Association for Behavior Analysis International

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention using a speech-generating device (SGD) on acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of multistep requesting and generic small talk in three Autistic children/children diagnosed with severe autism spectrum disorder (ASD) between the ages of 7 and 13 years. A multiple-baseline design across participants combined with a posttreatment multiple-generalization probe design was utilized to assess acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of target communicative behaviors with the experimenter and the participants’ familiar communication partners (FCPs). Intervention was composed of systematic instruction in the use of an SGD using least-to-most prompting, constant time delay, error correction, and reinforcement. Visual analysis established a strong functional relationship between the independent variable and the two dependent variables (i.e., requesting preferred activities, engaging in generic small talk) for all three participants. All participants were able to generalize and maintain the acquired communicative behaviors to request new and untrained snacks and activities and engage in generic small talk with FCPs. This study provides preliminary evidence that AAC intervention using an SGD and systematic instruction is effective in terms of multistep requesting and generic small talk behaviors in Autistic children/children diagnosed children with severe ASD.

The Stimulus Control Ratio equation (SCoRE) is a metric to summarize a behavioral repertoire by comparing the relative frequency of its component parts. The SCoRE compares observed proportions of responding against the null hypothesis to yield a statistic to describe the present level of functional performance. Such information may be useful for measuring change over time and comparing treatment effects within individuals and across groups. Here we demonstrate the SCoRE as a measure of verbal behavior.

The transactional model of language acquisition describes the language-learning process as reciprocal and dynamic. Children interact within their social environment and acquire a rich repertoire of gestures and sounds, which are prerequisites for language development. However, Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) seem to face significant barriers in symbolic and/or verbal communicative actions across partners and settings. Such challenges may impede language development and speech acquisition. This study explored the effectiveness of a family-centered music therapy intervention to promote preverbal and verbal communication of young Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The duration of the intervention was 15 weeks. Participants were eight Autistic children/children diagnosed with ASD (aged 3-6) and their parents. The children's language abilities were measured through the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile and the Pragmatics Profile of Everyday Communication Skills. During the intervention, qualitative data on each dyad's engaging actions were gathered and analyzed. Analysis of the findings showed that music therapy, within the context of families, holds the potential to facilitate language development through children's engagement in music making. Music therapy interventions may constitute a viable approach to enhance young children's language development through engaging in shared music-making episodes.

This study targeted inflexible behaviors (i.e., higher-order restrictive and repetitive behaviors and interests; HO-RRBIs) in toddlers by pairing caregivers with an early intervention coach via telehealth. Six mother-child dyads whose child was (a) between 18 and 42-months-old, (b) demonstrated difficult levels HO-RRBIs, and (c) were on an autism diagnostic waitlist were recruited. In a concurrent multiple baseline design across participants, caregivers were coached to decrease inflexible and increase flexible child behaviors during play sessions through the use of four evidence-based applied behavior analytic strategies: modeling, prompting, differential reinforcement of appropriate behaviors, and response interruption and redirection. A visual analysis of the data combined with Tau-U revealed a strong basic effect between the intervention package and parent strategy use and child flexible and inflexible behavior with one exception whose child results were a medium effect for flexible behaviors, yet a strong effect for inflexible behaviors. Standardized mean difference was beyond zero for all participants. All mothers rated their participation in the study as favorable. Implications for science and practice in early intervention for families whose children are at-risk for autism are discussed.

The present study compares the effects of auditory stimuli in the form of two distinct musical pitches when used as extrastimulus prompts during discrimination training for Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who exhibit signs of having speech delay. Autistic children/children diagnosed with ASD and language delays often have enhanced perception of musical pitch compared to their typically developing peers (Eigsti & Fein, 2013). However, in auditory–visual conditional discrimination, only spoken word or environmental sounds are primarily used (Halbur & Kodak, 2021). A reversal experimental design was used to test the participants’ ability to discriminate between two physical stimuli. In baseline phases, only physical stimuli were used. In intervention phases, two different pitches were played as an auditory cue if the two physical stimuli were non-identical. The same note was played twice for identical physical stimuli. Participants include a 4-year-old female and a 6-year-old male, both are Autistic children/children diagnosed with ASD and exhibit speech delay traits. The participants’ accuracy percentage rose by an average of 47.9% in intervention phases, proving that the addition of the musical pitches significantly helped the participants differentiate. Findings suggest that Autistic children/children diagnosed with ASD would benefit from having additional musical auditory stimuli incorporated into their formal training and assessments.

