Association for Behavior Analysis International

Having a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) brings lot of joy and learnings everyday for parents but can also bring challenging situations in daily life. This family context can ask a great deal of adaptation ability from parents. Early services and formal support are important and informal support (i.e., family, friends, or community) can have a crucial impact on parents’ wellbeing and ability to adapt. Immigrant families, who have left their family and friends, are more likely to face the diagnosis and intervention trajectory alone. Cultural perceptions and knowledge about developmental disability can also be an obstacle to sharing experiences with their entourage. The current study investigates the discourse and emotions expressed by parents who have a child with ASD when being questioned about their relationship with their family (that stayed in the origin country or not) and their reactions. Their discourse about having a child with special needs and learning to navigate in a new country is also explored. Eighteen immigrant families were interviewed about their experiences of having a child with ASD in a foreign country in an area of Montreal, Canada. Emotional responses were extracted using thematic analysis to explore themes emerging around informal support, perception, and views of family’s entourage regarding the diagnosis of ASD. The findings of this study are essential to guide the support needs of parents during the trajectory of early childhood for families who have a child with ASD.

With the prevalence of autism continually on the rise, more Autistic people will enter the work force. However, research and employment data say Autistic individuals have a difficult time securing and maintaining employment. One of the issues Autistic people face is a lack of effective and efficient vocational training. While Autistic students are afforded a free and appropriate education, many leave school without sufficient vocational training. The one constant in Autistic people’s lives are parents and caregivers. The current research focused on using Behavior Skills Training (BST) teaching parents how to correctly fade prompts when teaching their Autistic children who require vocational skills. Three parent/student dyads were recruited to collect baseline data on a vocational task, go through BST on stimulus control, prompt hierarchy, and prompt fading. A multiple probe design was used collect and analyze data for this research. The study resulted in all the parent participants acquiring and maintaining prompt fading skills and their children progressing on a vocational task faster than teaching as usual. Future research should focus on training educators and vocational coaches how to use and fade prompts in order to teach more vocational skills.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong disorder that affects children and families. Racial disparities affect the rate of identification, access and use of services, and relationship with professionals making these diagnoses. Black children are diagnosed with ASD 1.6 years later, misdiagnosed with a conduct disorder, or identified with more severe ASD than White children (Mandel et al., 2007; Constantino et al., 2020). Black children are more likely to be diagnosed with more severe forms of autism, suggesting under-diagnosis of children with milder forms. Poorly timed ASD identification or failing to identify Black children with ASD will decrease the likelihood of obtaining ABA treatment, especially for early intervention. We conducted focus groups, surveys and interviews with parents and professionals and analyzed data from the Florida Department of Education on six school districts to understand how Black children are identified. We also report on parent and professional perceived barriers to successful identification. Understanding the barriers coupled with our recommendations for overcoming these barriers will inform autism providers, educators, and behavior analysts in developing culturally sensitive and effective practices enabling them to better support Black parents through the ASD identification process and allow these children more equitable access to ABA services.

Despite inclusion efforts in higher education in recent years a growing commitment to educational equity among historically underserved students is required. There is limited support for persistence and graduation of college students with learning disability. These groups of students come from a diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds such as historically Black, Latinx and other subgroups that identify as non-white. Herbert et. al (2014) suggested that learning disability such Autism as one group that should be supported. A more systematic, culturally sensitive approach is essential to connect the educational gaps. There is limited research on successful interventions for underrepresented college students with Autism. Behavior Skills Training (BST) is a method to teach students, staff, parents, and anyone else you are teaching a new skill. BST as “a procedure consisting of instruction, modeling, behavioral rehearsal, and feedback that is used to teach new behaviors or skills” (2004, p. 558). This Project utilized a workshop training using behavior skills training, modeling, rehearsing, feedback to teach college students with disability selected skills including time management, self-advocacy, job interview skills and other daily living. Early data suggest that there’s a significant difference in the success of students early in the semester, compared to past graduations rates. 5 out of 8 students showed an increase of overall GPA. 3 students reported increased in social skills. Although this project is currently underway, promising significant outcomes are anticipated.

