Association for Behavior Analysis International

Yoga has gained much interest and popularity due to its myriad health benefits. In addition to facilitating weight loss and increasing strength and flexibility, it facilitates the management of stress, as well as improves brain function, cardiovascular health and immune functionality. Practitioners of yoga may initially be drawn to the physicality of the asana practice, but with continued practice, quickly discover that it is more than just a way to work out; it promotes awareness and facilitate one’s well-being. This event will involve a 60-minute vinyasa flow practice in which attendees will learn to coordinate movement with breath as they move through postures.

In case of bad weather, please meet in Orchid D.

Dr. Hanley has been applying the principles of learning to improve socially important behaviors of children and adults with and without disabilities just under 30 years. He worked and trained at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, was degreed at the University of Florida, was tenured at the University of Kansas, and directed the Behavior Analysis Doctoral Program and Life Skills Clinic at Western New England University (WNEU).

Dr. Hanley has published over 100 book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals in areas such as the assessment and prevention of problem behavior, teaching tactics for young children, and evidence-based values. Dr. Hanley is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Div. 25), past Associate Editor of The Behavior Analyst, and past Editor of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and of Behavior Analysis in Practice.

He currently serves as a Research Professor at WNEU, an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and CEO of FTF Behavioral, an international training and consulting group based in Worcester Massachusetts. This group of researcher-practitioners supports professionals attempting to create meaningful outcomes with practical functional assessment processes and skill-based treatments for addressing emerging and severe problem behavior, intractable stereotypy, food selectivity and mealtime problem behavior, and sleep problems.

Missouri State University offers a master’s degree program in Applied Behavior Analysis. This degree program provides the verified BACB course sequence required to sit for the BACB examination. Students can also graduate from the program meeting all internship and supervision requirements. Our diverse faculty research interests offer students choices in careers that they may wish to pursue upon graduation. Some of these faculty research interests include autism treatment, applications of ABA in special education, organizational behavior management, acceptance and commitment training, and the experimental analysis of behavior. Community partnerships also provide opportunities for students to work directly with populations of interest and graduate assistantships are available but competitive. The poster will provide information to conference attendees about this program as we seek to play a significant role in training future applied behavior analysts.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has been demonstrated to increase psychological flexibility and decrease stress in caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDDs), which is important because this population often reports high stress. This is the first systematic review to examine strategies used to teach ACT to caregivers of children with NDDs. The databases Medline, The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and PsycINFO, along with EBSCO Discovery Service, were searched. Inclusion criteria were: an experimental or quasi-experimental group or single-case design was used, the independent variable included providing ACT to caregivers of children with NDDs, and group or individual quantitative data were presented on outcome measures. Case studies, review articles, and articles not peer-reviewed or written in English were excluded. Using the PRISMA guidelines, 157 abstracts were screened after duplicates were removed. In total, 11 articles met the inclusion criteria. All but one article (n = 10) used didactic training in comparison to performance and competency-based training. All articles (N = 11) used indirect outcome measures (e.g., questionnaires) to assess?outcomes of ACT, with only one study also including direct outcomes. Further, only two articles discussed treatment integrity. Future research is needed to address these gaps.

Rumination, as a behavior, is the regurgitation of food that had already been consumed, and the regurgitate may be re-chewed, re-swallowed, or expelled. Engagement in this behavior can pose a threat to the health and safety of the individual (Chial & Camilleri, 2009; Fredericks et al., 1998; Sadock, Sadock, & Ruiz, 2014). The participant ia a 39-year-old woman who attends a day habilitation program and residential program for adults diagnosed with a developmental disability. Pre-Meal Sessions Thirty minutes prior to each meal, the participant was brought to the treatment area and provided with three moderately-preferred high carbohydrate foods. Thirty minutes prior to each meal, the participant was brought to the treatment area and provided with three moderately-preferred high carbohydrate foods. Following the regular meal, the participant was returned to the treatment area as described under the pre-meal sessions. These sessions were conducted as the pre-meal sessions were conducted. Following the 30-minute period, she was returned to her regular group room and proceeded with regularly scheduled activities. Results: Baseline - 26.4% of intervals (45.8% just prior to application of independent variable). Treatment – 10% of intervals for pre-meal; 16% of intervals for post-meal. Return to Baseline – 43.1% of intervals. Return to Treatment – 0-5% of intervals. Generalization Sessions (at residence): Baseline – 24.4% of intervals. Treatment – 1.7% of intervals for pre-meal; 1.8% of intervals for post-meal