Severe challenging behaviors are highly prevalent in Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Schreibman, 2005). Relaxation exercises have been successful at decreasing such challenging behaviors (Charlop & Kelso, 1997; Loomis, 2013), but using such procedures with precursor behaviors has not been explored. Research demonstrates treating precursor behaviors, or mild challenging behaviors that precede those that are more severe, may be effective in reducing severe challenging behaviors (Dracolby & Smith, 2012). The present study used a multiple baseline design across four Autistic children/children diagnosed with ASD (aged 7-11 years) to assess the efficacy of a relaxation intervention on reducing precursor and challenging behavior. During an observational functional analysis, researchers identified precursor behaviors and antecedents of challenging behaviors. In baseline, participants worked on their typical therapeutic tasks. If challenging behaviors occurred, researchers implemented the participant’s behavior plan. During separate relaxation training sessions, children were taught deep breathing relaxation exercises. Following this relaxation training, researchers cued relaxation exercises when precursor behaviors occurred during the children’s typical therapy sessions. Frequency of precursor, problem, and on-task behavior were recorded. Results indicated that challenging behaviors decreased for all participants following intervention. Precursor behaviors decreased and on-task behaviors increased for 3 of 4 participants. The results suggest future research on precursor behavior.

When providing service to high-functioning Autistic students/students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), we often hear therapists talk about various therapies and schools of thought, such as acceptance and commitment therapy. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a therapy based on the relational framework theory, which is one of the forms of applied behavior analysis (ABA) used to treat anxiety, trauma, excessive grief, addictions, and emotional difficulties arising from all ages. ACT is part of the third wave of psychobehavioral therapies designed to encourage people to embrace their thoughts and feelings rather than trying to challenge or change them. Unlike cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), ACT believes that people should not fight or feel guilty about their thoughts and feelings, but rather accept and acknowledge them for what they are. This case study presents an Autistic student/student diagnosed with ASD with strong sense of anxiety when getting to school, and how ACT therapy encourages the student to develop both psychological and behavioral flexibility rather than just rigid self-acceptance and self-talk, and to confront the problem with the appropriate behavior.

Continuing care to Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during the COVID-19 global pandemic presented challenges and opportunities within clinical service delivery. For both practitioners and caregivers, participating in virtual assessments of autism symptomatology was a new experience. We conducted a survey-based study based on the findings of Juarez et al. (2018) assessing the acceptability of telehealth-based evaluation of autism symptoms within a hospital-based outpatient specialty care clinic located in a large metropolitan area and serving a diverse patient population (n=112). Results suggested that parents/caregivers found the clinical procedures used to be highly acceptable and efficient, for example saving significant travel time and reducing barriers to care. These findings further support previously published research on pediatric assessment of symptoms of ASD via tools designed to gather information through telemedicine. Clinical considerations for when/when not to use telemedicine are offered. Additionally, sustainability, feasibility, and implications for future practice are discussed.

Response Interruption / Redirection (RIRD) is a procedure often used for reducing stereotypy and is classified as a punishment as it involves the delivery of demands following a behavior targeted for reduction. Some practitioners avoid RIRD as it may produce undesired outcomes associated with punishment procedures. The current study evaluates the use of RIRD with three children who present stereotypy that is disruptive and negatively impacts the effective delivery of language acquisition procedures. Using a staggered multiple-baseline across participants design, each participant was exposed to multiple treatment sessions including three 10-minute within-session observations conditions: pre-RIRD free-operant play, Natural Environment Training (NET), and post-RIRD free-operant play. After baseline observation, RIRD was implemented during the NET training procedure only. Behaviors relating to the intended use of RIRD (decrease in stereotypy) and potential indirect outcomes (decreases in pro-social verbal behavior, avoidance of technicians, increased hitting, etc.) were measured. Results suggest that RIRD was effective at reducing stereotypy when implemented, however did not maintain once withdrawn (post-NET condition). RIRD was however observed to minimally impact pro-social behaviors and did not produce increased undesired behaviors such as avoidance of the technician or hitting. Implications for the recommendation of least-restrictive most effective procedures are discussed.