Evidence indicates that Facing Your Fears (FYF), a group-based cognitive-behaviour therapy, is effective for reducing anxiety and increasing emotion regulation in children with autism. Treatment fidelity, or the accuracy of treatment delivery, is a critical component for sustainable implementation and positive child outcomes. Few studies have focused on clinicians' fidelity implementing FYF or maintenance of accuracy over time. To our knowledge, no research has examined the use of virtual behaviour skills training with self-monitoring for improving clinicians’ fidelity implementing FYF. In a multiple-baseline design across three clinicians, we evaluated the efficacy of the training for increasing fidelity of a target from the FYF curriculum (preparing for and conducting exposures), selected by the clinicians. All clinicians met the fidelity mastery criterion (i.e., 90% across two sessions) within three sessions. Their performance maintained at two-month follow-up and will be reassessed at six-month follow-up. Clinicians also rated their confidence and competence of FYF implementation pre-and post-training, and all clinicians’ ratings increased post-training. Clinicians will reassess their confidence and competence ratings at six-month follow-up. Clinicians reported that the training procedures were acceptable on a social validity measure administered post-training. Incorporating evidence-based training to improve FYF treatment fidelity could optimize training and improve child outcomes.

Children with autism demonstrate delays in pretend play skills, which can negatively affect their ability to form social relationships with peers. The purpose of this study was to compare interventions for teaching children with autism pretend play skills. The interventions evaluated included (a) prompt delay which involved waiting a specified time before physically prompting play actions, (b) instructive feedback in which secondary play targets were presented during the inter-trial interval without providing prompts or reinforcement, and (c) prompt delay with instructive feedback which was combined both procedures. We implemented these interventions in a trial-based arrangement and conducted free-play probes throughout training. We used an adapted alternating treatments design embedded within a multiple probe design across sets of play materials to compare the effects of each intervention on the pretend play actions and vocalizations of a 5-year-old girl with autism. She met mastery criteria faster with prompt delay with instructive feedback in the first comparison and with prompt delay in the second. Play actions generalized to free-play probes, but play vocalizations did not. Video modeling with contingent reinforcement was implemented and found efficacious for increasing her vocalizations. Overall, results indicated different interventions were effective in increasing pretend play skills.

Bi-Directional Naming (BiN), is a capability that allows an individual to learn novel speaker and listener responses from incidental exposure to unique stimuli and the corresponding name. The speaker and listener responses emerge without direct teaching or reinforcement, which increases rates of skill acquisition exponentially. The naming capability often emerges in neurotypical children between the ages of 2 and 3 but is frequently missing for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Much of the existing literature in this area has demonstrated the effectiveness of Multiple Exemplar Instruction (MEI), which consists of teaching stimuli across speaker and listener response topographies, in inducing BiN in neurotypical individuals who do not have the naming capability. The current intervention replicated and extended previous research that demonstrated the emergence of BiN through the implementation of MEI in typically developing preschool children (Greer, et al., 2007). Specifically, the effectiveness of MEI in inducing BiN was evaluated in a 10-year-old male diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder who did not previously have the naming capability. Results suggested that, following MEI across speaker and listener responses for three teaching sets, the naming repertoire emerged for the initial, untrained set of stimuli.

Hearing disorders can cause problematic symptoms and lower the quality of life for anyone that has them. Individuals with neurodivergence such as Autism Spectrum Disorder are more likely to be born with or develop an auditory disorder at some point in their lives, which can cause further problems in cognitive, social, and emotional development. Research has shown that although there is a definite correlation between autism and hearing disorders, the nature, cause, and identities of the hearing disorders remain generally vague beyond the broad umbrella of ‘auditory processing disorder’. It is pertinent to gather research on the connections to the two diagnoses; to learn and discover ways to accommodate and provide relief, therapy, or assistive technology for individuals with both ASD and auditory disorders. In doing so, many individuals with both broad disorders, concurring or not, will be able to have better development, communication, and social skills, among many other benefits. Research for this poster was found using the online databases available to students of the University of West Florida through John C. Pace Library.

