Association for Behavior Analysis International

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of a parent training package in teaching parents to implement functional communication training with their young children with developmental delays. Three children with developmental delay, age 25 to 33 months old, participated in the study. Two mothers and one father participated with the children as the implementer of the assessment and treatment sessions. Each parent implemented a trial-based functional analysis with coaching from the behavior consultant. The efficacy of the parent training strategy was evaluated using a multiple baseline across parent-child dyads design. Following baseline, each parent was trained to implement functional communication training with their child. Parent training included written and verbal instructions and performance feedback. Parent training resulted in improved implementation fidelity in the trained routine. Decreases in child challenging behavior and increases in child communication were associated with improvements in implementation fidelity. Generalization probes indicated one parent implemented the intervention accurately in a generalization routine. An additional self-monitoring component was added for one parent to improve implementation fidelity during the generalization routine. The remaining parent-child dyad dropped out of the study early and generalization could not be assessed for that parent.

Students with intellectual and developmental disabilities often have difficulties developing independent living skills, including traveling to various community locations. Increasing use of public transportation could not only enhance opportunities to live independently, but could also increase opportunities for obtaining competitive, community-based employment. Four young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, ages 17-26, were taught public transportation navigation skills using a multiple baseline approach. Specifically, participants were taught to use the 'Google Maps' interface - a self-prompting, Photographic Activity Schedule, mobile navigation system - to take the bus to various vocational locations around Michigan State Univerty's Campus. Two phases of instruction were implemented, first campus navigation was taught through forward chaining. Once participants reached criteria of 100% independence for three consecutive sessions, they progressed to Phase 2 in which the researchers completely faded support. Generalization probes were conducted through travel to novel locations on and off campus. In baseline, participants were unable to use 'Google Maps' to take the bus. To date, 2 of the 4 participants have reached mastery criterion in Phase 1 and support has been faded, for 1 of these 2 participants, data is being collected on skill generalization to novel locations. These results provide statistically significant evidence for the utility of using a 'Goggle Maps' interface to teach navigation skills to young adults with IDD.

Hand mouthing has been an important area of study on individuals with profound developmental disabilities over the past two decades. The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature addressing the effectiveness of treatment modalities that treat hand-mouthing behavior. A thorough search of databases was conducted using ProQuest, PsycINFO, and PubMed. Inclusion criteria included peer-reviewed articles only, published between 1995 and 2016. A total of thirteen articles were included in this review. Keywords searched included: hand mouthing, developmental disabilities, and treatment effectiveness. Seven out of the thirteen studies suggested that the combination of noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) with additional treatment options including differential reinforcement (DR), sensory integration therapy (SIT), and response blocking (RB) significantly decrease the frequency and duration of hand mouthing behavior. The results of these studies suggest a positive effect of NCR combined with DR, SIT, and RB in the treatment of hand mouthing behavior. The implications of these results may contribute for the development of treatment packages to effectively decrease hand-mouthing behavior in individuals with profound developmental disabilities. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and determine the extent in which the combination of these techniques is significantly effective and generalizable to other maladaptive behaviors

Transition services are those services that assist a toddler with a disability and his or her family to experience a smooth and effective transition from the early intervention program to the child's next program or other appropriate services, including services that may be delivered in schools or the community. Effective transition services should provide a cohesive approach to the implementation of a behavior intervention plan among other services. This session examines the use of a tablet based technology tool through the transition services. That is, the tool was used to evaluate, develop, and progress monitor challenging behaviors while the student was receiving early intervention services and was continued into an early intervention group setting while later into the preschool setting. Results indicate that the behavior intervention plan was effective as decreasing challenging behaviors and increasing functional communication in two of the three settings. Social validity data provide useful information about the parent�s and provider�s view of the tablet technology.