It is known that the prevalence of challenging behavior is high in Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Korean parents of Autistic children/children diagnosed with ASD report experiencing severe hardships, but little is known regarding what they perceive as challenging behaviors, how they respond to these behaviors, or how culture plays a role in their perspectives. Therefore, we conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured individual interviews with 19 parents, who either live in Korea (n = 9) or live in the United States as immigrants (n = 10). Both differences and similarities between the two groups were highlighted in this study, specifically in regard to (a) which behaviors parents perceive as “challenging” and (b) their response to these behaviors. Notably, many parents reported the perception of challenging behaviors within a social context in which their child will need to “fit into,” and how they would define a behavior as challenging by the context in which the behavior occurs. In regard to parents’ response to their children’s challenging behaviors, many reported opting for punishment-oriented response as it comes more naturally to them; however, they also reported the ineffectiveness of such response. Lastly, the implications for future intervention research for minoritized population are also discussed.

Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) may experience difficulty with urinary incontinence. Toileting is a daily living skill and therefore a behavior that when mastered allows for more opportunities to live independently (Smith et al., 2013). Additional investigation of classroom-based toilet training programs is necessary to improve the field of special education and behavior analysis, especially those that incorporate components of self-initiation (Cocchiola et al., 2012; Kroeger & Sorensen-Burnworth, 2009). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an intensive toilet training program on continence and self-initiation for restroom trips of four elementary children with IDD. The protocol included increased access to fluids, contingent time intervals for sit schedules, contingent reinforcement for remaining dry and on-toilet voids, and dry checks. All four participants met mastery criteria and maintained independent toileting after the study’s completion. Three participants began self-initiating to use the restroom. Additionally, one participant met mastery criteria with the removal of the diaper only. Implications of these results suggest that practitioners should provide children with opportunities to wear underwear without diapers before pursuing intensive toilet training. Further research is needed to assess which components of the toilet training intervention package are necessary to establish continence.

Rapid motor imitation antecedent training is a discrete trial teaching strategy that involves presenting a sequence of imitative demands prior to a demand for vocalization. This procedure has been demonstrated to be effective at evoking and teaching verbal operants to preverbal Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and should therefore be understood by practitioners working with this population. The purpose of this poster is to relate rapid motor imitation antecedent training to the theories its authors reference to explain its effectiveness, behavioral momentum, and generalized imitation, by reviewing articles that demonstrate procedural and theoretical similarities between literature bases. Generalized imitation is discussed as a set of procedures that involves teaching and reinforcing imitations to establish the generalized operant of imitating models and as a theory for explaining this effect. Behavioral momentum is discussed as a theory that explains and predicts how antecedent stimuli associated with denser relative reinforcement schedules induce behaviors that are resistant to change given environmental disruptions. Finally, Nevin’s (1996) analysis of the high-probability sequence, a momentum-based procedure for inducing compliance, is extended to rapid motor imitation antecedent training to explain the latter’s efficacy and to suggest research to expand its use as a tool for generalizing speech across settings.

Childhood play is crucial to healthy development; while toy preferences have been researched, there are limited studies observing infants with (FH+) and without (FH-) a familial history of autism. The current study aims to better understand how toy type can affect engagement levels in FH+ infants. We recorded infant-caregiver free-play over Zoom and later video-coded toy type (Table 1) and engagement level offline. While data collection is still ongoing, preliminary results with 6 FH- and 6 FH+ 9-month-old infants suggest that familial history of autism does not significantly affect engagement level, F(1, 102)=1.945, p=.166, though toy type might, F(2, 102)=2.798, p=.066. Specifically, when looking at instructional, sensory, and imaginative toys, FH+ infants appear to be looking at and manually manipulating sensory toys longer than FH- infants are (Figure 1). With a complete sample size, we expect to see engagement with sensory toys to be significantly higher in FH+ infants than FH- infants. Studying naturalistic behaviors in FH+ infants informs existing behavioral interventions on how to best engage infants with potential sensory interests.

