Association for Behavior Analysis International

There are an estimated 300,000 students attending schools in Qatar. A regional study in Qatar placed the number of people with ASD at 1 in 87. Due to Qatar’s requirement that all schools be inclusive, many of these students attend independent or private schools. Educators often find it difficult to support students who display behaviors similar to students who have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. During this panel we will discuss some of the student service model that allow for the provision of support for students regardless of a formal diagnosis.

Teachers, Practitioners

Behavioral parent training is a fundamental aspect during treatment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities. However, practitioners often find that rule-governed parenting represents a significant challenge to the effectiveness of the intervention. An approach to addressing this challenge and enhancing treatment outcomes is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). With vast empirical evidence targeting different variables, ACT is promising for caregivers of individuals with ASD. However, the integration of ACT within behavior-analytic services may be insufficient, as values within the cultural context are seldom considered. In an effort to increase cultural responsiveness, the present panel will inform on the awareness, knowledge, and approaches of behavior analysts that have primarily worked with Latinx caregivers. Specifically, ACT work with Latinx caregivers will be explored from a cultural perspective, as well as the current state of the literature in culturally adapting behavior-analytic approaches for the Latinx community. Panelists will discuss how others who work with Latinx caregivers may overcome barriers that topographically resemble non-adherence but are in fact behaviors that align with Latinx cultural values. Moreover, recommendations for adjusting treatment and methods for increasing success with treatment will be provided.

Students, practitioners, and researchers with knowledge or competency in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

The Registered Behavior TechnicianTM (RBT®) credential has resulted in over 80,000 individuals being certified by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) since its creation in 2014. RBTs provide direct service to individuals receiving Applied Behavior Analysis services, which has resulted in individuals with this credential becoming the face of the field, which many families and clients work with the majority of their treatment time. It is imperative that the training of individuals who hold the credential of RBT receive high quality and effective training. Empirically validated training packages can be used to train a variety of topics essential to the core competencies of the RBT credential. This symposium will present applied research that has investigated effective training focused specifically on individuals who are certified as an RBT. Training topics include the writing of effective session notes, treatment integrity of RBT implementation of preference assessments and discrete trial training, and RBT session feedback delivery to families of clients.

Intermediate

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using Teaching Interaction Procedure (TIP) in order to remotely train RBT certificants to write objective session notes. Session notes are a required component for each behavior analytic session conducted by an RBT. This requirement is present for acquiring and maintaining the certification as well as necessary for many funders of behavior analytic services. It is imperative that session documentation presents information in an objective format in order to accurately detail client progress. Behavior analysts can utilize proven training techniques in order to increase the fidelity of documentation of services completed by RBTs. A multiple baseline design across participants was employed with 3 RBTs. RBTs’ session notes during in home behavior analytic sessions were used as probes. Each RBT received the training, which implemented the TIP remotely, detailing how to write narrative sections of session notes objectively. Results indicate that all participants met mastery criteria within 3-4 teaching sessions and maintained these results across maintenance probes.

This symposium will address diversity issues within the field of behavior analysis, with emphasis on humility, cultural humility, pragmatism, and inclusion. The first talk will present data on the diversity of behavior analysts practicing in Ontario, as well as their self-reports of how culturally competent they believe they are, in comparison with the level of diversity education and training they report. A second presentation will describe the neurodiversity movement, autistic culture, and how traditional Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) contributes to the trauma autistic people experience from others trying to change who they are. A third presentation will describe the cultural bias of research in ABA, specifically, the historical roots of ableism in ABA and examples of ableism in current research. A final presentation will describe the differential treatment and segregation of applied practitioners vs. basic researchers/academicians, and the negative effects on the science and practice of behavior analysis. Presenters will offer suggestions for combating the concerns they highlight, and Dr. Christine Hughes, a distinguished basic and translational researcher and radical behaviorist, will serve as discussant.

Audience members should have a basic understanding of ABA treatment, such as for people with autism. They should have heard the term "radical behaviorism" and have a basic understanding of the relations among EAB, ABA, and radical behaviorism.

Neurodiversity has long been discussed in the Autistic community but is just recently gaining traction in conversations of how the concept applies to Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). A concept that comes out of the neurodiversity movement is understanding autism through the lens of culture. ABA throughout its history has promoted prioritizing normalization goals for autistic clients (Lovaas, 1981). Normalization goals force autistic people to mask their traits and deny their basic human needs. Autistic people subjected to this requirement to mask and deny their needs have an increased suicide rate in adulthood (Cassidy, 2018). By becoming culturally competent in understanding autistics and autism, and connecting autistic clients to their own culture, behavior analysts will go a long way in bridging the culture gap and minimizing their role in the trauma their clients experience just by existing. This talk will a) explore what autistic culture is and how autistic culture relates to the ethical obligation of behavior analysts to be culturally competent (BACB 1.05c), b) discuss the trauma associated with not having access to one’s culture, and c) challenge behavior analysts to generalize their skills with recognizing and calling out other acts of bigotry to the autistic population.

Autistic advocates have criticized Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for harmful practices grounded in ableism (Dawson, 2004; Lynch, 2019). A common response to ABA being characterized as abusive or harmful is to make a distinction between the science and practice of ABA. Although there is a topographical distinction between the scientific approach to discovering variables that influence behavior and the technology of behavior change that utilizes those research discoveries, the science of ABA is no exception to concerns voiced by the autistic community. Research goals, procedures, and outcomes are often based on the agenda of the researcher and neurotypical community, rather than the values of autistic participants and the autistic community. This presentation will (a) explore the historical roots of the science of ABA in ableism, (b) discuss contemporary examples of ableism in ABA research, (c) explore the efficacy of the ethics code and research practices as they relate to keeping autistic research participants safe, and (d) offer strategies to ensure the inclusion of autistic voices and the safety of research participants.

Historically, there has been a lack of awareness in Latin America regarding information about the real concept, validity, and benefits of applied behavior analysis not only for children with autism but also in the many facets of our lives. As such, Alcanzando, a not-for-profit organization was founded to address the need to change that reality in this region. For over a decade Dr. Chavez Askins has been successfully disseminating Applied Behavior Analysis in Peru, and other Latin American countries through evidence-based teaching, research, and the work of Alcanzando in general. This presentation will include not just the results regarding the implementation of services with children with autism, their families, and professionals interested in the field, but also in terms of the real and significant changes achieved working with the Peruvian government, and the gains towards awareness in Latin America in regards to Applied Behavior Analysis. Dr. Chavez Askins will share the progress made over the last 13 years, as well as address the barriers encountered, the solutions that were sought, and her vision for the future of our field in Latin America.

Professionals interested in disseminating awareness, as well as effectiveness of ABA at the international level, particularly in Spanish speaking countries.

Dr. Mapy Chavez Askins holds a Ph.D. from Teachers College Columbia University (New York) in Applied Behavior Analysis and the Education of Students with Behavioral Disorders.   She is currently the Founding Director of Alcanzando, a not for profit organization that works with children with autism and their families in Spanish-speaking countries.

Dr. Chavez Askins is a Peru´s first Qualified Behavior Analyst, a CABAS Board Certified Assistant Research Scientist, and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst at the Doctoral Level.  She is also a Board Certified Autism Professional, an Advanced Certified Autism Specialist, and a Board Certified Telepractice Specialist.

Dr. Chavez Askins has spent the last 20 years studying, working and conducting research in the autism field, focusing mainly in the use of applied behavior analysis in the education of children with autism.  For over a decade she has been successfully disseminating awareness and knowledge about Applied Behavior Analysis in Latin America through research, teaching, and through Alcanzando, the foundation she started.

Her research studies include the development of vocal language in children with autism, language acquisition, social skills instruction, the development of perspective talking skills, the quality of teacher instruction, and the education of parents and professionals. Results from her research studies have been published in numerous journals, as well as presented at conferences throughout the world, among them: the Annual Convention of the Association for Behavior Analysis, the International Society for Autism Research, and the Mexican Congress of Behavior Analysis.

Increasing attention has been focused on students who have adverse childhood experiences (ACES) and the impact on academic achievement. To address students’ intense emotional and learning needs, trauma informed practices are being implemented in hopes of changing the trajectory of their lives. This presentation will provide an overview of ACES and trauma informed practices that are also culturally responsive that can be implemented in a classroom setting. Special attention will be given to students living in poverty in which ACEs are more prevalent.

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 recent years, a number of skills that have not historically been emphasized in training have been identified as essential to professional practice in behavior analysis. These include interprofessional collaboration, compassionate care, ethical decision making, and cultural humility. These skills are often addressed in other disciplines, and resources exist within these disciplines that assist in defining the skills. However, the skills are inherently complex and are difficult to operationally define and measure. In this talk, we will review how these skills can be introduced inn graduate coursework in behavior analysis in ways that are conceptually systematic with the science of ABA. Specifically, methods for building specific skills in these areas will be highlighted. Emphasis will be placed on how to define and measure these skills, and how to socialize students into the need for skill development in these areas. Elements of Behavior Skills Training, including the provision of a rationale, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback will be discussed. Options for data collection, determining mastery, assessing generalization, and obtaining social validity data will also be presented.

Behavior analysis is a growing field within human service and beyond. Client demographics for behavior analysts are diverse and continue to grow as well. It is imperative that practices behavior analysts implement are culturally humble and that services are conducted in a culturally competent manner. Education and training of behavior analysts should incorporate a strong emphasis on cultural competence and cultural humility at both the organizational and individual level for practicing behavior analysts. In addition, behavior analysts can be trained to utilize broader general guidelines adopted from other, similar human service providers (e.g., psychologists, counselors, medicine, etc.) in order to assist with interpreting code items with an emphasis on cultural humility. The recommendations outlined in this paper are fluid and subject to change as new examples are provided in regard to culturally humble practice.

