Symposium 2023 - abstracts
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Positive Approach of Applied Behavior Analysis – IWRD model in research - Assessment and Teaching of Social Referencing.
Anna Budzińska,Ph.D., mgr Anna Lubomirska,M.A., Institute for Child Development.
The Institute for Child Development (IWRD) Foundation has provided extensive help in various areas to children with autism spectrum disorders and their families since 2006. The Institute staff consists of highly specialized treatment professionals, The Institute’s activities consist of treatment, education, and research and use the newest scientific methods. Anna Lubomirska will present her doctorate research about the Social Referencing Observational Scale (SoROS). The scale measures and detects deficits in social referencing skills in children between 2.6 and 5.0 years of age. Since abnormalities in social referencing is a key deficit in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it may also be used as a screening instrument for ASD. It is quick and easy to use and can be conducted by preschool teachers as part of a standard early education assessment. During presentation three studies will be briefly summerized: (1) development of SoROS and assessment of children with typical development; (2) assessment of children with ASD using SoROS and comparing the results with those for children with typical development; (3) evaluating specific programs to teach components of social referencing behavior. -
The Importance of Ethics to Help Guide Beneficial Intervention to Individuals with Autism.
Kristin Cassidy, M.A., BCBA & Eric Rozenblat, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Institute for Educational Achievement.
In 1988, Van Houten and colleagues published a paper on the right to effective behavioral intervention. In that paper, they outlined six main areas that behavior analysts should adhere to in an effort to deliver effective and ethical behavioral intervention. A little more than a decade later, the Behavior Analyst Certification Board ® (BACB) was established. Subsequently, the first version of the Professional Disciplinary and Ethical Standards by the BACB® was released. As the field of behavior analysis continued to expand, so too did the ethical standards of the field. Today, the BACB® has an extensive code of ethics, which also includes its four foundational principles that all behavior analysts should strive to embody. Given the growing need for applied behavior analytic services to those who need it most, it is important for behavior analysts to continue ensure they are delivering services in an ethical and appropriate manner. The purpose of this presentation is to define the processes that a clinical educational program must incorporate into its staff training and curriculum to ensure effective treatment. Examples from the educational programs at the Institute for Educational Achievement will be described and provided to demonstrate how this can be used to guide intervention for individuals with autism. -
Development of applied behavior analysis in Ukraine.
Alla Moskalets, M.Ed., BCBA, IBA, CBA-S. President of UABA.
The Ukrainian Association of Behavioral Analysts is a young organization. It was founded by specialists who received behavioral education in VCS programs. The purpose of the organization is to create a professional society, a platform for the exchange of experience, and the development of the science of applied behavior analysis in Ukraine. Despite the fact that Ukraine was attacked by Russia in 2014, it was a time when the active formation of a professional community in Ukraine began. Now the number of behavior analysts is increasing, as is the number of specialists joining the association. The practice of the association members must meet the high level of quality of behavioral services and the code of ethics of behavioral analysts. Belonging to an association of specialists is a marker of the quality of practice. -
A Parent Coaching Framework for Teaching Contingency Management Skills.
Kevin J. Brothers, Ph.D., BCBA-D; Sandra R. Gomes, Ph.D., BCBA-D; and Emily E. Gallant, Ph.D., BCBA-D,Somerset Hills Learning Institute.
This presentation will discuss a systematic approach to teaching parents of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to skillfully manage contingencies of reinforcement across a variety of (a) child behaviors, (b) situational contexts, and (c) settings. Though always addressed during parent coaching sessions in general, we identified a need to teach this contingency management skills explicitly to parents for optimal skill acquisition. Baseline sessions are conducted in a free-operant play milieu. Following a short presentation on contingency management concepts, we implement a series of highly-individualized shaping conditions, in which instructional control is systematically decreased and the expected appropriate behavioral repertoire for the child increases. We assess the impact of changes in parent's contingency management performance by simultaneously evaluating children’s on-task behavior. We will report on coaching experiences both with now-veteran-parent/child dyads and also parents of children recently enrolled at the Institute. Historically, treatment effects across both parent and child behaviors have been positive, with rapid and socially meaningful levels of acquisition across numerous successive phases, and parents reporting feelings of empowerment and increased enjoyment in parenting. We will conclude by describing the relative strengths of this systematic yet flexible individualized coaching framework, supervision and staff training considerations, and factors that may influence individual parent-child differences in patterns of responding. -
Intensity and parental involvement is related to outcome of early behavioral intervention.
Dr Sigmund Eldevik, Oslo Metropolitan University.
I will present outcome data following two years of EIBI from two EIBI sites in Norway, Oslo and Bergen. The participants were placed in a higher quality group (n=22), a lower quality group (n=33) and a treatment as usual group (n=10). We will report outcome on a wide variety of measures; autism severity measured with the Childhood Autism Rating Scale, adaptive behavior measured with the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, aberrant behaviors measured by the Aberrant Behavior Checklist and preferences measured with theSocially Mediated and Automatic Reinforcers Questionnaire. Outcome will be discussed in terms of quality a dose-response relationship, validity, and recently proposed frameworks for measuring outcome of EIBI. -
Teaching Social Skills to Children with Autism: Promoting Peer and Family Interaction.
Alison M. Gillis, PhD., Katie C. Wilson, M.A., Susan M. Vener, Ph.D., New York Child Learning Institute.
A core symptom of autism spectrum disorder is a deficit in the display of appropriate social skills. Social skills, however, can greatly impact relationships with others and the extent to which one functions competently in society. This presentation will cover evidence-based strategies to teach social skills to children with autism, with a focus on interactions with peers and family members. Teaching this component of social skill behavior to people with autism can lay the groundwork for positive relationships as well as opportunities for further progress and development.