Black Autistic children/Black children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to be diagnosed later and with more severe symptoms of ASD than white children. Even after adjusting for socioeconomic status, Black families report being more dissatisfied with the quality of their child’s autism-related care than white families. The current study aims to explore the experiences of caregivers of Black Autistic children/Black children diagnosed with ASD regarding their autism-related care and explore barriers to accessing care to develop a plan to improve service delivery and inform best practices. Participants included in this study are caregivers of Black Autistic children/Black children diagnosed with ASD recruited primarily at a pediatric specialty clinic in the Southwest United States. Data are currently being collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed concurrently consistent with constructivist grounded theory. From these analyses, common themes in experiences of caregivers of Black Autistic children/Black children diagnosed with ASD will be identified to expand on the minimal research currently published about Black experiences within the Autistic community in order to improve quality of care and allow identification of supportive programming to reduce inequity.

The trial-based functional analysis (TBFA) offers several advantages in natural settings, such as time efficiency and ecological validity. Previous studies have successfully trained a variety of professionals and parents to conduct a TBFA utilizing in-person training procedures; however, no study has evaluated the effectiveness of telehealth training and coaching to teach others to implement a TBFA. Utilizing telehealth training and coaching, we taught three mothers of children with autism to conduct a TBFA in their home. Based on the results of the TBFA, we developed a functional communication training (FCT) intervention. Experimenters trained and coached the mothers to implement the FCT intervention in their home. All interventions resulted in decreased challenging behavior and increased communication. The results suggest parents are capable of conducting a valid TBFA with telehealth training and support.

Social communication is critical for children to develop meaningful relationships with their peers. However, many Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) struggle with social communication, particularly nonverbal Autistic children/children diagnosed with ASD. With the advancement and affordability of technology, nonverbal Autistic children/children diagnosed with ASD can communicate using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), such as the Picture Exchange Communication System and speech generating devices. Furthermore, research has shown that typically developing (TD) peers in schools can be taught to use AAC to communicate with Autistic children/children diagnosed with ASD to increase their functional communication and decrease inappropriate social behaviors. Research has shown that peer-mediated intervention training can positively impact acquisition skills in young Autistic children/young children diagnosed with ASD. However, less is known about the use of AAC with peers of young Autistic children/young children diagnosed with ASD (ages 2-5) in early childhood settings. This presentation will provide a literature review and synthesis of PMI interventions involving AAC with young Autistic children/young children diagnosed with ASD. The implications of this research for practice in applied behavior analysis will be reviewed, and opportunities for further research will be discussed.

Touching of the face and mouth is a problematic recurring behavior for many Autistics/individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder Level 3 (ASD-3), particularly so in the current pandemic. The effectiveness of a multifaceted approach was tested in a single case, repeated-measures study of a 33-year-old male with ASD-3. The intervention used social narratives, differential reinforcement of alternate and incompatible behaviors, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). No-tech AAC displayed picture icons to remind the participant of strategies he can select as alternatives to face touching, encouraging functional and effective communication with no demand for speech production. A three-day baseline phase was followed by a three-month intervention phase. Video recording was used to collect data that was analyzed offline for frequency and severity of face touching. The overall scores from intervention phase videos were compared to that of baseline using simulation modeling analysis (SMA), a software package designed for single-subject clinical-case analysis that uses bootstrapping techniques for statistical significance testing. The intervention resulted in a significant decrease in face touching during online learning (Rho = -0.845, p = 0.0001). This quantitative evidence demonstrates the effectiveness of the selected intervention techniques for reducing this problematic behavior in individuals with ASD-3 and comparable conditions.

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. Five out of 8 students showed an increase of overall GPA. Three students reported increased in social skills. Although this project is currently underway, promising significant outcomes are anticipated.