The presence of cross-cultural communities around the world is ever-growing resulting in many clinicians practicing in a culturally-diverse context with families that have different values, traditions, habits, and spoken language. Despite a growing interest in evidence-based practices for individuals with developmental disabilities, there is still a large discrepancy in the number of training professionals across the globe. In other words, the number of certified behavior analysts is uneven in countries around the world, and professionals wishing to obtain training in applied behavior analysis face the challenge of securing supervision from behavior analysts living in other countries. The geographical distance poses a difficulty in itself, however some other barriers involve the difference in cultural background among the supervisor, supervisee, and clients. To circumvent these barriers, it is important that supervisors are aware of cultural differences while delivering supervision and plan to incorporate cultural competency training into their agenda. During this talk, we will place particular emphasis on ethical considerations relevant to supervision and the importance of preparing future behavior analysts for working with individuals from diverse backgrounds.

In 1974, Rekers and Lovaas published an article in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis wherein the authors instructed a gender-non-conforming child’s parents to punish that child when they engaged in gender-non-conforming behaviors. In 2020, the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis’ editor-in-chief published a Statement of Concern regarding Rekers and Lovaas (1974), which provided justification for the journal’s decision to not retract this paper. In this paper presentation, I describe criticisms of the rationale for not retracting this paper. I note that the criteria used to determine retraction were not applied in the manner suggested by official retraction guidelines. I describe contemporaneous criticisms of the Rekers and Lovaas paper which were written by a set of authors that included foundational figures in applied behavior analysis. I describe the active discussion within the psychological sciences in the early 1970s to depathologize homosexuality. I criticize the Statement of Concern’s focus on damage to the field as opposed to the harm done to the child, and question errors of commission and omission made in the Statement of Concern. I end with an argument that Rekers and Lovaas (1974) should be retracted.

Behavior Skills Training (BST) has historically focused its methodology towards clinical application in the area of autism and staff training. When considering BST from a fundamental perspective, it is important to conceptualize its application to communicated advocacy in the areas of discrimination, racism, harassment, and social injustice. Developing the individual-practitioner skill repertoire within the BST model of Instruction, Model, Rehearsal, and Feedback recognizes that building communication advocacy is a necessary skill to build a solid individual framework of ally and advocate. Experienced racism and discrimination and the eradication thereof will require a community response to inequities of diversity, equity, and inclusion. In the wake of the racial and health pandemic that has affected people of color along with systemic racism that inflicts the country, utilizing the practice of BST and its expanded application will supply the individual practitioner with the skills necessary to communicate and respond to observed discrimination thus standing up against social injustice in their immediate environment.

Alarming epidemics in the medical profession include burnout of highly trained personnel and medical errors that are products of team dynamic related phenomena (stress, implicit biases inhibiting cooperation etc.). Equally alarming is the growing evidence of health outcome disparities resulting from bias in the healthcare settings. Medical schools are developing curricular elements that increase resiliency, self-compassion, cooperation, and empathy towards patients to combat these effects. The panelists will provide an overview of the long term interdisciplinary collaboration between University of Nevada, Reno Medical School (UNR Med) and Performance System Technologies (PST) Lab at the University of Nevada, Reno, that has resulted in the developed assessment and training procedures for identifying and mitigating bias in physicians in training. The discussion will also include ways this interdisciplinary program may serve as an effective model for addressing bias in a variety of organizations.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Neda Etezadi-Amoli, M.D. is the Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Director of Medical Student Career Advising at University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. She helped develop the OB/GYN Clerkship for the medical school and has served as Clerkship Director. Neda joined the Implicit Bias Research Group in 2016 and has been working with Dr. Houmanfar and her team to develop implicit bias training for the third-year medical students in clinical rotations. Dr. Etezadi-Amoli is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine and completed her residency training at the University of Texas, Southwestern, where she stayed on as faculty for two years, working with residents and medical students. She is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and completed the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics Scholars and Leaders program. Her interests include innovating medical education and interprofessional education and teamwork.

Ramona Houmanfar is Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Behavior Analysis Program at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). Dr. Houmanfar and members of her Performance System Technologies Lab at UNR co-founded the interdisciplinary cross campus partnership with Dr. Piasecki in 2012 to facilitate advancement of leadership objectives at UNR Med and promote graduate training in interdisciplinary science. Dr. Houmanfar’s established record of publication, and expertise in behavioral systems analysis and cultural behavior analysis have guided the interdisciplinary partnership with UNRMed and research associated with implicit bias, cooperation, situational awareness, decision making, and value based governance.   

Negar “Nicole” Jacobs is a Clinical Psychologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.  She received her PhD from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2003 and completed her internship at the VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System.  After internship, she worked in the Addictive Disorders Treatment Program at the VA for 5 years, before leaving to pursue her true passion of teaching at UNR Med in 2007.  Dr. Jacobs has served as the Behavioral Science Coordinator for first-year medical students and is currently a Block Director for the Practice of Medicine in Year 1.  In 2016, she was promoted to a leadership position in the Dean’s Office, leading the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and became Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion in 2017. 

Dr. Jacobs’ research centers around the assessment of implicit bias and the development of practices to mitigate bias in medical students and faculty search and admissions committee members.  Dr. Jacobs’ Implicit Bias Research Group employs the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) with students and faculty, and has developed online and in person trainings to mitigate bias using Acceptance and Commitment Training.  She is currently collecting data to assess the impact of these trainings on students and faculty.  In the role of Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, Dr. Jacobs oversees institutional diversity and inclusion efforts, including working with the Assistant Dean for Admissions, Outreach and Inclusion to increase the diversity of medical students, working with the Associate Dean of GME to increase the diversity of residents and fellows, and spearheading efforts to increase the diversity of faculty at UNR Med.  She is also responsible for the diversity curriculum for medical students and works with clerkship and residency directors to develop additional content related to diversity.  She partners with all department Chairs and Unit leaders to advance initiatives related to diversity and inclusion in all areas of UNR Med, and has worked with central leadership to make strategic recruitment of faculty one of the main components of UNR Med’s next Strategic Plan.  She is also working with the Office of Faculty to develop a leadership training program aimed at URM faculty in order to increase retention and advancement. 

Melissa Piasecki, M.D. is Executive Associate Dean and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. As a senior member of the medical school leadership team, she co-founded an interdisciplinary cross campus partnership with Dr. Houmanfar in 2012 to advance the missions of the medical school through the application of Behavior Scientific principles. Dr. Piasecki received her M.D. from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. She completed psychiatry residency training at the University of Vermont and a Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship  at the University of Hawaii. Melissa is board certified in general psychiatry and forensic psychiatry. Her interests include forensic psychiatry, education, neurobiology of substance abuse disorders, and the science of behavior change.

Learners with disabilities enter school without the prerequisite numeracy and mathematics skills to perform at or near the level of their typically developing peers (Newman et al., 2009). Even simple addition problems require prerequisite skills that are often not taught directly in schools (Browder & Spooner, 2006, 2011). Identifying and teaching those missing skills would reduce the learning gap and increase the lifelong independence of those learners. This study used a non-concurrent single-subject multiple baseline design across five learners with a pre-test/post-test analysis to examine the use of a norm-referenced, standardized assessment to identify gaps in student learning, create teaching protocols using video modeling, and assess overall growth after intervention. Individualized interventions were delivered using video models on iPads. Results indicated all learners were able to use the video models to acquire the missing skills and improve overall mathematics understanding, as measured by scores on a post-test. This has classroom implications due to the relative ease of administration of the assessment and teaching protocol as well as potential for improved outcomes for the learners.

Visual representation of results through graphing is an important method of determining the effectiveness of behavior analytic interventions. While several studies have been published on the effectiveness of task analyses to guide the construction of a variety of graphs, relatively fewer studies have evaluated the effectiveness of a video model on graphing performance. We used a repeated measures between-groups design to compare the effects of a video model, an instructor-led tutorial, and no instruction on the graphing performance of an ABAB design graph with masters-level graduate students using Excel. We also compared the extent to which graphing performance improvements made with these modes of instruction generalized to the construction of a multielement design graph. Descriptive statistics showed that students in all groups improved their graphing performance; however, the video modeling condition showed greater improvements relative to the other two groups. Results will be discussed within the context of practical implications for teaching graphing skills, limitations, and suggestions for future research.

The aim of this study is to assess the effects of Direct Instruction (a behavioral strategy) and Cooperative Learning (a teaching methodology), on participatory responses and on off-task behaviors during the teaching of the French language in a group of students of middle school. In particular, the participants are 13 typically developing students in a regular class to which have been proposed some lessons with the two types of teaching, during normal educational activities. The following target behaviors has been taken into account: the participatory responses at each lesson; the correct answers to a questionnaire regarding the contents explained during the lessons; the correct answers to a follow-up check at each respective lesson; and the frequency of off-task behaviors. The results were evaluated with an alternating treatment design and they indicated that the use of the Direct Instruction strategy has determined a substantial increase in the correct answers to questionnaires, checks and in the student’s participation and a decrease in off-task behaviors with respect to Cooperative Learning. These results were discussed by taking also in view of the possible future implications on daily teaching.