Positive Behavioral Supports is a systematic, person-centered approach to understanding reasons for behavior and applying evidence-based practices for prevention, proactive intervention, teaching and responding to behavior with the goal of achieving meaningful social outcomes, increasing learning, and enhancing the quality of life across the lifespan. Presently, little research exists that has evaluated the effectiveness of PBS when applied to programs charged with serving adults with ASD. The present study systematically demonstrates the successful application of a PBS supervision model in a program serving over 250 individuals across multiple group homes. Generally, improvements were noted in staff behaviors including: Group Management skills, Quality of staff Interactions, and staff Engagement with clients.

This study seeks to examine the varying levels of confidence in clinicians throughout the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnostic evaluation process. Specifically, clinicians were asked their clinical impressions at varying stages of diagnostic procedures (i.e., initial diagnostic interview, analysis of rating scale results from parents and/or teachers, and completion of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition). The utility of the additive steps involved in the diagnostic procedures will be analyzed. In addition, confidence in diagnostic impressions at each stage will be measured through the use of a Likert scale in an attempt to establish whether the years completing ASD diagnostics, level of training and/or discipline trained in (e.g., Psychology, Speech, Pediatrics, etc.) has an effect on overall confidence of differential diagnosis and/or diagnosis of ASD. Preliminary data from this ongoing research project suggest that clinician experience with ASD diagnostics may be positively correlated to level of confidence after the initial diagnostic interview.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is considered to be one of the most frequent severe developmental disorders (NAC, 2015). It affects not only the person diagnosed with ASD, but their entire family (Abouzeid & Poirier, 2014). Certain studies have shown that feeling effective in the upbringing of an autistic child (Bourke-Taylor, Pallant, Law, & Howie, 2012; Weiss et al., 2013), having a positive and optimistic view of the situation, feeling responsible and having control (Ekas, Lickenbrock, & Whitman, 2010; Siman-Tov & Kaniel, 2011) are associated with a better quality of life. In this respect, parental training has demonstrated its effectiveness (Brookman-Frazee, Vismara, Drahota, Stahmer, & Openden, 2015). This presentation aims to discuss the effects of a specific parental training offered to parents of children with ASD aged 6 to 12. Results pertaining to parent-child relationships, feelings of stress and quality of life will be presented. Data collection of this mixed methods study (qualitative and quantitative data) originates from various sources (interviews, questionnaires, group discussions) collected from 21 parents.

Third generation cognitive behavioral therapy, such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), functional analytic psychotherapy (FAP) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) have shown great promise in treatment of psychological distress and increasing psychological flexibility in typical and clinical populations. Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have impaired psychological flexibility and repetitive and restrictive behavior, and are at increased risk for psychological distress. In this review we conducted a systematic literature search on acceptance and commitment therapy, functional psychotherapy and dialectical behavior therapy for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The data shows that there is limited research on these types of third generation cognitive behavioral therapy for individuals with ASD. However, the studies that do exists shows promise in reducing stress and psychological distress, as well as increasing psychological flexibility. It is important that treatments that works, as ACT, are an option also for people with ASD. Areas for further research will be discussed.

Social validity is a concept defined by the behavior analyst Wolf (1978) as the acceptability and perceived social importance of an intervention by the beneficiary. The assessment of this concept could allows professionals to tailor their interventions. The assistance dog service for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has never been assess with a social validity tool. Assessing the social validity will allow to identify the main facilitators and the possible obstacles in order to validate the relevance of the assistance dog service for this population. The objective of this study is to assess the social validity of an assistance dog service for children with ASD. The sample will include 60 parents of children aged from 3 to 9 years old with ASD who had previously received an assistance dog service for at least one month. Participants completed online a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Treatment Acceptablity Rating Form – Revised (TARF-R). The TARF-R total acceptability score ranged from 17 to 119. Descriptive analyses were performed. Preliminary results with six participants showed that mean total acceptability scores is 89.33 with a standard deviation of 18.12. This finding suggest that the parents found the assistance dog service acceptable for their children with ASD.