Background: Due to the high-intensity of work and the need to invest the corresponding emotional support to caregivers of Autistics/individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), rehabilitation professionals--also called as autism therapists--were reported to have a high challenge to their emotional intelligence and hence a negative emotional experience of the profession, which in turn leads to job burnout. Objective: This study aims to investigate the path of the effect of emotional intelligence on job burnout in autism therapists. Methods: A survey of autism therapists was conducted during December 2020 to March 2021. There were 362 participants (Female: Male = 318:44) enrolled from the areas in east coast of China. 40.9% of the participants (N = 148) were aged between 26 to 30. Their year of service was evenly distributed, with 110, 134 and 118 people in 1 to 2 years, 3 to 5 years and 5 years respectively. The measures were Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-GS), Wong and Law EI Scale (WLEIS), Perceived Organizational Support (POS) and Emotional Labor Scale (ELS). The descriptive statistical analysis, the t-test and variance analysis are used to analyze the demographic differences. The relationship among the variables is tested by Process, and the significance of the meditating effect is tested by the Bootstrap to build a multi-linear regression model. Results: Fifty-five autism therapists (15.2%) reported a low level of job burnout (=50) and were in good working condition, while 118 people (32.6%) had a certain degree of job burnout (51-75) and need self-psychological adjustment, more than half of them (N = 189, 52.2%) were found to have serious job burnout and need in-depth adjustment. There was a significant positive correlation between surface emotional labor strategies and job burnout in autism therapists, that is, the more surface emotional labor strategies were used, the higher the level of job burnout among autism rehabilitation practitioners (r = 0.161, P < 0.01). There were significant correlations among organizational support and deep strategies for autism therapist (r = 0.349, P < 0.01), self-emotion (r = 0.382, P < 0.01), emotional management (r = 0.345, P < 0.01), emotional use (r = 0.309), P < 0.01), assessing others (r = 0.319, P < 0.01) and emotional intelligence (r = 0.351, P < 0.01). Conclusion: In summary, there was a positive correlation between emotional intelligence and superficial emotional labor strategies in autism therapists. The effect of the emotional intelligence of autism therapists on their job burnout is mediated through deep emotional labor strategies. The sense of organizational support regulates the mediating effect of emotional labor strategy in the relationship between emotional intelligence of autism therapists and their job burnout.

The current study utilized virtual reality and eye-tracking to teach Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to scan and find items in a grocery store. The use of eye-tracking gave behavior technicians real-time feedback regarding teaching procedures and allowed for clear and accurate data collection. The virtual reality environment was convenient and allowed for more environmental control. All participants acquired target skills quickly and all skills generalized to the natural environment.

There has been increasing interest in incorporating equivalence and nonequivalence-based instructions in applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy for Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). From a relational frame theory perspective, the core symptoms of autism can be conceptualized as deficits in engaging in derived relational responding (DRR). Due to this reason, providers may need to utilize a variety of strategies to promote the higher order operant of relational responding. The current study examined two strategies to promote DRR: multiple exemplar training (MET) and mixed-block teaching. A 7-year-old Autistic child/child diagnosed with ASD was exposed to two relational training programs. After reaching the mastery criteria for the trained relation (A-B), the learner failed to show derivation during test trials (B-A). MET and mixed-block teaching were implemented for the two programs, and after the remediation strategy, the learner demonstrated derivation during test trials (B-A). Implications for incorporating these strategies in equivalence and nonequivalence-based instructions during ABA interventions are discussed.

Children’s understanding of privacy begins at a young age and provides a critical foundation to the comprehension of advanced concepts related to sexuality. Specifically, the understanding of actions that can be completed in public versus private spaces and locations that are public versus private is critical to the child’s future safety. There is limited research on teaching these skills to Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Thus, the current study sought to assess the effectiveness of using discrete trial teaching to teach this skill to three Autistic children/children diagnosed with ASD between 8 and 14 years of age. Parents were involved in the selection of specific study exemplars to ensure relevance outside of the teaching session. Priming was provided to the children regarding privacy rules prior to each teaching session. The concept of privacy was divided into six discrete steps, each step addressing a different segment of the skill; each step was taught separately in a sequential order. Probes of the steps not yet taught were conducted throughout intervention, to assess if skills were learned without direct instruction. While learning of the target skills was demonstrated, numerous procedural modifications were necessary. Implications on clinical practice will be discussed.