Say-All-Fast-Minute-Every-Day-Shuffled (SAFMEDS) is a Precision Teaching and fluency method developed as an improvement on standard flashcards. While research suggests that SAFMEDS is effective in developing fluency, procedural variations in the use of SAFMEDS limit the generality of these findings. More research is needed to identify the most effective SAFMEDS procedure and address replication and generality issues. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of three variations of the SAFMEDS procedure a) three one-minute timings, b) five-minute practice prior to one-minute timing, and c) unlimited practice one-minute timing. Students enrolled in an undergraduate Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) course with three lab sections (Groups A, B, and C) participated. Students were instructed to use the assigned variation for the first exam. Group A and B alternated SAFMEDS procedures for exam 2 and group C used the same procedure for the whole term. Performance on exams was evaluated between groups and against two previous cohorts test scores. Results suggest the use of SAFMEDS was effective regardless of variation used. This study extends the current literature and supports findings that SAFMEDS may help to increase fluency among learners.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the resulting pandemic has had widespread implications on the safety of the work that teachers do with students each day. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends people age 2 years and older should wear masks in public settings; however, for children with disabilities, wearing a mask may be difficult and as such, is not required (CDC, 2020). Special education teachers and students in particular are at high risk for exposure and contracting COVID-19. Therefore, behavior-analytic strategies that can teach and reinforce appropriate mask-wearing should be evaluated. In this study, students ages 3 to 5-years-old with developmental delays were taught how to properly wear a mask using behavior skills training (BST; Miltenberger, 2008) until all students were able to put on a mask independently. Then, a group contingency was utilized to reinforce the wearing of masks throughout the day in the classroom. Using a changing criterion design, BST and a group contingency was effective in increasing mask wearing for students in the classroom. A task analysis and instructions for implementation are provided and results discussed.

Hands are a vector for the transmission of a variety of infections and it is commonly recognized that touching the eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands may transmit infections (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2020). Face touching has not frequently been evaluated in the behavioral literature; however, face touching can be considered a socially significant behavior in need of assessment and intervention. The current study evaluated face touching across various antecedent conditions as a replication of previous research (Bosch, 2011; Woods & Miltenberger, 1996) over Zoom. Conditions were conducted with participants at a desk and included an alone condition where the participant was not allowed access to any materials, a demand condition where participants were asked to answer a sequence of demanding math problems, and a free condition where participants were allowed access to preferred items. Face touching among participants has been variable, with some participants showing differentiation between conditions. Implications for habit reversal interventions will be discussed.

In recent years, concerns relating to global warming and the need for reducing carbon emissions has increased. An effective approach for reducing overall carbon emissions is to increase sustainability related behaviors. While such an approach affords this utility, an underlying factor that potentially limits the extent to which individuals engage in sustainable behavior is limited knowledge or information as to what specific behaviors are considered to be sustainable. As such, there is a need for a methodology to identify deficits as they relate to sustainability behavior. The current study discusses the development of an assessment designed to provide a measure of an individual’s sustainability behavior. In addition, researchers sought to evaluate the validity of the assessment by determining the extent to which assessment scores were related to carbon output. Scores for the sustainability assessment as well as carbon footprint measures were collected, and a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was obtained between the two measures. The results showed a moderate, negative correlation between scores on the sustainability assessment and carbon footprint measures. These findings suggest the sustainability assessment is a valid tool which has good correspondence with other sustainability measures, and it can be used to identify sustainability related behavior deficits.

Feminist countercontrol (or feminist resistance to oppression) might have its emancipatory potential compromised if understood in an apolitical way that disregards the necessary collective articulations for its occurrence. Seeking to point to some directions that might help avoid those risks, the aim of this work is to outline some prerequisites for countercontrol not to be emptied of its transformative political potential when connected to feminism. These conditions are: 1) a feminist verbal community compounded by one (or several) organized groups of women; 2) the recognition of the different kinds of oppressive controls that stem from the masculine domination system; 3) women's intersectional self-knowledge in oppressive gendered controls to enable them to build self-definitions about their own reality; 4) micro and macropolitical confrontation of that oppression by articulating redistribution and recognition politics and 5) resistance to backlash based on self-control and sorority. A concept of countercontrol understood in those terms and intertwined with that conceptual web mitigates the risks of political emptying and neoliberal co-optations of the movement, increasing the chances of an effective social transformation that positively affects all women.

Prior research over multiple generations has shown lower levels of risk-taking in females compared to males, and lower risk taking in mothers compared to non-mothers (Abbott-Chapman et al., 2007). Risk can be defined behaviorally within a choice-making framework where choices confer a probabilistic gain that co-occurs with a probabilistic loss. Low levels of risk-taking can be advantageous in some contexts but harmful in others. For example, Ekelund et al. (2005) showed that individuals who demonstrated high risk aversion were less likely to become independent entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship may be considered risky because, although the financial potential is high, so too are social, financial, and temporal loses. In the present study, we evaluated the relationship between a shared experience of mothers – parenting – on probability discounting as a behavioral model of risk and risk aversion. Participants completed three probability discounting tasks. The first was the standard discounting task. In the second task, the participants imagined that they had a young child and were required to actively interact with this scenario before completing the discounting task. In the third task, the participants imagined the child had a chronic illness that necessitated lengthy hospitalization. Results showed that the least risky (i.e., lowest discounting rates) were observed in the condition with the sick child, and the most risky (i.e., highest discounting rates) were observed in the baseline condition. These results suggest that contextual factors associated with parenting may mediate risk-taking in mothers with implications for employment, advancement, and entrepreneurship.

Study Objectives: At the target kindergarten, it conducted an intervention using interdependent group-oriented contingency, in which all group-oriented members were given a reinforcer when they completed cleaning up toys within a target time using a visual timer after morning free play. The same intervention was continued, but gradually the clean-up behavior within the time limit became unsustainable. Therefore, we added independent group-oriented contingency and examined its effect. Research Design: ABABA design was used. Scene: Cleaning up after free play in the morning at the kindergarten. Subjects: 14 kindergarten children playing in the free play area. Several developmentally disabled children with intellectual disabilities were also included. Baseline (Condition A): When the cleaning up music began to play, a visual timer indicating the set time was presented, and the time until the completion of clean up was measured. When the cleanup was completed within the set time, a snack was offered to all children. Intervention (Condition B): When the clean-up was completed within the set time, the teacher selected two MVPs(the Most Valuable Player); the MVPs were offered two snacks first, and the other members were offered one snack. Results: Changing to condition B, in which the MVP was selected, shortened the time required for cleanup; changing to condition A almost maintained the cleanup within the set time, but the time required gradually increased. Conclusion: The results show the effects of adding an intervention using independent group-oriented-oriented contingency to an intervention using dependent group-oriented contingency. Other-blaming behaviors among children, which are more likely to occur in interventions using group-oriented contingency, did not occur after the introduction of Condition B.

Chronic antisocial behavior during childhood and adolescence is one of the problems that most affect healthy development. It results in damage to the relationship with the environment, social interactions, delinquency, mental health, and unemployment. Coercion has been defined as a set of interpersonal tactics, display in a social context, through which individuals or groups use aversive behavior to obtain rewards and access to desired activities, status and avoid or escape control and aversive demands. Coercion can be defined in terms of its topography and social function. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the dyadic patterns of children with coercive behavior and control children of three age groups based on their interactions in conflict. Six dyads of parent-child from three age groups: 3 to 5-year-old (2 children), 7 to 9-year-old (2 children), and 13 to 15 -year-old (2 adolescents). Children and parents were observed about their interaction in three different situations: academic activity, free play, and independent activity. Adolescent-parent interaction was also observed in three different situations: two situations of negotiation (one low and one high probability of conflict) and independent activity. Each dyad participated in an online intervention and was observed in three sessions before the intervention, four sessions during the intervention, and three sessions after the intervention. It was analyzed the conditional probabilities of present each behavior that conjured the patterns and the symmetry of the interaction.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood behavioural disorders (Taylor, 1998). Although ADHD is primarily thought of as a childhood disorder, studies have found that ADHD symptoms persist into adulthood in between 8% and 43% of cases (Spencer et al., 2002). ADHD is considered to be a continuum disorder, with symptoms grading into the non-clinical population as ADHD-like traits (see e.g. Panagiotidi et al., 2017). The main symptoms of ADHD are usually considered to be overactivity, impulsiveness and inattentiveness (Taylor, 1998). However, it is becoming increasingly recognised that ADHD also affects emotionality, and that ‘emotion dysregulation’ - a disruption of an individual's ability to modify an emotional state so as to promote adaptive, goal-oriented behaviours - is a central component of the suite of ADHD symptoms (Shaw et at., 2014). The extent to which emotion dysregulation is associated with the classical symptoms of ADHD like distractibility is unknown. Understanding the relationship between distractibility and emotion dysregulation could help people with ADHD develop sustained attention and focus; that is, if emotion dysregulation is connected with distractibility, it may be possible to treat the latter by focusing on the former. In addition, if emotion dysregulation and distractibility are connected, that may give clues to the underlying neural dysfunction in ADHD. Aim: to explore whether distractibility is related to emotion dysregulation in a non-clinical population with varying levels of ADHD-like traits. Methods: To measure distractibility, participants undertook a modified Sustained Attention to Response Test (SART), presented online. Participants were shown a series of letters and they needed to press the space bar every time they see an **X**. On some trials the letters were accompanied by a distractor (a big black bar at either the top, bottom, left or right of the letter). After the task, they filled in a series of questionnaires, including a measure of emotion dysregulation and a measure of ADHD-like traits. The main measure from the task is reaction times on X trials, comparing reaction times on trials with the distractor to reaction times on trials without.

This study investigates the influence of two stimulus presentation algorithms on response frequency in a matching to sample procedure. One algorithm prioritizes the presentation of sample stimuli that previously evoked slow and fast responses while the other algorithm favors stimuli that previously evoked error responses. In a comparison of the two algorithms, a stimulus set was changed to a random stimulus presentation once it reached mastery, this influenced responding in the set that had not yet reached mastery. An alternating treatments designs was used to investigate if response frequencies change if both algorithms switch to a random stimulus presentation when response frequencies reach aim for the first time under either stimulus set. The results showed that the accurate algorithm was the most effective algorithm to produce response frequencies at the aim for a four out of five participants. Additionally, when the stimulus sets changed to random presentation, the response frequencies under each stimulus set varied. Despite variations in data, the remediation stimulus set never overtook the accurate stimulus set neither in the additional training nor subsequent days with different stimulus pairs.

