13th Annual Conference on Autism & Related Disorders: Research-Based Solutions (SOLD OUT)

Fostering Relationships with Family Members: Compassionate Care in Applied Behavior Analysis

Abstract:

Within certain areas of healthcare, it has been documented that treating patients with compassion and empathy can have important benefits, such as increasing patient satisfaction, enhancing adherence to treatment, and improving clinical outcomes. While current empirical support for these outcomes is mixed (Kirby, Tellegen & Steindl, 2017), there is increasing scientific interest in the benefits of compassionate care. Behavior analysts have recently begun to articulate the importance of attending to relationships in our clinical work. For example, Taylor, LeBlanc and Nosik (2018) proposed that clinical outcomes of clients may be enhanced by improving relationships with their caregivers. This presentation will review survey data documenting parent perception of compassionate care by behavior analysts, as well as behavior analysts’ impressions of training needs in this area (Leblanc, Taylor, & Marchese, 2019).  Video examples of poor relationship interactions will illustrate barriers to positive relationships with family members, and practical strategies and responses will be presented to enhance relationships with caregivers.

Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to identify current behavioral conceptualization of empathy and perspective taking.
2. Participants will be able to identify responses that are potential barriers to relationship building.
3. Participants will be able to identify the responses parents reported on the Taylor et al. 2018 survey as behavior analyst needing to improve on.
4. Participants will be able to identify practical strategies that are relationship builders.

Presenter Bio:

Dr. Bridget A. Taylor is co-founder and CEO of Alpine Learning Group and is Senior Clinical Advisor for Rethink. She holds a Doctorate of Psychology from Rutgers University, and received her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education from Columbia University. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and a Licensed Psychologist. Dr. Taylor is President of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board and serves on the Autism Advisory Group for the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. She is past Associate Editor for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. She also serves on the editorial board of Behavioral Interventions. Active in the autism research community, Dr. Taylor has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on effective interventions for autism. She is a national and international presenter and serves in an advisory capacity for autism education and treatment programs both locally and abroad. Dr. Taylor was recently recognized by the Association for Applied Behavior Analysis International for her outstanding contributions to behavior analysis and was given ABAI’s Fellow designation. Dr. Taylor is considered a leading authority on effective, and innovative interventions for autism.

We All Knew They’d Grow Up: Lessons Learned and What Now?

Abstract:

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is the “gold standard” for service provision aimed at helping young children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Given the plethora of related empirical evidence, great strides have been made in ensuring the proper provision of ABA supports for this population. However, the increased attention to young children may be detracting from determining that which is necessary to promote successful outcomes for adolescents and adults with ASD. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss lessons learned from providing ABA services to this relatively older population and to outline some important considerations for producing socially significant improvements regardless of age. Special attention will also be paid to innovations in service provision, including new community-based living and day program options. Participants interested in expanding their practice to better support socially meaningful improvements across the lifespan will especially benefit from this presentation by learning actionable steps to take to this end.

Objectives:

1. Participants will demonstrate an understanding for the utility of Applied Behavior Analytic services beyond supporting young children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
2. Participants will identify several areas of early intervention that may need to be adjusted in order to ensure even greater socially meaningful improvements over time
3. Participants will describe how ABA services are useful for individuals across a range of ages and diagnoses
4. Participants will identify the services that are available to adolescents and young adults with neurodevelopmental disorders and how those services align with ABA

Presenter Bio:

Dr. Rachel Taylor (formerly Dr. Tarbox) is Founder & CEO of the Center for Applied Behavior Analysis. She has supported individuals diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders for more than 20 years. Dr. Taylor started her career working in several prestigious institutions including the New England Center for Children and the Kennedy Krieger Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital. After earning her PhD she held numerous executive-level management positions in behavioral health agencies including Co-Director of Research and Development for the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD), Founder and Director of CARD’s Specialized Outpatient Services, and Chief Clinical Officer for Intercare Therapy, Inc..

Dr. Taylor was also the founding Department Chair for the ABA Masters and PhD programs at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Los Angeles and an Associate Faculty member in Psychology at California State University Los Angeles and Channel Islands. She has published numerous peer reviewed articles and her research is also featured in the seminal textbook Applied Behavior Analysis, by Cooper, Heron and Heward.