Difficulties in communication and social interaction contribute to social and academic deficits in Autistic students/students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) attending higher education. This study evaluated the effectiveness of training two adult Autistics/students diagnosed with ASD in the discrimination of social stimuli in a classroom to emit verbal responses in the categories: communicate personal preference, emit an opinion on the subject, ask a question, start a conversation, and turn-taking in a multiple baseline between the participants combined with multiple elements. Training comprised of textual and visual prompts, roleplay with positive and corrective feedback. The results indicate an increase in the frequency of responses in four of the managed categories with an average level of agreement between 91 and 91.5% among observers. Exposing only students to training contrasts with the trend of reseaches where peers are also trained to establish this interaction. The conclusions point to an alternative of promoting autonomy in real situations on campus, based on the discrimination of the contingencies in force and which responses may be appropriate on different occasions.

A fair proportion of Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and a mild intellectual disability (ID) may experience anxiety-related challenging behavior. This study evaluated the effects of a family centered positive behavior support (FCPBS) approach enhanced with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) on child behavior during the steps of an anxiety hierarchy in a valued family routine in the community. The study included an 11-year-old Autistic girl/girl diagnosed with ASD, ID, and anxiety-related challenging behavior and her mother. The setting selected and defined in collaboration with the child’s mother was a park routine in which the child manifested a fear of playing near or with other children in a playground at the park. Dependent variables included: (a) child challenging behavior, (b) child positive engagement, (c) parent and child ratings of child’s level of anxiety; and (d) parent rating of social validity. The study employed an experimental, single case changing criterion design and a clinical case study design across two phases, baseline and intervention. Results documented a functional relation between the implementation of FCPBS enhanced with CBT and steps achieved by the child within the anxiety hierarchy. There was also showed a precipitous decrease in challenging behavior and increase in positive engagement associated with implementation of the intervention phase. Social validity results indicated that the child’s mother viewed the FCPBS approach enhanced with CBT to be important and acceptable in regard to family goals, plan procedures, and child outcomes. Results are discussed in terms of their relation to the literature, unique contributions, implications, limitations, and future research.

Telehealth has been used as an effective mode to deliver various types of services, including treatment oversight, parent and technician training. Very few studies have examined the efficacy of technician-delivered behavior analytic services delivered via telehealth to children with autism. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the evolution of telehealth technology for many providers, including behavior analysts and behavior technicians in order to ensure clients continued to receive medically necessary treatment. This poster reports on five individual school-age Autistic individuals/individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder that transitioned to telehealth services from traditional in-home services following March 2020. In spite of a reduced dose of treatment hours per week following the transition to telehealth, 4 out of 5 participants demonstrated a positive change in mastery of targets monthly from telehealth treatment compared to in-home treatment (M-delta=18%). These findings evidence of the efficacy of telehealth services as an effective mode of technician-delivered behavior analytic services.

Self-stimulatory behavior is repetitive, stereotyped, functionally autonomous behavior seen in both neurotypical children and Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The evidence shows that Autistic children/children diagnosed with ASD appear to be most unresponsive while engaged in these ritualistic stereotyped behaviors (Koegel & Covert, 1972). These behaviors compete with daily life activities and acquisition of new. Koegel and Covert (1972) suggest that these behaviors might interfere with children’s acquisition of new behaviors; thus, it is important to reduce the frequency and duration of self-stimulatory behaviors. There are variety of self-stimulation interventions, music therapy is one of them. One study found that music therapy was more effective at facilitating joint attention behaviors (Gattino, Riesgo, Longo, Leite, & Faccini, 2011). Another study shows that music can increase the attention of children with autism, and effectively reduce the self-stimulation (physical stimulation) behavior of Autistic children/children diagnosed with ASD (Monika Mielecki &Leilani Goodmon).Therefore, we examined the effect of background music on self-stimulatory behavior in children with autism. In this study, a cross-scenario multi-baseline experimental design was adopted to conduct a case study of the intervention on an ASD student with severe self-stimulatory behavior, aiming to investigate whether background music would have an impact on self-stimulation behavior.