Many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) do not develop functional vocal speech and may require alternative/augmentative communication (AAC) systems, such as speech generating devices (SGD). iPad® and the Proloquo2Go™ application is one example of a SGD that may be implemented by clinicians, along with intervention methods aimed at teaching the child to use the device to communicate. This study compared two AAC intervention methods for children who have a diagnosis of ASD and who use iPad® and Proloquo2Go™: aided language modeling (ALM; Binger & Light, 2007) and incidental teaching (IT; Hart & Risley, 1975). A parallel treatments design (Gast & Wolery, 1988) was employed to compare the effectiveness of the two interventions in increasing the use of novel symbol use on an iPad® with the Proloquo2Go™ application. Initial results suggest that IT results in a higher frequency of independent, contextually relevant, single-symbol utterances during a play activity than does ALM.

Parents of children with autism who live in low-resource settings have reported exacerbated hardships of raising their children with autism due to limited infrastructure for their children’s treatment and education, social and financial support for parents, and stigmatization of disabilities. Parents in Mongolia, an example of low-resource setting, also reported the needs for more training opportunities to build and increase their capacity to deliver interventions themselves in response to inaccessible treatment options in their country. To address the low level of resources, we are conducting a single case research using a multiple probe design across parents who participate as parent-coaches to coach other Mongolian parents with the purpose of increasing capacity of parents who live in LRS. We developed a training and coaching program based on components that were examined previously in the literature. The coaches are trained on principles of behavior management, social-communication teaching strategies, and coaching practices. We will analyze the functional relations between the intervention and the coaching fidelity using visual analysis. Social validity data will also be collected using individual interviews with the participants in order to determine the acceptability and feasibility such intervention and capacity building practices in a low-resource setting.

The maladaptive behaviors accompanying those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often cause issues of depression and family cohesion for the child’s primary caregiver. Unfortunately, few programs exist addressing the need for therapeutic interventions for parents of children with ASD. Social support and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques have been shown to have the greatest impact on parental well-being. The current program, Parenting Children with Autism Together (PCAT), will focus on providing social support and therapeutic services to parents of children with ASD. The program will consist of 12 parent pairs meeting biweekly for 12, 2 hour sessions. Therapeutic services will incorporate aspects of CBT, including acceptance commitment therapy and optimism training, while social support will be facilitated through small-group therapy sessions. Program success will be measured using participant pre- and post-scores on the Beck Depression Inventory and Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluations Scales IV. At the conclusion of the program, parents should demonstrate reduced depression and increased family cohesion. This program is imperative to ensure parents of children with ASD are receiving the support necessary to overcome parental exhaustion and tension. Providing parents with proper support will increase their quality of life and ability to efficiently raise their child with ASD.

Adults diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are underrepresented in the workforce (Grob et al., 2019). One strategy that has been used to teach job-related skills is Behavioral Skills Training (BST; (Anderson et al., 2017). This project evaluated the effects of BST with embedded video models on the acquisition of customer service signs for one 23-year-old man diagnosed with ASD. Sessions were conducted through video conferencing. Initially, BST was used to teach five dyads of signs as listener responding targets. Generalization to tacts and intraverbals was simultaneously assessed. A multiple probe design across dyads of signs was used to examine the percentage of steps completed with the correct location, handshape, hand movement, and orientation for listener responding and intraverbal targets. Tact performance was analyzed as the number of correct sign segments signed. Preliminary results suggest that BST led to the acquisition of listener responding targets and some tacts and intraverbals emerged without direction training. However, additional training may be necessary to promote maintenance and generalization to other verbal operants. Future directions will include assessing generalization of intraverbal targets to the workplace during contrived customer interactions.

In this study, we tested the effects of gradual exposure to the blood testing lab, to the nurse and to different needles for a 13-year-old male Participant diagnosed with Autism. The subject was selected because of his history of failed attempts to be tested, that resulted in the emission of highly disruptive avoidance behaviour in the presence of doctors, needles, labs and even nurse’s coats. The dependent variable for this study was the duration of appropriate and problem behaviour in pre and post probes. The independent variables for this study were forward chaining and response shaping tactics, with a changing criterion design. The training lasted four days and the total task was achieved after 10 implementation sessions in the clinical setting. A post probe was also conducted at home, where a certified nurse could completed the blood draw and recorded no problem behaviour. This positive result was achieved in a short time and the blood sampling took place successfully at the boy’s home, therefore future studies are in place, with a larger sample of participants and the generalization of performance within healthcare settings.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often exhibit deficits in daily living skills, including toileting skills. Previous studies have evaluated components of common toilet training practices, including differential reinforcement, sit schedules, fluid loading, underwear, and wet alarms. Many children with ASD participate in clinic- or school-based toilet training programs; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these services were no longer available to many individuals. The purpose of this study was to coach caregivers of children with ASD via telehealth to implement the toilet training treatment package as described by Perez et al. (2020), utilizing a dense sit schedule, differential reinforcement, and underwear. The participant dyad in this study is a 4-year old boy diagnosed with ASD and his biological mother, who implemented the procedures and collected data under the guidance of the researcher. The caregiver was trained to implement procedures using behavior skills training and demonstrated high treatment integrity throughout the study. The child reached the mastery criteria of 100% successful eliminations and zero accidents, while the sit schedule was faded to 90 min. Performance was maintained at the follow-up session, suggesting the procedures utilized in this study may be an effective practice for toilet training children in this population.

Social dysfunction is a hallmark feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that significantly affects individuals with ASD regardless of cognitive or language functioning (Carter, Davis, Klin, & Volkmar, 2005). Social skills training for children with ASD that incorporate parent training has been found to produce improvements in greeting and play behaviors, as well as conversational skills (Radley, Jenson,Clark, & O'Neil, 2014). Perhaps the most critical element of any parent training program is generalization of skills from the clinic or school to the home setting (Matson, Mahan, & LoVullo, 2009). The purpose of this study was to compare the effects and consistency of the instructional methods self-guided manuals and in-vivo (live class) during parent trainings. The experimental design used was the alternating treatment design with four phases: Phase 1 baseline with parent and instructor, Phase 2 baseline with parent and child, Phase 3 in-vivo training with parent and instructor, and Phase 4 with self-guided manual parent and child. Three parent-child dyads meeting inclusion criteria were selected for the study. Adult participants will participate in two instructional methods, self-instructed manuals and in-vivo trainings, on teaching social skills to their child with ASD. The self-guided manuals and in-vivo training was compared to determine which is more effective for adult participants to utilize and complete. Results indicated the ease of implementation of procedures must be considered if parents are likely to use them. Involving parents in the implementation of this study shown effectiveness is understanding their child with ASD's potential for social independent living and to continue to provide opportunities for child with ASD to use the learned skills even after the completion of the study.

We replicated the toilet training program for children with autism described by Cocchiola, Martino, Dwyer, & Demezzo (2012) and tested its effects with two 5 year old boys with Autism and multiple disability. The study was conducted in a private learning center, where the Participants were brought to the experimenters’ attention due to the failure to reach bathroom independence both in their kindergartens and at their homes. The dependent variable for this study was the number of correct urinations in the toilet and accidents for session. The independent variable was a replicated toilet training procedure, with the removal of diapers during education sessions at the center, a gradually increased scheduled intervals for bathroom visits and the delivery of social reinforcers immediately after a correct independent response. This study used a changing criterion design and showed that the procedure was effective for both Participants in the center’s setting. Parents and regular kindergarten’s teachers also reported that the results were generalized and maintained at home and in school for both children. Future studies should focus on training efficiency, teachers and parents’ training and should investigate more on behaviors pivotal to successful toileting training, such as communication.

As the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder continues to increase, so does the demand for qualified educators that are trained in developing functional behavior assessments and implementing behavior intervention plans. The purpose of this project was to develop a statewide model for training teachers in functional behavior assessment and behavior intervention plans. Through a series of workshop trainings with local educators and state regional education professionals, teachers from across the state of Texas were taught foundational skills for assessing behavioral function and identifying function-based interventions for the behavior intervention plan. Transition implications were also incorporated to emphasize the need for long-term outcomes. Following the trainings, teachers demonstrated increases in competency test scores as well as positive social validity scores. Strategies to improve the dissemination of evidence-based procedures will be discussed and include formal Coaching Models and increased access to online materials. Implementation challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic will also be discussed.

Intensive behavior analytic intervention can reduce destructive behavior; however, relapse may occur once treatment is discontinued. Relatively little information is available on the likelihood of readmission to intensive services for the treatment of severe behavior. We reviewed 271 intensive admissions to a university-based severe behavior program over a 10 year period. Over those 10 years, 8.1% (n = 22) of cases represented readmissions. For some cases, the reason for treatment breakdown was relatively clear (i.e., change in topography, change in function, or previously prescribed treatment was no longer feasible), however, in most cases, it was unclear the exact reason treatment had broken down. We discuss several variables which may contribute to treatment readmission and implications for the clinical assessment and treatment of severe destructive behavior.

Clinicians are often faced with challenges regarding the development of interventions for behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement. One common method for treating automatically reinforced behavior involves the noncontingent presentation of competing stimuli. Groskreutz, Groskreutz, and Higbee (2011) compared the use of a paired-choice preference assessment and a competing stimulus assessment as means of identifying stimuli that may effectively compete with automatically reinforced behavior. They found that items identified using a competing stimulus assessment were more effective than those identified by using a paired-choice preference assessment when presented non-contingently on a fixed time schedule to treat vocal stereotypy in a young child with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The present study replicated and extended Groskreutz et al. (2011). Two adult learners with ASD who lived in a residential campus-based program participated. We used a competing stimulus assessment and a paired choice preference assessment to identify stimuli to compete with ritualistic behavior. Results indicated that the highly competing items from the competing stimulus assessment helped to decrease ritualistic behavior more than highly preferred items when presented non-contingently using a fixed time schedule.