Transition from Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention (EIBI) to school has been described by families as one of the most critical change on their service trajectory. Surprisingly, scientific evidence about this transition is sparse and inconsistent, limiting recommendations to support families (Marsh et al. 2017). This communication aims to yield innovative knowledge in this context, describing families' experiences of this transition using the Evaluation of the Autism Trajectory for Parents (ETAP) model. Eighty families completed ETAP surveys as well as four other questionnaires related to families’ and schools’ contexts at two moments: end of EIBI and after eight months in school. Preliminary analyses indicate a large negative impact of EIBI termination on four of the five quality determinants of ETAP (accessibility, p = .036; validity; p = .000; flexibility, p = .002; and empathy, p = .002). Levers of action to help school readiness for children with ASD are suggested.

Background: Although ABA for autism is known to be evidence-based and is relatively available in most Western countries, there is a noticeable gap in the use and availability of ABA services in other countries, such as Taiwan. It is unclear whether this is simply a function of lack of qualified service providers, lack of knowledge about ABA's effectiveness, or is related to cultural attitudes and values. Measures and Methods: Framed within the Health Belief Model, a questionnaire was developed to examine parent knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to autism and ABA interventions. To date, 156 parents of children with autism in Taiwan have completed the survey (52 of whom use ABA now or in the past; 104 never used ABA). Results: Knowledge of autism was high in both groups. Knowledge about ABA was significantly higher in the ABA group (73.1% vs. 43.3%). See Figure for data on a sample question. Further analyses will examine how parent knowledge and attitudes relate to whether they chose or avoid ABA interventions. Implications: The findings from this study will provide a better understanding of how parents in Taiwan perceive autism and ABA treatments, which may help inform service providers in providing information to parents.

The DSM-V defines stereotypy as “restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities.” According to Cunningham, 2008: “Stereotypies exhibited by children with autism are often perceived as age-inappropriate in form, focus, content, duration or intensity. The stigma attached to children who frequently engage in such behavior has obvious undesirable consequences from a parent’s point of view….The child’s involvement in the community, peer and adult interactions, or typical education settings may become severely restricted.” While typically developing children ages 2 to 4 engaged in stereotypy for 3-5% of the time they were being observed, children with autism or PDD-NOS engaged in stereotypy for 12% to 39% of the time. (MacDonald, 2007). Treatment of stereotypy should be a priority with practitioners due to the lack of developmental and social appropriateness of individuals with autism (Smith and Van Houton, 1996, Cunningham, 2008). The most common treatment of stereotypy is Response Interruption and Redirection (RIRD), which has shown to decrease stereotypical behaviors, but only moderately and not completely in most cases. (Cassella, 2011, Ahearn et al, 2007, & Dickman et al’s 2012). The purpose of this study was to decrease visual stereotypy through the use of a treatment package of DRO and punishment for a 6-year old girl with autism in order to decrease social and developmental barriers, and increase opportunities to participate in an inclusive setting. A component analysis demonstrated the effectiveness of total treatment package vs. the use of punishment or DRO alone for this subject.

Children with autism often engage in stereotypy or stereotypical behaviors, which are repetitive behaviors not contingent on social reinforcement (Turner & Durham, 1999). Topographies can span widely and are unique to individuals. Common forms include non-functional movements like rocking, swaying, hand flapping, spinning of objects, and lining up objects (MacDonald, 2007). Like all operant behavior, stereotypical behavior should be categorized by the function rather than form in order to identify treatment options (Cunningham, 2008). Treatment of stereotypy should be a priority with practitioners due to the lack of developmental and social appropriateness of individuals with autism (Smith and Van Houton, 1996). According to Cunningham (2008), “Stereotypy may interfere not only with initial learning acquisition, but also with the extent to which children engage in the learned and more appropriate alternative behaviors during free time.” The most common treatment of stereotypy is Response Interruption and Redirection (RIRD), which has shown to moderately decrease stereotypy, and not completely in most cases (Cassella, 2011), (Ahearn et al, 2007), & (Dickman et al’s 2012). The purpose of this study was to further decrease stereotypy through the addition of punishment procedures in order to decrease barriers, and increase opportunities to participate in an inclusive setting.