Personal independence skills are vital in promoting independence across children with Developmental Disabilities, however skillsets vary across children with Down Syndrome. This case study analyzes a self-feeding protocol used for a 37-month-old male with Down Syndrome. The 3-month protocol was embedded into a 6-month Early Start Denver Model program, a type of Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention. Parent report and baseline observation gathered that the child was dependent on adults for feeding; as well as displayed food aversions, self-injurious behaviors (head banging), and challenging behaviors (tantrums, throwing objects/food) during feeding experiences. Following baseline procedures, a 5-phase protocol was introduced, aiming to achieve complete independence with both spoon and fork self-feeding. The child was able to complete all phases. Results yielded mastery of skills with both spoon and fork, as well as increased food repertoire from a short list of highly preferred foods to an extended list consisting of neutral and novel foods. Skills generalized across several adults and settings. There is a need for continued work in personal independence skills for children with developmental disabilities, including down syndrome and autism spectrum disorder. Targeting these skills in early intervention may lead to increased levels of personal independence across development.

With the expanding heterogeneity of the Autistic population, there is an ever-increasing need to expand service offerings for these individuals. For young Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), service delivery in the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA) has emphasized treatment delivery by a paraprofessional with the oversight and supervision of a Board Certified Behavior Analysis. Parent-mediated treatments are shown to be effective across a variety of service offerings; however, parent-mediated ABA is not widely applied in the field presently. Parent-led ABA is a parent-mediated approach to ABA for Autistic children and youth/children and youth diagnosed with ASD, placing caregivers at the forefront of their child’s treatment. To evaluate the efficacy of parent-led ABA, this study evaluated treatment outcomes for 106 Autistic children/children diagnosed with ASD ages 3 – 7 years who received parent-led or practitioner-led ABA. Results of this study demonstrated parent-led ABA to be as efficacious as practitioner-led (ps .05). These results contribute to the literature demonstrating the effectiveness of parent-mediated treatments, thus, expanding available services offerings and providing families more options in care when deciding what will be the best fit for their child and their family.

Many Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have favorite interests or activities that they never tire of repeating and which can appear to get in the way of them learning new skills or engaging with others. In some children’s cases, their obsession was Disney. Despite motor problems, they mastered the remote control for the family’s video recorder and loved to watch the same films over and over again, particularly The Little Mermaid and Peter Pan. They rewound the same scene repeatedly. Uncomfortable in noisy, unpredictable social situations, watching a video together was one of the few activities that the whole family could share and enjoy. They sat through Dumbo so many times that parents once joked, “If I have to watch it one more time, I’m going to run away and join the circus!”

Immediate echolalia is a behavior that can interfere with language development and skill acquisition (Neely et al., 2016). One method for decreasing immediate echolalia is a cue-pause-point procedure (McMorrow et al., 1987; Valentino et al., 2012). This procedure was implemented by having the technician (a) hold up their finger at eye level to indicate the child should remain quiet; (b) deliver the vocal portion of the SD (e.g., What is it?) followed by a short pause; and then (c) lower their finger to a visual portion of the SD (e.g., point to a picture on the table). A multiple baseline design across behaviors was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the cue-pause-point procedure with one participant. The participant was a seven-year-old girl diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Results showed a clear increase in correct responding, without immediate echolalia, as the intervention was applied to each operant. This poster extends the research by showing the effectiveness of the procedure across multiple operants while also demonstrating the potential need to actively program for generalization across operants.

This study aimed to identify evidence-based practices (EBPs) elementary educators use to include Autistic students in general education in Washington State. Twenty-seven general educators, 31 special educators, and 28 paraeducators who support at least one Autistic student in general education completed a modified version of the Autism Treatment Survey (ATS; Hess et al., 2008). Educators indicated familiarity with and frequency of use of 21 EBPs listed by the National Professional Development Center on ASD (Wong et al., 2013). Across all roles, reinforcement, modeling, task analyses, and visual supports were the most heard of EBPs (98.8%, 97.7%, 94.2%, and 93%, respectively). Behavioral momentum (29.1%), naturalistic intervention (44.2%), video modeling (44.2%), and technology-aided instruction and intervention (45.3%) were least familiar. Of educators reporting familiarity with an EBP, the most used to facilitate inclusion of an Autistic student were reinforcement (98.8%), modeling (96.4%), visual supports (92.5%), and antecedent-based intervention (86.8%). Video modeling (31.6%), technology-aided instruction and intervention (38.5%), peer-mediated intervention (52.4%), and time delay (56.4%) were least used. This study provides insight into educator familiarity with and use of ASD-specific EBPs and has implications for improving the use of EBPs to ensure Autistic children are meaningfully included and retained in general education settings.