Background: Some group-based early intervention program for children with ASD was reported to be effective, such as G-ESDM. The majority of services for children with ASD is still 1:1 implementation (one interventionist to one child) through private practitioners in China, resulting in high cost and many families cannot afford. However, unlike clinical-based therapy settings, preschool programs provide opportunities to play and communication with other peers, hence maximizing learning opportunities and reducing social isolation. Objective: This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of group-based situational social games for preschoolers with ASD. Methods: Thirty-one children with ASD aged between 3 to 6 were recruited and randomly assigned to the experimental group (N = 15, Meanage = 4.85, SDage = 0.74) or the control group (N = 16, Meanage = 4.47, SDage = 0.89) as shown in Table 1. Children in the experiment group were provided an eleven-week group-based situational social games which included eleven social themes plays to guide children to use appropriate social communications skills, twice a week and 60 min each time, besides the regular intervention, 20 hours one-to-one ABA intervention. Children in the control group were provided only the regular intervention. The measure used before and after intervention were the Chinese Version of Psycho-educational Profile - 3rd Edition (C-PEP-3), the Child Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) and the Child Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Results: After eleven weeks’ intervention, the results showed that the C-PEP-3 verbal cognition score of the two groups improved significantly post-intervention compared to pre-intervention (P < 0.05) and the C-PEP-3 interpersonal relationship score increased significantly in the week 11 compared to that in the baseline in the experiment group (P < 0.05) but not in the control group (P = 0.077). The total score of SCQ and AQ decreased significantly (P < 0.05) only in the experiment group. Conclusions: The group-based social game interventions for children with ASD are effective in improving children's social communication skills. More research is needed to explore social game themes, optimal duration of intervention, and the maintenance of intervention outcomes.

Task interspersal is a procedure often used when teaching individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that involves presenting trials of maintenance tasks before trials of acquisition tasks. This procedure has been shown to be effective in teaching a variety of skills to individuals with ASD (e.g., Chong & Carr, 2005; Pitts & Dymond, 2012) and its general procedures were recently summarized through a survey by Bottini et al. (2019). However, no research has examined the different contexts in which service providers may use task interspersal with individuals with ASD and the procedural variations that may occur across these contexts. The present study surveyed direct care providers to evaluate differences in procedural approaches when task interpersals were used as an antecedent intervention to prevent undesired behavior rather than as a consequence following challenging behavior. Preliminary results from 18 professionals working in the field of ABA indicate that nearly 90% of respondents utilize interspersals antecedently and as a consequence following the occurrence of challenging behavior. Procedural variations were noted between contexts with regard to the ratio of mastered to target tasks, type of reinforcement used, and reinforcement schedule. Results of the survey will clarify interspersal procedures utilized in the field.

Masturbation is defined as the touching and stimulation of one’s own genitals for sexual arousal and pleasure. This may involve the use of hands or rubbing against surfaces and/or the use of objects. Due to the lack of sex education and social awareness those with autism spectrum disorder at times may engage in inappropriate sexual behavior during inappropriate times or while in inappropriate places. Individuals with ASD are especially at risk for sexual abuse, self-harm and causing harm to others when engaging in socially inappropriate behaviors such as public masturbation. Masturbation is part of normal sexual development and should also be expected in individuals with ASD (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1996). Having an intellectual disability does not limit the act of masturbation, instead it is important to ensure individuals receives individualized appropriate sex education and provide adequate support of appropriate sexual behavior (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1996). Participants include one youth residing within a congregate setting diagnosed with ASD. Youth was an 18 years of age female who communicated in four-to-five-word sentences often scripted or prompted. During the time of the study youth was receiving Applied Behavior Analysis services paired with Speech therapy. Applied Behavior Analysis services was provided within the school and social skills groups within the congregate group home.