In addition to her research, clinical and academic positions, Dr. Taylor previously served on the Executive Council for the International Association for Behavior Analysis (ABAI). More recently, she was named as an Advisor to the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. Dr. Taylor also serves on Board of Directors for the California Association for Behavior Analysis (CalABA) as the 2020 Conference Chair.

Her current interests include 1) protecting against a potential divide between science and practice and 2) demonstrating how ABA produces socially significant improvements regardless of age or diagnosis. Dr. Taylor is especially proud of CABAs reputation for providing high-quality ABA services to adolescents and adults across settings (e.g. community-based and residential) and she is currently increasing her focus on helping other organizations to expand the scope of their ABA practice.

The Nuts and Bolts of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract:

It is well researched and documented that Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention is “best practice” and “evidence based”. What is less commonly understood is the specific “how to” so that young children with ASD have the best shot at achieving accelerated gains. This talk will review what an intensive program for young children with autism includes. Understanding the  importance of developmental norms, early behavioral cusp skills and balanced yet ambitious programming is the goal.

Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to identify the core programming appropriate for children in an early intensive behavioral program. This includes: behavioral cusps to consider; relevance of developmental norms; standardized assessments to support programming.

Presenter Bio:

Coleen R. Sparkman, M.A. CCC-SLP, received her Master’s degree in Communicative Disorders from California State University, Fresno. Ms. Sparkman is President of Therapeutic Pathways, Inc. which has 6 centers (The Kendall Centers) for 600 children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.

Ms. Sparkman has provided early intervention services to children and technical assistance to school personnel and regional center staff since 1979. She was also a member of the Advisory Committee on the State of California Developmental Disabilities Task Force on Autism Spectrum Disorders and a conceptual reviewer for the National Standards Project, a national task force devoted to the identification of evidence-based treatment for individuals with autism spectrum disorders. There are many expository essays based on the topic of autism, some of them you may find by the link, in other cased studies made on 2014 tells us more.

Ms. Sparkman’s work has been presented at numerous professional meetings including California Association for Behavior Analysis, the Cambridge Center Autism Conference, as well as The European Association for Behavior Analysis. She is a co-author of 2 outcome studies (Howard et.al 2005 & 2014) as well as a chapter on choosing effective goals for behavioral programming in a the book ABA for SLPs.

Relational Operants and Child Development: The Science and the Practice

Abstract:

This presentation will provide an overview of the concept of relational learning and what it means in terms of language and social development in children. The role of arbitrarily applicable relational responding and multiple exemplar instruction will be emphasized as it applies to the acquisition of basic, rudimentary language, early academic skills, and more complex repertoires such as perspective-taking and problem-solving. Representative research and curricular approaches for children will be discussed.

Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to design a simple teaching protocol to establish relational skills in students.
2. Participants will be able to recognize the efficiency that programming relational responding repertoires provides.
3. Participants will be able to articulate the concept of relational operants and their role in many important educational tasks.

Presenter Bio:

Dr. Rehfeldt holds a BA in psychology from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA (1993), and  masters and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Nevada (1998). Dr. Rehfeldt is now serving as assistant chair and professor in the Applied Behavior Analysis program at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology Chicago campus. She is ecstatic to be living and working again in Chicago. Dr. Rehfeldt has published over 100 articles and book chapters in behavior analysis, most of which have focused upon language interventions for persons with developmental disabilities. She co-edited a book with Yvonne Barnes-Holmes entitled, “Derived Relational Responding: Applications for Learners with Autism and other Developmental Disabilities,” and recently co-edited a text entitled, “Applied Behavior Analysis of Language and Cognition,” with Mitch Fryling, Jonathan Tarbox, and Linda Hayes as co-editors, due to be released in 2021. Dr. Rehfeldt served as the editor and business manager for The Psychological Record for 12 years, a journal started by J. R. Kantor and for which B. F. Skinner was one of the first editorial board members. She is or has been an editorial board member for a number of prominent behavior analytic journals, including Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, and has held a number of leadership positions within the Association for Behavior Analysis International. She is currently serving as Program Chair for the ABAI Annual Autism Convention, and at-large representative on the ABAI Council. Dr. Rehfeldt was a professor in the Behavior Analysis and Therapy program at Southern Illinois University for twenty years, where she won a number of teaching and research awards and served as PI on several state and federal autism-related grants. Some recent accomplishments include being awarded ABAI Fellow designation, a recognition granted to outstanding contributors in research and scholarship, and co-authoring a chapter on relational framing which was published in the highly anticipated Cooper et al 3^rd edition text (the “white book.”)