It is a fact that having quality services for Autism is a priority need for each community. FLENI (www.fleni.org.ar) is a non-profit organization that provides health services for adults and children with neurologic disorders in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 2012 FLENI opened a service for children with Autism and other developmental disabilities, called Therapeutic Intervention Program (Programa de Intervención Terapeutica): in this program children concur with their parents for a period between a week up to a month in order to receive intensive intervention. At the intake we realize an initial interview to establish the individualized goals that will be implemented within the program. Intervention objectives can be focused on, educational goals, daily living skills or problem behavior. We use Applied Behavioral Analysis as a reference framework for intervention through the program, and especially for behavioral problems. In this poster we describe the program, the population that has been attended, and the results of a social acceptability form completed by parents at the end of each program experience, which we have collected since the service has been started.

This study used a multiple baseline, single-subject research design to investigate the efficacy of an iPad®-based speech-generating device (SGD). The iPad was equipped with the SPEAKall!® application to function as a SGD. SGDs are a form of aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) allowing a user to communicate using digitized and/or synthetic speech. The chosen SPEAKall!® application provides an interface specifically designed for sensory and behavioral characteristics of learners with autism. Instruction followed a modified version of the intervention phases from the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). This modified PECS protocol was implemented with two adolescents and one young adult between the ages of 14-23. All three participants were diagnosed with severe autism spectrum disorder and little to no functional speech. Dependent measures included the ability to request for edible and tangible items as the primary measure, and the ability to engage in natural speech production as an ancillary measure to determine simultaneous, additive effects on speech acquisition. Generalization probes were conducted to evaluate if participants can use the learned skills to request for untrained items. Results indicated increases in requesting behaviors for all three participants across intervention and maintenance phases (see Figure 1). Once participants mastered requesting of edible items, they were able to generalize the skill to tangible items. However, mixed results were found when targeting natural speech production (see Figure 2). Based on the current findings, the infusion of an iPad-based SGD into PECS instruction may be effective in increasing initial requesting skills; the results underscore the robustness of behavioral teaching principles within the modified PECS protocol. However, a facilitative effect on increasing speech acquisition cannot necessarily be expected for every participant. It is likely that pre-treatment individual differences related to cognition and language contributed to the range of communication and speech outcomes observed across participants.

One in 59 children in the general US population has a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and approximately 30% of those children are unable to function in everyday activities due to lack of appropriate verbal communication (CDC, 2019). Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC; picture exchange, manual sign, or a dynamic speech-generating device) are alternatives to verbal speech, which enables children with ASD to successfully participate in their homes and community. However, no known research-based communication-screening tool is currently available to providers when selecting an AAC. In Study 1, an online communication screener for families of non-verbal children with ASD was developed to identify an effective alternative modality of communication along with a direct observation tool to verify caregivers’ report of child skills. Study 2 determined the potential efficacy and efficiency of four different augmentative communication modalities for teaching requests to four children with ASD within an adapted alternating treatments design. The results of Study 1 and 2 were compared to determine if the screener recommendations resulted in the selection of the most efficient and appropriate modality of communication for each child. Implications of these findings will be discussed.

Multiple, high-quality studies have demonstrated the efficacy of many interventions to improve skill acquisition and reduce challenging behavior among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Wong et al., 2014). Many of these evidence-based practices are based in applied behavior analysis. Unfortunately, many families of children with ASD cannot access these evidence-based practices due to shortage of Board Certified Behavior Analysts. The purpose of this project was to serve parents of children with ASD by providing parent coaching delivered via telehealth technology. Specifically, we trained 30 parents of children with ASD to implement evidence-based practices in home to address parent-selected, individualized goals via telehealth. Parent-child dyads received coaching twice a week for about six weeks. The program consisted of a (a) parent interview, (b) baseline sessions, and (c) parent training and intervention sessions. Results indicate that parents were able to implement evidence-based interventions with fidelity (mean = 94% of steps implemented correctly). Moreover, results indicate that parent-implemented interventions are successful with 42% of individualized goals mastered within the six-week parent-coaching period.