Empirical evidence supports that pre-session pairing, or rapport building, between a clinician and client can increase clinical outcomes in ABA services. Kelly, Axe, Allen, and Maguire noted the effects of pre-session pairing on decreasing challenging behaviors in 2015 while Shillingsburg, Hansen, and Wright (2018) delineated 9 steps in the pairing process to best support children with Autism for in seat, at a table, discrete trial instruction. Furthermore, Lugo, King, Lamphere, and McArdle (2017) sought to operationally define the behaviors characteristic of pre-session pairing to then train staff to better implement these skills. This presentation explores the systematic approach to training BCBA supervisors and technicians in pre-session pairing and the addition of a “Rapport Building” curriculum to a client’s individualized learning program. The presenters will describe the training of clinicians across skills, review the development of a systematic pre-session pairing program, and compare clinical outcomes between clients whose programs include a systematic approach to pairing and those without. Finally, the presenters will examine the social validity from parents, payers, and technicians to support the pre-session pairing program.

Access to ABA services is limited due to the number of certificated providers with waitlists nationwide. Access becomes even more limited for families in rural areas. Additionally, navigating schedules for busy families limits availability for services. For these reasons, a telehealth caregiver behavior skills training, the Online and Applied System for Intervention Skills (OASIS), was developed to teach parents to implement behavior analytic procedures with their children. This feasibility study sought to replicate research from the University of Kansas in another state and pilot procedures for future research. This single-subject design included 3 participant families. The participants were caregivers, specifically mothers, of young children (age 3-6 years) with ASD. Caregivers completed pre-assessments, 16 weekly modules with coaching from a certified OASIS coach/RBT, and post-assessments following completion of the program. Preliminary data suggests that parents demonstrated increases in self-efficacy, family quality of life, and knowledge of principles of ABA, as well as decreases in parent stress.

In this study, the effect of self-management strategies presented to a student with autism spectrum disorder with a high technological device on the achievements of geography lesson was investigated by using a single-subject research design, a multiple probe design across behaviors. For this purpose, a 19-year-old early student who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder participated in the study. Three of Turkey's seven geographical regions (Marmara, Black Sea and Mediterranean) were chosen for geography lesson outcomes. In the implementation phase of the research, it was observed that the participant achieved the geography lesson achievements at a level that met the predetermined criteria and could generalize to different conditions. In addition, it was observed that the participant continued the gains obtained in the probes taken in the 2nd, 4th and 6th weeks after the intervention ended. The findings of the study indicate that self-management strategies using high technology are effective on the achievements of geography lessons. Inter-observer reliability data were collected at each stage of the study. Inter-observer reliability data for all phases is between 80% and 100%.

Research supports the use of token economy systems for increasing desired behaviors in children with autism and also indicates use of response cost can function as effective punisher for undesired or dangerous behavior. Mark Dixon's AIM curriculum includes a daily point system that is intended to combine components of ACT into a functional behavior plan. At this time, there is limited research on the effectiveness of the AIM curriculum, with the exception of a study demonstrating the effectiveness of the curriculum to teach job performance skills to children with autism (Issen, Himan, & Dixon, 2021). In the current study, the AIM daily point system was used as a guide to incorporate engagement in targeted, functional replacement behaviors (adaptive skills) and coping skills, while also effectively punishing high intensity, dangerous behavior via response cost. The hexaflex behaviors were operationally defined for the child and the therapy team, and use of these supplemental skills resulted in the delivery of reinforcement. Additionally, AIM daily activities were used as supplemental activities to target replacement skills such as non-preferred task completion, requesting help, requesting break, and using age-appropriate coping skills. This intervention was used in addition to continued 1:1 instruction of replacement behaviors and supplement skills, and consistent caregiver training, to decrease frequency of elopement, tantrum, and aggression. As a result of the treatment package, all targeted behaviors have decreased to near zero levels and independence with adaptive skills has increased. The full treatment package was successfully faded and the acquired skills are maintaining, and have generalized across several people and settings.