Background: There is a scarcity of objective research providing evidence of maintenance of long-term change and treatment generalization outside of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) interventions. Our study aims to examine social communication improvements through social skill practices using online group platform among Autistics/individuals diagnosed with ASD. Objectives: Create online, personalized peer groups for Autistics/individuals diagnosed with ASD to implement and practice acquired social skills from ASD intervention. And propose novel methods for measuring changes in individuals’ social communication skills. Methods: 40 Autistics/individuals diagnosed with ASD completed 5-8 sessions in 8 weeks. Each participant was pre-screened and grouped with others based on similar communication level. Participants joined their 60-minute online peer group of 3-5 neurotypical and Autistic youths/youths diagnosed with ASD, led by a trained facilitator. They freely engaged in conversations and activities. Sessions were recorded and individually analyzed to assess social engagement and emotional health. Results: Youth (median age=15.2 years, IQR 8-22; 82% male) participated in the groups. 80% of participants had significant improvement in social communication, measured by total talk time throughout the peer groups. Conclusions: Our results with novel objective measurements suggest that our online peer groups provide an opportunity for Autistics/individuals diagnosed with ASD to effectively practice and apply social skills acquired in interventions.

Autistics/individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder often experience difficulties identifying emotional responses of others and themselves. The difficulty on identify emotions often leads to lack of understanding of social situations and appropriate ways to reciprocate social interactions. Past studies and current common practices focus on tacting “emotions” by looking at pictures or real persons exhibiting various facial expressions. This present study explores a five-phase approach to teach individuals diagnosed with autism to identify and respond to complex emotions. The five phases targeted different components such as identifying facial expression, verbal behavior, and body gestures, responding to emotions exhibited by the other person, using two or more words describing the same emotion, identifying the context (antecedent and consequence) of the emotions and if the person is still experiencing the emotion in a different context, and generalizing to a natural learning environment. The results suggest that all five phases were necessary in order for the participants to identify and respond to complex emotions.

This study reports the use of telehealth in reading acquisition to an Autistic boy/boy diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)—“Nick,” nine-years-old—and his mother “Kate,” who was taught to apply a multiple-sample matching-to-sample procedure (MTS). The skills of selecting printed words when showing models composed of pictures and printed words and of naming pictures were taught. Selecting printed words when the models were just pictures, naming the printed words and reading from books were evaluated. The words were selected from their frequency in the books. “Kate” received real-time supervision; the sessions took place via video calls on smartphones, three times a week, for six months. The scores in post-tests indicated an increase in the reading repertoire for all seven books, the variation in the percentage of correct responses was between 22 and 42 in pre-tests and between 53 and 78 in post-tests, with a 0.05% degree of confidence. The absence of concurrent demands (other small children and formal workload in paid employment outside the home) and “Kate´s” intrinsic motivational aspects are external factors to good teaching programming practices that contributed to these results.

This literature review summarizes the role of social validity assessments across eight behavior analytic journals from 2010-2020. The purpose of this review is to encourage practitioners and researchers to consider their importance in behavior intervention.

Teachers and paraprofessionals in early childhood education classrooms face a diverse student population, including Autistic students/students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This diverse population requires teachers and paraprofessionals to address the broad spectrum of adaptive and academic needs of their students. Diverse early learners often exhibit challenging behaviors that require teachers and paraprofessionals to have extensive training to replace maladaptive responses with appropriate skills. However, teachers and paraprofessionals often find themselves with limited training in classroom behavior management and not fully prepared to teach a diverse student population. Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is an effective treatment for students with various developmental differences, including ASD, and has proven successful in classroom settings. Despite these findings, many early childhood teachers and paraprofessionals are unfamiliar with ABA technologies. As such, a training program was developed to equip teachers and paraprofessionals to utilize ABA strategies with diverse students in early childhood special education public school classrooms. Behavior analysts provided training to teachers and paraprofessionals utilizing the Registered Behavior Technician Task List (2nd ed.) from the Behavior Analysis Certification Board. This poster details the training provided and highlight challenge, solutions, and lessons learned. Lastly, social validity data is presented.