Perspective taking skills were found lacking in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We evaluated procedures for teaching one student with ASD to describe if a specific stimulus he was or wasn’t able to tact has been tacted or not by a different person. We evaluated the clinical efficacy of a teaching procedure composed by priming, prompting, fading and reinforcement using a multiple baseline across test conditions design (see, hear, touch). During the intervention, after presenting a verbal statement with or without salient stimuli to the student (e.g. “my car is red. Do you know the color of my car?”), (1) we evoked a previously taught set of responses consisting in a qualifying autoclitic (e.g. “yes” or “no”) followed by the tact of sources of control of the previous response, formulated with an autoclitic frame (e.g. “because I see/hear/touch” or “because I don’t see/hear/touch” in response to the question “why do/don’t you know?”); (2) we presented the same questions relating to the condition in which a different person may or may not contact the same stimuli (e.g. “your mother in the other room knows the color of my car? Why does/doesn’t she know?), prompting the correct response using the same kind of autoclitic frames. After no response in baseline for the second set of questions (2) in the three test conditions, we used a different set of stimuli during the teaching phase. After reaching mastery criteria we presented again, as post training, the same set of stimuli used in baseline. The student reached mastery criteria for the untaught sets in each test condition. We discuss how this skill may be related to more advanced perspective taking skills, based on Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior.

Raising a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) implies that family members are under great pressure. Exploring the needs of caregivers could help them reduce stress and better integrate them into their children's rehabilitation. Most children with autism are difficult to express their needs, the expression of needs based on parents' perspective is more comprehensive and deeper. A total of 162 caregivers of children with ASD completed a family information form and a questionnaire about different needs areas. A descriptive analysis was performed from the responses. The caregivers in the study refer to people who mainly take care of children with autism in the daily life, not limited to parents. Six dimensions of need emerged: professional knowledge, mental health, material, information, emotional support and action support. Needs priorities were different for caregivers with a child with ASD. The main purpose of the study is to explore the needs of caregivers and identify priority needs areas. The results could help researchers support families of children with autism in a practical way.

Youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently play video games. Social deficits underlying the disorder make this population more vulnerable to safety threats online than neurotypical children. Behavioral skills training (BST) has proven to be an effective methodology to teach safety skills to children with ASD to use in response to abduction lures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using BST to teach youth with ASD safety skills to use in response to lures (e.g., “What’s your real name?”) presented by confederates to participants playing online video games. The safety skills taught to each participant were to not give the personal information, say “No”, leave the video game, and tell an adult. Results indicate that BST successfully resulted in the acquisition of the gaming safety skills. The results are consistent with the findings of previous studies using BST to teach safety skills effectively and efficiently.

Competing stimulus assessments have been shown to identify stimuli that can compete with automatically maintained self-injurious behavior (ASIB; LeBlanc, Patel, & Carr, 2000). There is some evidence emerging that indicates engagement with tasks may also be effective at reducing rates of ASIB (Rooker, et al., in press); however, tasks have rarely been evaluated for this purpose. In the current study, four participants in a clinical trial investigating treatment-resistant ASIB completed a competing task assessment (CTA) to systematically identify tasks that potentially competed with SIB. In doing so, we evaluated the impact of having tasks freely available, and when necessary, systematically included response promotion (e.g., response prompting for task engagement), reductive components (e.g., response blocking SIB), and combinations of these procedures, on the rate of SIB. Using this approach, multiple competing tasks were identified to reduce ASIB for all four participants, but only after the inclusion of response promotion and reductive components were added.

Treatment integrity is the degree to which prescribed interventions are implemented as intended (Gresham et al., 2000). Behavior analysts can use treatment integrity data to assess the quality of intervention, guide programming decisions, and train behavior-change agents. These data may be collected in many ways including rating scales, all-or-none implementation scores, or event recording for each component of the intervention. Each data collection method may differ in utility due to differences in level of detail, ease of use, time to completion, analysis, and reliability. Our lab developed a study to compare these systems. To accomplish this, we created a self-paced training using modified behavioral skills training. Graduate research assistants scored baseline videos following minimal instruction, received individualized training to address deficits, and continued scoring videos with feedback until their responding met the mastery criterion. The purpose of this poster is to describe the training process and types of treatment integrity data collection methods used to evaluate therapists’ treatment integrity when implementing discrete-trial instruction with a three-year-old child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The structure and data produced by each method will be described.

A lack of prevocational skills training, including social skill training, results in barriers to meaningful community involvement and quality of life for individuals with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which video modeling of others and behavior specific praise affected the acquisition and maintenance of social skills in a functional vocational training context for high school students with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability. A multiple baseline design across subjects was used to examine the effects of video modeling and behavior specific praise on the acquisition and maintenance of social skills needed for vocational training, as evidenced by independently demonstrated communication of greetings and closings, positive affect, and eye contact. After the intervention, the majority of study participants exhibited an increase of demonstrated target behaviors (eye contact, positive affect, verbal communication of greetings and closings) during vocational skills training and at two-week maintenance. The study results indicated the use of peer video modeling and behavior specific praise as an efficacious and cost-effective intervention for teaching social skills in a prevocational context to adolescents with severe autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability.

Equivalence class formation is reflected in the electrophysiological (EEG) component N400, research has demonstrated. Stimuli pair related through symmetry and transitivity/equivalence do not produce a N400 ms after stimuli presentation while unrelated do. In the current experiment, 24 adults with high function autism and 28 normally developed adults participated. 6 conditional discriminations with C-stimuli as meaningful where trained before a priming test, conducted with EEG-measures. Related and unrelated stimuli pairs were presented and the participant was instructed to response to the pairs, related or unrelated. The results show that the unrelated pairs produced N400 and related pair did not. This was the matter in both groups, but the N400 peak was slightly smaller in the group with Autism spectrum disorder. The conclusion is that unrelated stimuli pair produced a change in the N400 component compared with stimuli pair related through symmetry and transitivity/equivalence in both groups.

Joint control procedure has been used to teach complex verbal behaviors such as matching to sample, sequencing, and listener response. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of using joint control as a teaching procedure on listener response to children with autism. Specifically, the researcher wanted to evaluate the effectiveness of joint control procedure on teaching listener response using language matrix (e.g., having a red train, blue train, red car, blue car) in front of the child and asking the child to find one colored item with other stimuli as distractions. Three school-aged children participate in the study. A multiple probe design was used and there were three phases: pre-test, joint control training, and post-test. The finding reported that joint control is an effective teaching to children with autism. Implications and future studies are discussed in the paper as well.

Functional communication training (FCT) is a highly effective intervention to reduce challenging behavior among individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Even though there is a wide array of literature supporting functional communication training's effectiveness, there are still difficulties that come with implementing the intervention outside of a clinical setting. One difficulty is the continuous schedule of reinforcement for the functional communicative response that is utilized during initial phases of intervention cannot be maintained in natural settings. Reinforcement schedule thinning addresses this drawback with various approaches to systematically thin the schedule of reinforcement to a schedule that is more appropriate for natural change agents in natural settings. Despite the fact that schedule thinning is more appropriate for natural change agents, natural settings, and natural stimuli, there is a gap in the literature on how to successfully implement schedule thinning outside of clinical settings. The aim of the current study is to implement multiple schedules in a home setting via telehealth with caregivers as the implementer while using natural stimuli.

Because of the intimate nature of inappropriate sexual behavior (ISB), there is limited literature on this behavior and its treatments. Additionally, most of the research on ISB has been done with university students or individuals with dementia. The current poster will describe functional behavior assessments (FBAs) conducted for two twin 8-year-old boys with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; pseudo names: Zach & Cody). It was predicted that various functions and frequencies for behaviors might be found in different settings and with different therapists. Both students' FBAs included a therapist-completed Functional Assessment Screening Tool (FAST) and open-ended functional assessment interview (Hanley, 2012) with a therapist, an unstructured parent interview, and direct observations conducted by the researchers. It was found that ISB was more likely to happen during periods of low attention (i.e., transitions, lunch, and recess) and less likely to occur during high attention periods (i.e., one-on-one-therapy). Before developing individualized behavior support plans, the researchers provided the classroom staff and parents with recommendations to decrease both boys' ISB. The Tier 1 training included providing behavior-specific praise when students kept hands to themselves, reminding them of expectations before transitions, during lunch, during recess, and removing attention when students engaged in ISB.

Multiple schedules prevail in the natural environment such as differing rates of reinforcement within and outside of therapy sessions, inconsistent consequences by different caregivers and varying contingencies in the school and home environments. Basic research on multiple schedules have revealed contrast effects in the animal laboratory, yet the extension of these phenomena to human participants warrants further research. This study represents an initial investigation into how multiple schedules may be arranged in the context of intervention sessions to program for the emergence of negative behavioral contrast. During the baseline phase, all occurrences of visual stereotypy and vocal stereotypy were interrupted and redirected. Data were collected on rates of stereotypy occurring during reinforcement intervals and stereotypy occurring during work periods. During the intervention phase, response interruption and redirection continued to be implemented during work periods. However, no programmed consequences for stereotypy occurring during reinforcement intervals. Results suggest negative behavioral contrast, evidenced by reduced rates of stereotypy during the unchanged component of the multiple schedule. This case study suggests that explicitly programming for negative behavioral contrast might benefit the learner by reducing rates of aberrant behavior during teaching. Implications of these initial findings and areas for future investigation will be provided.