Behavioral intervention for problem behavior often relies on the results of a functional analysis to identify environmental contributors. The interview-informed, synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA) is a specific functional analysis format developed to be of practical value among clinicians. Adaptations to the IISCA procedures have since been discussed to further improve acceptability and accessibility by (a) introducing evocative events following periods of calm to reduce dangerous escalation, (b) including moment-to-moment measures of problem behavior to allow for ongoing visual analysis of data, and (c) maintaining measures of positive affect. The format including these adaptations has been termed the performance-based IISCA and has yet to be empirically evaluated. We conducted the performance-based IISCA with six participants who engaged in problem behavior. During the analysis, the reinforcers were presented contingent upon problem behavior and removed following 30 s of calm behavior. Overall, the performance-based IISCA required 8.33 min to conduct and functionally related environmental events were identified without any bursts in problem behavior. In addition, all the participants spent the majority of the time exhibiting calm and engaged behaviors. The results suggest that the performance-based IISCA may be a safe and efficient format for clinicians to consider.

Self-management in schools involves the personal application of behavior change procedures which produces a corresponding change in desired behaviors. Self-management procedures may offer expectational utility for those with autism given the degree of independence afforded by these interventions. Research has shown the effectiveness of self-management in increasing on task behavior as well as the effectiveness of peer praise in increasing on task behavior in the mainstream classroom. Although research has evaluated the effect of self-management on on-task behavior, further replications are needed to ensure the effectiveness of these procedures. The current study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of self-management in increasing on-task behavior in the mainstream classroom. A self-management system with visual prompts and peer mediation was created for the client while staff took data on his on-task behavior for 2-minute intervals. Additionally, a reversal design was utilized to evaluate the effects of the intervention. Overall, the findings suggest the intervention was effective in improving on task behavior and subsequent modifications to the intervention resulted in improved performance compared to that of baseline. The implications and limitations of the intervention will be discussed.

This presentation identifies the issue of chronic absenteeism in the special education population. It then examines research-based strategies that would help create a positive learning environment, and increase student engagement. Then, the presentation offers an action plan to address this issue. The presentation addresses sustainability by examining the issue of chronic absenteeism in the special education population and then offers solutions to creating a learning environment that will increase and sustain student engagement in the special education population.

Functional Behavior Assessments (FBAs) effectively assess function of behavior and lead to more effective interventions than interventions not based on function (Newcomer & Lewis, 2004). Unfortunately, questions remain regarding school personnel’s ability to obtain knowledge and skills necessary to conduct FBAs and create meaningful behavior change (Scott et. al., 2005). An FBA form was created to guide the FBA process for pre-service school based personnel. A pre/post test design was used in conjunction with the (TATE) Technical Adequacy Training Tool (Iovannone et al., 2015) to compare technical adequacy of FBAs developed with the guiding form, to FBAs developed without the guiding form. Qualitative data was gathered via survey to seek feedback from users regarding their experience with the guiding form through the FBA process.

The relationship built between the educational system and families can be complex yet essential to the child's overall success. An integrated review was conducted to synthesize primary evidence around parent training and family engagement within the school system. The purpose of this review is to illuminate the cross-section between parent training and parental involvement/engagement. Parent training has been recognized as an evidence-based intervention while parental involvement research is a relatively new research topic. Parent training is more commonly found within the community setting, however, the bond between the school system and families have been growing to address children’s problem behaviors. This review seeks to answer the larger question of how parent training bridges the home-school-community communication divide to serve families better. The preliminary database search was conducted across several electronic databases (e.g. ERIC) using text words, database-specific subject headings, and age limits, when available to address parent training, parent engagement, and parental involvement. The initial search yielded 811 articles. After duplicates and the removal of articles, 268 were left for full article screening with five articles remained for the full-text review. The analysis found that, that few articles focus on bridging the home-school connection by incorporating the core principles of family involvement or engagement within their studies parent training methods.

