavior analysis to their techniques. These new professionals learned and practiced Behavior Analysis without knowledge of basic research methodology and without commitment to behaviorism as a world view. In Michael’s opinion, this fact resulted “… in ‘packaged’ independent variables of such complexity that they simply can’t be analyzed into behavior components, especially when they involve highly verbal subjects.” (p.9). In this presentation the authors aim to discuss if the problem posed by Michael in 1980 (the shift in emphasis, away from the general concepts and methods of the science of behavior), is still a problem in ABA research and practices for autism.

Professional providers and consumers of services for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often warned about the need to base decisions regarding the choice of intervention on evidence-based practices (EBPs). These interventions can be labeled “evidence-based”, “best practices”, etc., when they meet criteria specified by certain individuals. This type of intervention has a authority impact on people’s behavior. Thereby, implementing EBPs in addition to trying to fulfill the seven dimensions of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), seems to be acquiring more importance in the decision-making process than context and values of the client, especially when these practices and dimensions are implemented superficially. There should not be a set of rules that, dogmatically guides the decision-making process of a practitioner (or scientist), mainly because there is not one single set of rules that is impartial. Trustable guidelines that favor good professional practices should not function as “objects of faith”. Education and training in behavior analysis that favors solid analytical skills and that take into consideration both clients context peculiarities and the available evidence, could increase the probability of professional providing socially valid services that are compatible with the behavior analytic philosophy.

Behavior analytic services have seen an increase in demand, especially in the last two to three decades. Most of this increase is due to service delivery for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). One of the issues with this increase has been training and education for new professionals. In an attempt to regulate the profession, ensure the quality of intervention and avoid harmful mistakes, different certifications, standards, training packages and manualization of procedures have been set forth. This manualization can be advantageous to some degree, as it increases the probability that the behavior analyst will perform all the necessary steps when implementing a procedure. However, this standardization may also lead to narrow education and training of professionals in our field. In this presentation we will discuss these issues that might result from standardization and manualization, such as a lower probability of practitioners' response variability and of new responses when problem solving is needed. Additionally, we will discuss how standardization and manualization may result in less focus on the analytical skills.

Research has shown that parents of children with ASD are among the most stressed as compared to all other parents, including those who have children with other psychiatric conditions and developmental disabilities (Hayes & Watson, 2013). Parents of children with ASD are chronically stressed because the demands of the family environment often exceed the parent’s ability to cope. There are few evidence-based interventions available for professionals to use with parents of a child with ASD: some use cognitive therapies, such as meditation, some use social support to reduce stress and mental health problems, and others use implement parent training to improve child behavior. Few if any combine both mental health and behavioral approaches, and none of these are designed for implementation by school personnel. This presentation describes findings from a multi-year transdisciplinary investigation into the most common stressors for parents of preschool children with ASD attending a CABAS® model school. Specifically, in two studies we surveyed parents to determine their reported levels of stress and common stressors, as well as parents’ mental and physical wellbeing, self-care, and self-efficacy skills. In the first study we also examined mother-child interactions during free-play and demand situations in order to determine possible target behaviors for intervention. Implications of the findings and suggestions for interventions will be discussed.

Those interested in parent education and interventions to help parents cope with the stresses of parenting a child with ASD. These may include practitioners, educators, researchers, or parents themselves.

In 1892, William James brought Hugo Münsterberg from Freiburg to direct the new, Harvard Psychological Laboratory that James had created in the Philosophy Department. Münsterberg had trained under William Wundt in Leipzig, who had pioneered an experimental method to explore the relationship between mental events and physical experience. The New Psychology banished the old method of introspection. Instead, it relied on highly controlled experiments with equipment borrowed from the domains of physics and physiology. Researchers studied the psychology of the senses, the timing of mental acts, judgement, memory, and attention. Starting with these “prism, pendulum, and chronograph philosophers,” as James called them, this talk will conclude with B. F. Skinner and his experiments on operant conditioning, reinforcement, and learning. Special attention will be paid to early apparatus such as reaction keys, prototype operant chambers, cumulative recorders, and teaching machines. The apparatus, laboratory records, memoranda, and correspondence of James, Munsterberg, and Skinner survive at Harvard University and can be accessed by scholars interested in the development of their thought.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.