Empirical studies had demonstrated the efficacy of group contingency on managing behaviors in multiple contexts. Due to the current COVID 19 pandemic, face-to-face early intervention service at the clinic have been suspended and, for many families, has transitioned to primarily or partially telehealth-based services. Authors extended the literature by directly comparing two variations of group contingency, the independent group contingency (“Fantastakid” condition) and the randomized dependent group contingency (“Team hero” condition), to evaluate the relative effectiveness of each as a tool to promote on-task behavior through a telehealth-based social skills program on children with autism. Two young children with autism (age range from 4-7) participated in the current study. Both of them were able to communicate through clear speech and have a fair repertoire of both receptive and expressive skills. An alternating treatment design was utilized to evaluate intervention effects. Results suggested a lack of clear differentiation between the two conditions. In addition, social validity measures suggested that both procedures were feasible for staff to implement, acceptable to both participants, and produced minimal adverse effects.

Behavior analysts frequently use physical guidance to facilitate skill acquisition. However, in some situations, physical guidance may be contraindicated (e.g., large stature, touch aversion, trauma history). We conducted a systematic literature review of alternatives to physical guidance in articles from 2009-2020 that included school-aged children (3-18 years) with autism spectrum disorder. Preliminary results of 242 articles with 1,247 participants indicate that video modeling was the primary alternative intervention, followed by the use of model (e.g., physical or pictorial), vocal, and gestural prompts within intervention packages. Interestingly, of the interventions using video modeling, 38.04% included another intervention component that did use physical guidance (e.g., least-to-most prompting). Few published studies compared the efficacy of physical guidance and alternative interventions (5.79%). We present data systematically quantifying the efficacy and efficiency of skill acquisition with and without physical guidance. Many intervention packages include environmental manipulations (e.g., activity schedules) and other intervention components (e.g., differential reinforcement) to enhance the efficacy of skill acquisition interventions. We further report on the lack of generalization (51.24%), maintenance (47.11%), and social validity (38.84%) measures in the studies included in this review. Further, we discuss the implications of selecting alternatives when physical guidance is contraindicated and explore best practices.

Finding creative ways to effectively supervise and mentor staff serving children and adults with autism takes a commitment to consistently reflect upon an organization’s practices and evidence-based strategies to provide efficient high quality training. The foundation of our model is assessing and efficiently training new staff within our organization, in many cases new to the field, utilizing a behavior skills training (BST) approach, combined with competencies derived from the Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) task list. The pillars of our model are ongoing monitoring and feedback via data-based decision making. This includes observing registered behavior technicians and completing a customized pre-made treatment integrity checklist to ensure they are following all aspects of an individual’s plan. Once this is completed, staff are further supported by ongoing monitoring and feedback. This includes include frequent supervision and mentorship, individual-specific treatment integrity checklists, ongoing trainings and job supports. These components are necessary to ensure the development and support of qualified staff working to provide effective, evidence-based interventions to enhance the quality of life of children and adults with autism receiving services.

This pilot study investigated the effectiveness of training parents of children diagnosed with autism, on speech therapy home goals, using Behavioral Skills Training and video modelling. Five parents enrolled in the study. All the children were receiving individual speech therapy at an ABA based school . Child specific goals were identified, and parents were trained to implement the goal specific intervention on their own child using BST. A video model of the therapists was shared with parents to practice the same procedure with their child for 20 days. The parents were trained by the speech therapist, in consultation with a doctorate level behavior analyst, until they completed the procedure with 80% accurate. They were asked to use the procedure for 20 days at home. The average independence with which the child was demonstrating the skill before parent training was 18% (Range 10-30) percent. After parent training, this increased to 84% (Range 70-100), which is 4.66 times increase. This pilot study highlighted the effectiveness of training parents and including them in their child's therapy. We used evidence-based method of training the parents on their child's home goals. A significance improvement in their child's skills was noted. This is a one-of-a-kind interdisciplinary study which uses the behavioral technique of teaching skills to individuals. Future investigation should look to see the number of times the parents use the technique at home. Also, we should take data on how accurate they used the treatment at home.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been reported, through observations and self-evaluation, to have difficulties engaging in social interactions, including understanding another’s nonverbal social cues and mental states, referred to a theory of mind or perspective taking. Research has shown that adolescents with ASD are more likely to require support with establishing relationships into adulthood if perspective taking needs not addressed and can result in feelings of isolation, peer-rejection, and depression symptoms. Which is why, addressing the foundational social skills at the age in which it typically develops is of critical importance. Several previously published articles have demonstrated the efficiency of using video modeling to teach first-order perspective taking skills, to both children and young adolescents with autism, but have primarily occurred within in-person teaching. Due to COVID-19, in-person applied behavior analysis (ABA) services, had to rapidly adjust to find meaningful ways to provide medically necessary services through telehealth. To further extend the current literature, this research sought to evaluate if first-order perspective taking could be taught through telehealth services using video models and what supports would need to be in place for the program to be successful. A multiple baseline design across participants and within participate across tasks was used with three children with autism. Results revealed that although first-order perspective taking skills could be taught through telehealth using video models, progress occurred at various rates based on prerequisite skills. Recommendations for future research are described as well since generalization in the natural environment was unable to occur.

Aravamudhan & Awasthi (2019) trained a 19-year-old girl with ASD and profound speech sound disorders to echo syllables accurately and at high rates using Precision Teaching (Maloney, 1998) and lip-tongue-teeth prompts. One of the study’s limitations was that it did not demonstrate if the participant could achieve fluent word articulation. In the current study, the participant was substituting the ‘th’ sound for the ‘t’ sound while echoing words such as ‘tomato,’ ‘water,’ and ‘pasta.’ She received training with lip-tongue-teeth prompts to say ‘tu’ correctly at a frequency aim of 60-80 echoic responses per minute. Concurrently she was trained on the target words ‘tomato’ and ‘cootu’ (a dish with vegetables and lentils), which required the ‘t’ sound, using prompts, shaping, chaining, frequency building (Fabrizio & Moors, 2003), within-session feedback, priming (Cihon et al., 2017), and celeration charting. The study is underway with fluency aim achieved with two targets and the third near fluency levels. The preliminary results suggest that the intervention was effective. Other fluency outcomes such as retention, endurance, and agility (Binder, 1996) will be discussed.

First, Karla Zabala will present on research related to assessing language preference among individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or other developmental disorders who have been exposed to more than one language. The research study consisted of two parts: Study 1 evaluated language preference during play contexts and Study 2 evaluated language preference within instructional contexts. Next, Mariela Hostetler will provide a description of challenges faced by Latinx communities in need of behavioral health services. In particular, two general types of barriers faced by Latinx consumers of behavioral health services are discussed: those related to language and those related to cultural issues. Then, Marlesha Bell will provide a discussion on future research in areas to consider when providing services and treatment to Spanish speaking communities.

Behavior analysts

Latinxs constitute the largest minority group in the United States, currently making up approximately 18% of the total US population (US Census Bureau, 2018). While there is a critical need for the behavioral healthcare system, including behavior analysts, to be prepared and organized to support the Latinx community, research indicates that the quality of and access to behavioral and mental health services are often lacking for Latinxs and other minorities (Cabassa, Molina, & Baron, 2012; Dahne et al., 2019). This presentation provides a description of challenges faced by Latinx communities in need of behavioral health services. In particular, two general types of barriers faced by Latinx consumers of behavioral health services are examined: those related to language and those related to cultural issues. They also represent substantial challenges to behavior analytic providers who have a responsibility to make behavior analytic services accessible to all. Specific recommendations such as behavioral organizations and universities contributing to increase diversity among behavior analysts are discussed. Future research and the development of culturally sensitive treatments are further discussed.

Previous research has demonstrated that individuals with ASD who have been exposed to more than one language do not experience any additional language delays compared to their monolingual peers (Hambly and Fombonne, 2011). In addition, research has not noted any indication of negative outcomes associated with language abilities among bilingual/multilingual children with ASD (Drysdale et al., 2015). The majority of the research surrounding bilingual or multilingual individuals diagnosed with autism or other developmental disabilities has focused on conducting communication assessments to assess participants’ psychometric performance. Research related to language preferences exhibited by these individuals is scarce. The purpose of the current study was to assess language preference among individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or other developmental disorders who have been exposed to more than one language. The research study consisted of two parts: Study 1 evaluated language preference during play contexts and Study 2 evaluated language preference within instructional contexts.

Our actions often seem spontaneous. Motivation for action seems to come mysteriously from within. But B.F. Skinner argued that social behavior is in fact not spontaneous (Skinner, 1938). We are in reality products of our lived experiences. But what happens when we derive fixed rules about other people in the present based on experiences in the past? Skinner was committed to understanding the relationship between the learned categories we deploy in social interactions and the different social contexts that produce meaning (contingencies of reinforcement). Sociologists have detailed how social encounters are taking place within racialized spaces (Lewis 2003; Haynes 2006; Anderson) that marginalize (Eberhardt 2019) and stigmatize (Hughes 1963; Wacquant 2008; Anderson 2011) Black Americans who are widely perceived to be associated with poverty (Duneier 2016)), crime and criminalization (Muhammad 2019), and cultural and social dysfunction (Moynihan 1965). Stigmatization and marginalization leads to a “deficit of credibility” that devalues black voices (Anderson 2011). In this talk, I will link a functional contextual approach (Hayes 1993) to a fuller understanding of the historical context of racial classification and scripted racial differences, and offer behavioral psychologists new ways to better identify contingencies of reinforcement in a social context. This approach is parsimonious and consistent with a radical behavioral world view.

Behavioral Analysis, Psychologists, Social Workers, Clinical Psychologists, School Counselors, Teachers

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.