Technology has resulted in the emergence of WhatsApp™, and Zoom Video conferencing as competitive alternate training platforms to in-person training sessions. The wide reach of internet based technology has made telehealth an effective and low-cost method of training parents as interventionists using the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The current study aimed at training a parent of a child with ASD to implement and deliver evidence based autism intervention.The outcomes were measured using a gold standard developmental based assessment, the Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP). The results indicate notable changes in scores on the assessment, acquisition of skills on the part of the child and the parent’s skills in playing the role of the interventionist, coupled with the development of a harmonious and positive relationship between mother and child. Suggestions for further research include using the telehealth model and evidence based parental training for the dissemination of quality services to a larger population.

This poster will be a tutorial in adapting an in-person operant research lab to a distance learning format so that nontraditional students and teachers can still experience the experimental operant chamber concepts typically limited to animal and in-person lab settings. The poster will also highlight student experiences and social validity of the technique as well as suggest future research in this area.

Graduate coursework in applied behavior analysis is profoundly important, given that graduates typically go on to influence the lives of countless individuals via applying behavioral principles to change socially important behavior. Students must receive high quality education to be positioned for the best possible start in their behavior analytic career. We evaluated the influence of the components on course outcomes (i.e., quiz scores, final grades, and social validity) of an online course on “Advanced Topics in Behavior Analysis”. Results indicate that activities that involved active learning are most highly related to greater performance. Specifically, we found a statistically significant relationship between creating more posts in asynchronous online discussion with achieving higher grades (Spearman’s Rho = 0.404; p = 0.002). Conversely, passive learning activities, such as accessing pre-recorded lectures was not significantly related to course grades (Spearman’s rho = 0.207; p = 0.113). This study provides further evidence that active learning strategies must be incorporated into higher education pedagogy. Future directions will be suggested, related to the monitoring of, and setting the occasion for active responding in online coursework.

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, where an estimated 14% of adults currently smoke (CDC, 2019). Practicing behavior analysts are an untapped resource for treatment referral and in some cases treatment delivery. We review practical considerations for clinicians interested in providing smoking cessation referrals and treatment. We describe recommended procedures for referrals to evidence-based treatment, including the 5 A’s (Tobacco Use and Dependence Guideline Panel, 2008) and Ask, Advise, Connect (Vidrine et al., 2013), and web- and mobile-based cessation programs. We also provide a framework of general contingency management (CM) procedures for smoking cessation and describe common CM variations. We detail important clinical decision points including method of biochemical verification, reinforcer selection, and considerations for use with electronic cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products. Finally, we touch on the ethical considerations regarding scope of competency for behavior analysts interested in practicing in this area. Behavior analysts can use this information to help clients quit smoking.

Recent years reveal a marked uptick in university- and hospital-campus adoption of tobacco-free regulation, a movement promising significant health and environmental benefit. Given the similarities between community-level change agents (i.e., those that might yield meaningful advancement of public health or sustainability-focused policy) and campus policy, demonstration of campus regulation success—in compliance and outcome—via behavior analytic methodology is of notable value. The present study examines combustible tobacco-product refuse accumulation on a large university campus preceding and following enaction of a tobacco-free policy. We collected, counted, and compared tobacco wastes across four sites; behavior analytic involvement from the early planning stages of policy implementation guided intervention efforts (e.g., preliminary surveying among campus faculty, staff, and students as to where smoking most frequently occurred). Statistical testing suited for time-series research designs supplemented visual analysis. Results infer (a) a meaningful and sustained reduction of tobacco byproduct in all locations, and (b) a successful application of behavior analytic methods in evaluating a policy with plausible community benefit.