Insomnia Disorder as classified by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM-V) is characterized by difficulties initiating or maintaining sleep which causes significant distress or impairment in occupational, education, academic, behavioral or other important areas of functioning. Research has shown that 40-50% of individuals with insomnia also present with a comorbid mental disorder. Sleep disorders, such as insomnia in children can be due to conditioning factors (child who does not learn to fall asleep alone) or from the absence of a bedtime routine. Children with developmental disabilities such as ASD are at higher risk of experiencing sleep difficulties which have been demonstrated to have a significant negative impact in adaptive areas such as in academics, socialization with peers and an increase in aggressive behaviors towards others. Bed time sleep refusal has been shown to be one of the most problematic behaviors exhibited by children who experience sleep difficulties. Bed time sleep refusal is defined as engaging in maladaptive behaviors (e.g tantrums, negotiation, calling out, throwing objects or physical aggression) to delay or avoid sleeping in one’s bed alone. Antecedent based interventions as well as consequence-based interventions have shown to be effective in treating bed time refusal in children. However, research has shown that parents are less likely to engage in consequence based strategies (i.e. extinction) due to its emotional triggers and there has been conflicting research on variations of the effectiveness of interventions geared towards bed time sleep refusal (antecedent plus consequence-based strategies vs. antecedent strategies alone or consequence strategies alone). The present systematic literature review will evaluate and compare the effectiveness of antecedent based interventions (i.e. stimulus control procedures, creating establishing operations) and consequence-based interventions (i.e. extinction based interventions, reinforcement, shaping) on bed time sleep refusal in order to identify which one is the most effective strategy to decrease bed time sleep refusal.

Functional analyses (FA) have been described as the “gold standard” recommendation for understanding and treating aberrant behaviors (Poling, Peterson, Mahoney & Weeden, 2012). Limitations to analog FA, such as the presence of uncontrolled sources of reinforcement and competing contingencies controlling staff behavior, may impede its use in educational settings (Ellis & Magee, 1999;2004). A viable alternative is trial-based functional analysis (TBFA) which can be implemented in an individual’s natural environment and may address limitations of analog FAs. Bloom, Iwata, Fritz, Roscoe & Carreau (2011) implemented a classroom-based TBFA. This project used the procedures outlined by Bloom et al. (2011) to test hypotheses regarding the function of inappropriate vocalizations a 14-year-old student diagnosed with severe cognitive, physical, and visual impairments exhibited in a classroom setting. Attention, tangible, escape, and sensory conditions were tested across one-minute control trials and two-minute test trials. Results of the FA showed higher percentages of inappropriate vocalization during attention and sensory conditions. Outcomes of the project provide further support for the practical application of TBFA in classroom settings. Future directions for function-based interventions as well as limitations will be discussed.

Purpose of this study was to investigate impacts of coaching with immediate performance feedback on special education pre-service teachers’ implementation of embedded instruction trials (EMITs) within context of naturalistic teaching and examine corollary relationships between teachers’ implementation and child learning outcomes. A multiple probe across participants design was used with three special education pre-service teachers and three children with autism. Following a baseline phase, each pre-service teacher individually participated in a training session on embedded instruction. Next, the first pre-service teacher entered into intervention phase and began receiving coaching with immediate feedback from a trained coach while others remained in baseline condition. Once the first pre-service teacher reached criterion performance, the second pre-service teacher entered into intervention phase and same procedure were applied until the last pre-service teacher reached to criterion and three sessions of maintenance data were collected from all participants. Findings showed that for all three pre-service teachers, coaching with immediate performance feedback was effective in increasing their correct implementation of EMITs; as pre-service teachers’ implementation increased, children’ unprompted correct responding also increased.

Virtual Reality (VR) may be a more cost-effective and tolerable way of conducting behavior analytic training for people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Technological devices, e.g., Head Mounted Displays (HMD) and tablets, are used within education. Since children and adolescents with ASD require a high amount of training hours per week to develop and maintain skills, HMDs pose as a good supplement to conventional methods and might decrease treatment costs. However, the potential of such devices for educational purposes are debated amongst scientists and in the general public. Within child-rearing and educational settings, decisions about using technological devices or not are made with little evidence-based information. A systematic review giving an overview of behavior analytic interventions for people with ASD, using VR, is needed. We consulted a broad spectrum of databases within psychology, education, and computer science, using peer-reviewed search strings regarding ASD and VR. We screened systematically for papers related to ASD, VR, social skills, and behavior analysis, which resulted in three articles. This shows the need for more research on using this kind of technology and we will suggests several research questions. Several studies, not restricted to ABA, reports VR as a tolerable environment for people with ASD.