This symposium is comprised of three data-based presentations evaluating the implementation of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) with individuals with various developmental disabilities (i.e. Rett syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, and Down syndrome) and verbal operants in the context of home and school. The three applied studies sought to evaluate critical aspects of high- and low-tech AAC including accurate and independent responding, navigation, comprehension, and vocal development. First, Shawn Girtler will present findings from a study evaluating the effects of behavior chaining, prompt delay, and prompt fading on AAC navigation with individuals with Rett syndrome. Next, Emily Unholz-Bowden will present on the effect of device type (low-tech vs. high-tech) on accurate and independent responding with similar participants. Following, Kavya Kandarpa will present findings from a study evaluating the effects of magnitude on AAC and vocalizations. Finally, Rachel Cagliani will discuss the presentations in terms of implications for practice and future research.

Audience participants should have a basic understanding of augmentative and alternative communication, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and principles of reinforcement.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of reinforcer magnitude on response allocation across two different communication modalities (vocalizations and picture exchange). A single-subject reversal design was used to evaluate the effects of altering the magnitude of requested items with one male participant in a classroom setting who engaged in limited and inconsistent vocalizations. This study took place in a classroom that served students with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorder for kindergarten to second grade students, as well as in a teachers’ workroom. In the first intervention, the participant received the larger magnitude reinforcement for vocalizations and small magnitude reinforcement for picture exchange. In the second intervention, the participant received small magnitude reinforcement for vocalizations and the large magnitude reinforcement for picture exchange. The results showed that the participant allocated responding to the communication modality that received the larger magnitude of the requested item.

There is emerging evidence that individuals with Rett syndrome (RTT) can learn to use alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) devices. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the use of behavior chaining with a prompt delay and prompt fading on acquisition of software navigation, specifically page-linking, skills with three individuals with RTT using both low-tech and high-tech AAC devices. For one participant, page-linking was taught utilizing a high-tech AAC device. For the other two participants, page-linking was taught utilizing both a high-tech and low-tech AAC devices. We used both multi-element and multiple probe designs across contexts to evaluate independent and accurate responding. All sessions were conducted in the participant’s home by their parents with remote coaching from a research assistant via telecommunication. Results indicated that for two participants, prompt delay was an effective procedure to teach page-linking using both a high-tech and a low-tech AAC device. For the other participant, behavior chaining with a prompt delay was an effective procedure to teach page-linking using a high-tech AAC device. Future research should utilize experimental methods to expand on navigation to include page-linking for multiple word phrases.

The vast majority of individuals with Rett syndrome (RTT) do not have vocal, expressive language and therefore require alternative and augmentative communication (AAC). The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of instruction on the independent and accurate use of communication modalities emitted by two individuals with RTT using a low-tech and high-tech communication device. We used a multiple probe design across categories with the one participant and a multielement design with the other participant in teaching use of both high-tech and low-tech AAC devices. Parents conducted all sessions with remote coaching from a research assistant via telecommunication. For one participant, following exposure to either contingent reinforcement or behavior chaining on her high-tech device, fewer sessions were required to meet performance criteria for requesting on her low-tech device and subsequently following reintroduction of the high-tech device with new requesting criteria. For the second participant, some differences in acquisition were observed between the high-tech and low-tech communication devices. Future research should use experimental methods to measure relative preference for communication modalities.

Many families of children with developmental disabilities are unable to access evidence-based practices due to a shortage of Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs). Telehealth technology can increase children's access to effective intervention from BCBAs. This symposium includes four presentations related to the use of telehealth technology to support families of children with developmental disabilities. One study evaluated the effect of telehealth training on BCBA's delivery of telehealth sessions. In two studies, parents were taught specific interventions to improve outcomes for their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Finally, the fourth study consisted of an evaluation of a 2-month caregiver training program. Implications for practice and directions for future research will be discussed.

The participants should be familiar with behavior analytic interventions for children with ASD.

A recent focus on the use of telehealth to disseminate behavioral interventions has demonstrated the utility of technology in preparing parents and educators as interventionists for their children. However, to date, there has not been an investigation into how to train practitioners (e.g., Board Certified Behavior Analysts [BCBA]) to conduct telehealth sessions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a training package, delivered via telehealth, on BCBA implementation of telehealth coaching sessions. Researchers taught three BCBAs to conduct a telehealth session using behavioral skills training. Researchers used a non-concurrent multiple baseline across participants design to evaluate the effects of the training package on BCBA implementation fidelity, as measured by the percentage of accurately completed items within a procedural fidelity checklist. All training sessions were conducted with a volunteer family simulating real telehealth scenarios as discussed in Lerman et al. (2020). After training, the BCBAs implemented the telehealth sessions with 100% fidelity and demonstrated improved fidelity during their post-training observation with their client. The presenter will discuss implications for practice as well as future research.

Research has demonstrated that interventions based on applied behavior analysis (ABA) can improve the quality of life for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, a lack of Board Certified Behavior Analysts has left many families of children with ASD unable to access evidence-based practices. This presentation will describe a program that serves families of children with ASD, ages birth to 17 years old. Caregivers implement interventions to address goals in the areas of communication, pre-academic skills, social skills, adaptive or daily living skills, and challenging behavior, with coaching delivered via telehealth. The program lasts for approximately 6 to 8 weeks. Data collection is ongoing, and we plan to present data from 30 families who participated in the program. We will present data related to (a) demographic information, (b) duration of services, (c) types of goals, and (d) improvement on individualized goals. Based on our current data, most of our coaching is being provided to mothers between 30-39 years of age. The children benefiting from the coaching program are predominately males between 3-5 years of age. Caregivers primarily chose goals focused on pre-academic or adaptive skills. Directions for future research and implications for practice will be discussed.

Neurodiversity is an approach to learning and disability that argues neurological conditions such as Autism, ADHD, and Dyslexia are the result of normal variations in the human genome. This term was coined to shift the focus of discourse from deficits, disorders, and impairments to recognition and respect as any other human variation (Disabled World, 2020). Although the number of neurodiversity advocates is increasing and conversations around neurodiversity are more frequent, systemic oppression is evident in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis. Neurodivergent clients, parents, and practitioners are expected to adopt and conform to ideas of normality. In this symposium, a group of neurodivergent ABA practitioners will create a vision for a more humble and inclusive field that embraces neurodiversity. The speakers will a) discuss the importance of presuming competence and explore ways to foster autonomy of autisitc clients, b) articulate the importance of autistic clients having access to a neurodivergent community, c) identify strategies to assess and meet the needs of families in ABA therapy, and d) examine challenges associated with invisible disabilities in workplace and offer recommendations to create a supportive environment.

Prerequisite skills and competencies: can state ethical guidelines governing behavior analytic practice; evaluate scenarios and identify ethical violations; problem-solve strategies to resolve ethical violations.

The Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) Professional and Ethical Compliance Code states that behavior analysts are to involve their clients in the planning of and consent for behavior-change programs (BACB, 4.02). In order to be involved and give consent one must be afforded an effective communication method. An estimated 25-35% of autistic children are considered minimally verbal and will need to learn communication methods other than speech (Rose, Trembath, Keen & Payntor, 2016). A functional mode of communication is a prerequisite to achieving autonomy; the ability to direct our own lives. The foundation of an effective communication method begins with presumed competence; believing that all individuals have something to say and possess the capacity to learn. This presentation will a) describe and give applicable examples of how communication partners can presume competence b) describe autonomy and how choices can be proactively presented c) describe the effect emotional state has on language output and how to prepare for that.

Long-term health prospects for autistics are currently grim. The average life expectancy for the autistic population is 36 years old (Guan & Guohua, 2017). Additionally, autistics report significant difficulty in gaining access to healthcare supports that could increase quality of life (Mason, et al., 2019). Autistics also suffer discrimination and hardship in their day-to-day lives and, while trauma-informed care is thought to be good practice for physicians, it is not yet the industry standard in medical practice (Purkey, Patel, & Phillips, 2018). Conversely, strong community ties are associated with better health-related outcomes. Lack of access to autistic communities has long been a barrier for autistics that contributes to feelings of isolation and the presentation of masking behaviors. Access to mentors secure in their neurodivergent identities with information on how best to access necessary support and accommodation for their needs could serve as models and resources for autistics. Given the fact that most supports fade out with adulthood for many autistics, fostering a sense of community to learn and grow with is a necessary next step to ensuring better outcomes for the autistic community overall.

Disabilities may be present in some environments and absent in others. In some contexts, disabilities may be both present and “invisible” (i.e., not observed). The Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) Professional Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts requires that behavior analysts refrain from providing services when their personal circumstances may compromise their delivery (1.07), but what happens when the personal circumstance results from a professional environment with inadequate arrangements to support disabilities that are unsafe to disclose? To minimize risk of harm and ensure that behavior analysts have the opportunity to practice to the best of their abilities, we must recognize the potential dangers of disclosure and consider the possibility that each one of us may be living with an invisible disability. This presentation will (1) define disability and provide examples of highly-stigmatized invisible disabilities, (2) discuss misconceptions, unique challenges, and overlooked exceptional characteristics of people with invisible disabilities, and (3) provide recommendations for empirically-supported interventions to promote the safety and wellbeing of individuals with invisible disabilities, for application in professional settings.

Educational programming in applied behavior analysis benefits from using behavior analysis strategies in teaching, for an effective and efficient educational process and best outcomes. Additionally, learners are provided with a model and in-depth experience of behavior analysis strategies that they may eventually use in their own teaching and practice. This symposium presents original research conducted by doctoral learners and faculty in a completely online department of Applied Behavior Analysis, via virtual laboratory settings. Behavior analysis strategies used in each research project are based on literature in areas including online learning, behavioral skills training, and equivalence based instruction. Targeted outcomes include dependent variables associated with quality and quantity of academic performance, skill mastery, and demonstration of understanding of higher-level principles. All projects examined strategies that make use of readily-available, user-friendly technology. Participants for each project include Masters-level learners. Completed and preliminary data indicate strong support for the use of each behavior analysis strategy in the teaching of behavior analysis content in the virtual environment.