Acceptance and Commitment Training: Self-Care and Compassion in Applied Behavior Analysis Service Delivery

Abstract 

Careers in applied behavior analysis (ABA) can be simultaneously incredibly rewarding and incredibly challenging. Behavior analysts are passionate about what we do and this can contribute to the stress and burnout that many of us struggle with. The organizational behavior management literature is replete with evidence-based practices for creating and maintaining excellent job performance but relatively little research has been done on behavioral approaches to addressing stress and burnout. Of course, stress and burnout are not mental problems, they involve things we do. That is, stress and burnout involve overt and covert behavior-environment relations, so the science of behavior analysis should have something to say about them. Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) is a behavior analytic training approach that has research support for improving resilience in other professions and is just now being implemented for this purpose inside of mainstream ABA practice. Although ACT was originally developed for use by clinical psychologists, it has broadened substantially and is now commonly practiced by many disciplines outside of psychology. Implementing ACT does not require psychotherapy and many of the ACT-based strategies for self-care in the practice of ABA require no specialized training. This presentation will describe small self-care changes that we can put into practice in our daily lives in order to help us thrive while we struggle in our work lives.

Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to describe how to implement one values-based self-care procedure for behavior analysts
2. Participants will be able to describe how to implement one self-compassion procedure for behavior analysts
3. Participants will be able to describe how to implement one acceptance-based self-care procedure for behavior analysts

Presenter Bio:

Dr. Jonathan Tarbox is the Program Director of the Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis program at the University of Southern California, as well as Director of Research at FirstSteps for Kids. Dr. Tarbox is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Behavior Analysis in Practice and serves on the editorial boards of several scientific journals related to autism and behavior analysis. He has published four books on autism treatment, is the Series Editor of the Elsevier book series Critical Specialties in Treating Autism and Other Behavioral Challenges, and an author of well over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters in scientific texts.  His research focuses on behavioral interventions for teaching complex skills to individuals with autism and applications of Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) inside of applied behavior analysis. 

Improving Social Skills by Teaching Problem Solving

Abstract:

Children with autism struggle with social skills. The social world is full of “problems,” defined as situations in which a response is in the child’s repertoire but is not immediately evoked. For example, a child may be able to initiate conversations, but in a crowded social situation, it is difficult to know when to do so. Problem solving is arranging stimuli to increase the probability of arriving at a solution. This might involve looking at each group of people and deciding if it is an appropriate time to start a conversation. Talking about the past also presents problems and problem solving as people often have to “think back” to what happened to arrive at a response. We also solve many of our problems by “Googling it.” The presenter will describe these phenomena and share studies on teaching problem solving to students with autism to improve how they talk about past events and answer social questions about planning a trip, such as “how far” and “what’s the weather?”

Objectives:

1. Participants will define a “problem” and “problem solving” from a behavior analytic perspective.
2. Participants will explain how to use visual imagining and self-questioning as problem-solving strategies to teach children with autism to recall past events.
3. Participants will explain how to teach children with autism to use phone apps as a problem-solving strategy to answer social questions about planning a trip.

Presenter Bio:

Judah B. Axe, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LABA, received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Special Education and Applied Behavior Analysis from The Ohio State University. He is currently an Associate Professor of Education and Behavior Analysis at Simmons University in Boston, MA, where he has taught for 12 years. Dr. Axe teaches in the master’s programs in Special Education and Behavior Analysis, the fully online master’s program in Behavior Analysis, and the Ph.D. program in Behavior Analysis. He conducts research with children with autism in the areas of verbal, social, and challenging behavior. Dr. Axe serves on the editorial boards of five behavior analytic journals. He is a Trustee of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies (CCBS) and has previously served as Chair of the Verbal Behavior Special Interest Group of the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI), Co-Coordinator of the Verbal Behavior Area for the ABAI Conference, Director of the Student Relations Committee of the Berkshire Association for Behavior Analysis and Therapy, and the Continuing Education Coordinator of CCBS.

BACB® Learning CEs. (An additional $40 fee is required for continuing education certification.)

BACB® Learning CEs (6.0): The Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies is an approved Type 2 CE Provider by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board® (BACB®) and is authorized to offer Learning CE units for this conference.