Deficits in social communication are characteristic of Autism Spectrum Disorders, and creates difficulties in the establishment of social relationships. Effective interventions to promote social skills in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders are warranted. In this study, an 18-year-old male with autism conducted a self-management project with the aim of increasing social initiatives and prosocial behavior. The independent variable consisted of a package of goal-setting, rule following and social skills training and tutoring. The dependent variable was prosocial behavior and social initiatives measured and analyzed with a single-subject design (N=1). Reliability and treatment integrity were measured. The results show that the self-management procedure increased social initiatives and prosocial behavior, and follow-up probs shows that the results were maintained four to six months after completion. Reliability and validity are challenges inherent in self-management interventions and is a challenge for researchers. In this study we used verbal reports and descriptions from the participant to the tutor and second author to established reliability and treatment integrity. The limited number of participants represents a challenge to generalization and clear-cut conclusions. The promise of self-management interventions in increasing social skills in people with autism should be investigated further through better designs.

Behavior Analytic interventions seek to address deficits and excesses by providing opportunities for individuals to develop and practice skills useful for independent functioning (Greene, 2001). One these important types of skills is learning to display a specific response in the presence of a specific stimulus, this is known as discrimination training. The current investigation extends the work of Bentham, Walker, Pluym, and Tejeda (2018), by comparing mixed- and blocked-trial methods of teaching Skinner’s (1957) basic verbal operants to individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Mixed-trial programs involved presenting three exemplars of three different verbal operants in randomized order in a single block; whereas blocked-trial programs involved presenting three exemplars of a single verbal operant in a single blocked format. Participants included two adults with ASD. Both participants were matched according to scores on the PEAK-DT assessment. Results indicated fewer trials to mastery across most programs in blocked-trial arrangements compared to mixed-trial arrangements. The current data replicates previous findings and provides implications for instructional designs with individuals with ASD.

Study objective: To investigate effect of urination training using bucket prompting and prompt-fading to a boy who resist by crying and getting out of toilet when his parents guided to toilet seat. Desisn: AB design. Setting : Bathroom, corridor and toilet at home. Participant: a 5 years old boy with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disabilities. Intervention : Baseline measurement and functional assessment and ecological assessment were used to identify intervention procedures. Discriminative stimuli for participant were bathroom, standing posture and bucket used for preventing from scattering. Gradual approach using bucket-prompting and prompt-fading procedures were used to urinate standing in front of toilet bowel at home. Measure: Frequency of error and correct toileting behavior in toilet and in bucket just at home. The data were collected by the parents. Results: Correct toileting behavior increased over five days. Prompt-fading achieved well. Conclusion: The results suggest that bucket-prompting and prompt-fading were effective to facilitate the transfer of stimulus control safely.

Stay-play-talk (SPT) is a peer-mediated intervention in which peer buddies are taught to maintain proximity, establish mutual attention by suggesting a play activity, and talk about an ongoing activity with a target child (English, Goldstein, Shafer, & Kaczmarek, 1997). SPT has been found to be effective for increasing the social and communicative behaviors of target children with autism, as well as other disabilities. However, there are limited data on the generalization and maintenance of both peer buddy skills and target child social and behavioral outcomes in the literature (Milam, Hemmeter, & Barton, 2017). Two single case studies which used multiple probe designs across target child-peer buddy playgroups to examine fidelity, efficacy, and strategies to program for generalization and maintenance will be presented. Through large- and small-group training, implementation of the system-of least-prompts, and feedback, typically developing preschoolers identified as peer buddies were taught to implement SPT strategies with preschoolers at risk identified as target children. The effects of SPT on target child social engagement was promising in both studies. Further, the additional strategies implemented in the second study resulted in increased generalization and maintenance of peer buddy implementation of SPT strategies.