Target audience is faculty teaching undergraduate and graduate students in behavior analysis courses. Target audience is familiar with various educational approaches for post-secondary teaching and learning, and is interested and familiar with online learning and technology applications for teaching.

Distance education includes different methods of studying and learning which are not in the context of the continuous and immediate attention of an instructor. A critical component of many distance education programs is the asynchronous online discussion forum, but objective measures of learner performance under different conditions in discussion boards are lacking in the literature. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of discussion group size in online graduate BCBA courses on (a) the quality of learners’ posts and (b) the level of peer engagement in discussion forums. A single-subject alternating-treatments design was used to compare the effects of the size of the group in which participants responded to discussion board prompts. Discussion board group sizes were varied across the 10 units of certain classes in a university ABA Masters program. In some units, groups were small (5-6 learners), and in some units the groups were full class (25-30 learners). At the end of unit eight, students were given the opportunity to vote for their preferred condition. Results found small groups produced slightly higher scores than large groups, but students preferred the large group discussion.

Research about sexual consent is sparse compared to research about situations where consent is expressly not given, like rape and sexual assault (Beres, 2007). The language and communication around consent has been examined, as are how these negotiations of sexual consent occur. Not only is sexual consent communicated through verbal behavior, but consent is often negotiated through body language, facial expressions, and other non-verbal behaviors. The assumption around sexual consent is often that consent is given unless it is revoked, as conveyed in the saying “no means no”. Instead, this symposium will examine the complexities around behaviors involved in giving and receiving consent. With the nuances of communicating sexual consent, interpreting the contingencies in play, and understanding learning histories surrounding consent, the authors propose that consent, as a response class, is both more complicated, and potentially more impactful than many other behaviors. We will address the current body of work around sexual consent and its background in psychological research, as well as the contexts in which sexual consent is examined. The authors will also take steps to describe sexual consent in behavioral terms, outline the ethical considerations for behavior analysts with respect to promoting self-advocacy and harm reduction, and make recommendations for future research on consent from a behavior analytic perspective.

Practitioners working with a variety of folks

Data indicate that 1 in 6 American cis women and 1 in 33 cis men experience being raped in their lifetimes (RAINN, 2020). In these instances, evidence of the absence of consent is crucial to how these crimes are prosecuted by the criminal justice system, and perceived by the general public. A traditional analysis of sexual consent across a variety of domains like law, psychology, and sociology relies on the assumption that consent is given unless it is revoked overtly. Sexual consent is often studied in social psychology, and investigated in ways that look at the communication between two parties as they navigate a sexual situation. This paper will not only propose that consent is a vastly complex behavior, but that both giving and receiving consent are behaviors in and of themselves. The authors will map out the behavior of sexual consent using a behavior analytic framework, and discuss the importance of shifting the lens through which psychologists and behavior analysts alike study this phenomenon.

Conceptualizing sexual consent from a behavior analytic perspective is a complex task. Capturing the nuances and intricacies around consent as a behavior requires an understanding of how consent is traditionally negotiated, and under what contexts sexual consent is discussed, or not discussed. Not only does decades of research on sexual violence primarily focus on heterosexual cisgender female victims, but the “traditional” ways in which non-consent is discussed is exclusionary. This paper will review our colleagues’ conceptualization and refine the behavioral conceptualization. It will discuss limitations of examining consent from a cisgender, heterosexual narrative and the scripts that are associated with, and expected in those specific situations. Further, it will demonstrate the limitations of existing psychological literature, such as how sexual consent research often excludes the experiences of LGBTQIAP+, BIPOC, and disabled/neurodivergent communities, and their intersections. This group of authors hopes to encourage peers and colleagues to continue to investigate the phenomena of interest with inclusivity and compassion.

Sociologists describe the racialization of social contexts (Du Bois, 1903) as a process by which human relationships to self and others, geographic locations, and social institutions are rigidly organized such that they produce and reproduce unjust social hierarchies. Skinner (1956) proposed a way of assisting social scientists to break “social contexts” into manipulable events, such as conditions of deprivation and aversive stimulation, reinforcers, and stimuli that evoke behavior that has produced reinforcers in the past. Haynes (2016) has similarly criticized the use of reified terms like “social context” and suggested a more complex analysis of verbal categorizations that reproduce social stratification. To date, few social scientists have made use of Skinner’s pragmatic toolset. Likewise, remarkably few behavior analysts produce scholarly, empirical, or social service outcomes in the area of social justice. In this panel, scholars from the perspectives of behavior analysis and sociology will discuss tools they might lend one another and potentials for future pragmatic and academic collaboration.

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Corteneé Boulard is a behavior technician who is pursuing her Master of Arts degree in Professional Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology. Following the completion of this degree, she plans to obtain her certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. She currently holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Missouri State University. Corteneé has been in the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA) for four years, and has loved every bit of it. She has worked with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in both the home and clinic-based settings and volunteered in Cape Coast as well as Accra, Ghana to apply ABA internationally. What she has gathered from her international experience is that the need for dissemination of ABA is great. Not only is she passionate about dissemination of ABA internationally, but she has a growing desire to disseminate ABA to at-risk youth within her community. Corteneé currently serves as a mentor (and “big sister”) to many youth in her community and has a passion for utilizing the science of behavior towards helping them reach successful outcomes.

Vanessa Bethea-Miller is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and PA Licensed Behavior Specialist. Vanessa is the founder of Bethea-Miller Behavioral Consulting and Shaping Tomorrow Child Care Services, an ABA-based daycare and preschool, and the co-founder of the ABA Task Force. She is also the author of “I Know What I Want to Be,” a sweet children's book about a young girl exploring different careers in science before deciding she wants to be a Behavior Analyst. Vanessa is pursuing her doctorate of philosophy in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and currently holds a Master of Arts in Applied Psychology with a concentration in ABA, a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice, and an Associate's degree in Business Administration. Vanessa has dedicated her time to working with children and adults with Autism and/or Developmental Disabilities, with or without a co-occurring mental illness. She is passionate about providing quality and effective ABA services to this population as well as children in need of behavior supports. In addition to this, Vanessa provides coaching and mentoring to other individuals starting their own ABA practices. Vanessa also teaches courses in behavior analysis at the college level. She has presented internationally on various topics such as the application of ABA to the juvenile justice population, implicit racial bias, etc. Lastly, Vanessa has utilized components of school-wide positive behavior support with an emphasis on behavior analysis and applied them to a juvenile detention center during a practicum experience. 

Ableism is a system of discrimination that is perpetuated by society in both overt and covert ways. As behavior analysts, we have a responsibility to educate ourselves on how to recognize ableism and make the necessary changes in our behavior to facilitate a more inclusive environment. A discussion and understanding of ableist systems and practices aligns with our ethical code to provide least restrictive practices and to promote an ethical practice. The inclusion of perspectives from those who are affected by ableism is critical to informing a comprehensive ethical culture. This panel will consist of an overview of common features of ableism along with behavioral changes practitioners on all certification levels can implement while maintaining a strong commitment to empirically supported interventions. Through an open conversation on how ableism affects client autonomy and assent, attendees will gain insight on how to recognize, name, and counter common forms of ableism through the perspectives of neurodiverse professionals.

This discussion panel intends to further the discussion of our parent barrier checklist that aims to identify parent barrier behaviors and develop a treatment plan to improve behaviors and general ABA knowledge. Our 2019 ABAI panel was highly attended and we were contacted by so many attendees that we decided to improve our checklist and discuss some treatment outcomes that we have generated. In 2019, we developed a user-friendly checklist of parent barrier behaviors observed in an ABA clinic in Phoenix, Arizona. Since then, we have implemented use of the checklist across incoming families in order to screen for barrier behaviors that may need to be addressed using parent training as ABA services begin. These identified parent barrier behaviors have been hypothesized to impact treatment duration and ultimately impact the child’s long-term access to effective ABA intervention. This checklist was designed to identify what barrier behaviors may be exhibited by parents or caregivers, establish a threshold score to indicate a specific treatment focus, and a suggestion for high intensity parent training at the onset of ABA therapy and other treatment indications should be discussed. The goal is to focus on parent barrier behaviors and address them behavior analytically in order to increase duration of effective ABA services for the child. We aim to share and discuss the improved checklist and the outcomes of our parent training efforts when barrier behaviors are identified in families that are looking to begin ABA services.

BCBAs in clinical practice

The concept of privilege has become increasingly controversial recently as police brutality against the Black community has received more attention. However, despite its long history, the concept of privilege has not been subjected to a behavioral analysis focusing on the contextual conditions involved therein. In this symposium, we will discuss such an analysis, focusing on privilege as a manipulable aspect of context and its relationship to behavioral repertoires of both the privileged and the underprivileged. This analysis will focus on how divergent proportions of appetitive to aversive stimulation in the learning environment impact the sensitivity of the repertoire to appetitive and aversive learning opportunities. In the first paper, traditional conceptualizations of privilege will be discussed, along with what a behavioral conceptualization adds, and why it is pertinent today. In the second paper, the implications of a behavioral conceptualization and specific recommendations for self-evaluation for those committed to equity are discussed. These papers are intended to contribute to a discussion of larger societal issues from a behavior analytic framework, with the ultimate goal of the innovative intervention strategies supporting larger-scale behavior change.

Service providers, behavior analysts, clinicians, higher education instructors, school professionals, teachers, graduate students, undergraduates

All individuals attending the ABAI convention who have an interest in sex research, sex education, and/or procedures used to change sex-related behaviors are invited to attend the Sexual Behavior: Research and Practice Special Interest Group's annual meeting. Items of business will include a discussion of current SIG activities occurring both at and outside the ABAI convention, the sharing of relevant research findings, and plans for the next year of SIG activities.