Research has shown that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be taught joint attention using applied behavioral analysis treatments. Pairing social reinforcers and tangible reinforcers can be an effective intervention for increasing responding to joint attention (RJA) in young children with ASD and limited communication skills. This is a brief report on an experiment designed to compare two treatments to increase responding to joint attention (RJA) in 3 children with ASD: (a) using social reinforcers alone without tangible reinforcers and (b) using social reinforcers paired with tangible reinforcers. All participants increased responding to joint attention with both treatments. The results showed higher gains in the treatment that the child’s joint attention was followed by social reinforcement paired with a tangible reinforcer. The data obtained confirm the hypothesis that pairing social reinforcement with a tangible reinforcer can work as a more effective procedure for teaching RJA to children with ASD.

A multiple probe design evaluated the learning outcomes when instruction based on stimulus equivalence methods was used with 3 students with autism. The curriculum consisted of 20 sequenced relations and performances, organized across 4 performance types (match-to-sample and oral naming, writing, constructing) for decimal and percentage math skills. An initial probe was used to determine which skill to teach first. After each skill was learned to criterion (e.g., matching pictorial representations to printed decimals), a probe of all previously unknown skills (e.g., writing decimal values of pictorial representations) was conducted. Additional probes were administered to assess generalization of learned skills across people and exemplars. Following probes, the next not-at-criterion skill was taught. This assess-teach-assess format continued until all skills reached criterion levels. Interobserver agreement and procedural integrity were assessed in at least 30% of probes and 10% of teaching sessions, and mean values exceeded 95%. Probes across participants showed that 9-13 skills emerged after teaching 3-7 skills. Generalization was demonstrated across people and exemplars for all students and skills. These results support curriculum designed with stimulus equivalence methods.

Nine students with autism served as participants in this investigation of a systematic approach to programming multiple exemplar training to promote stimulus generalization of foundational skills. Stimulus variations and instructional settings were arranged in a 3x3 matrix. Following unreinforced baseline probes, the skill was taught using 3 combinations of stimuli. For example, responding to a greeting was taught using three unique combinations of greetings and locations in the school: “Hi” in the classroom, “Hello” at the student’s desk, and “Hey There” in the gym. Following mastery in the training contexts, generalization was evaluated in the remaining, untrained combinations. The foundational skills included waiting, responding to greetings, and responding to a teacher’s request to stop walking. For all 9 students, training using multiple exemplars with relevant stimulus variations led to generalization across a range of untrained stimulus combinations. Programming for generalization will be discussed, as well as the consideration of planning and implementation variables.

There has been growing evidence on the effectiveness of the Pyramid Model (PM) for promoting young children’s social-emotional competence and reducing challenging behaviors. In the province of Quebec, many children with special needs and challenging behaviors are integrated into daycare settings where educators do not have sufficient training in managing their behaviors. As such, the objective of the current project is to evaluate the effects on the educators attitudes following a 2-day training in PM practices in thirty-three educators working in inclusive daycares in the province of Quebec. The educator’s attitudes towards inclusion were evaluated using a quasi- experimental design with a waiting list. The measurements were taken at baseline (T0), at the beginning of the training following a waiting period (T1), and at the end of the training, two days later (T2). The results indicate that the educator attitudes towards inclusion increased slightly following the 2-day training.

The prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has recently increased to 1 in 59, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With this increase in the number of individuals impacted by ASD, there is an increased demand for professionals who can provide data-supported services in educational settings. One area of concern for parents, administrators, and teachers within the educational setting that could benefit from increased behavior analytic training is challenging behavior (e.g., disruption, aggressions, elopement). For teachers with little to no behavior analytic background, identifying why students engage in these behaviors (i.e., the function) may be unclear, and can lead to blanket treatments that are not prescriptive to the individual student’s behavioral function(s). This study evaluated the efficacy of a training package to train teachers of children with ASD to write and implement a behavior intervention plan (BIP) derived from results of a functional behavior assessment (FBA). The training package included a two-day training workshop and follow-up BCBA support. In addition, we assessed the utility of a “Trainer of Trainers” (TOT) model with Educational Service Center representatives across the state to continue to train educators in their regional districts.

This pilot study pioneers the amalgamation of research regarding school Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs and research that identifies teaching strategies that are integral for the learning success of students with ASD. Even though difficulties with social communication and social interactions are key diagnostic indicators for ASD, SEL program development and research are predominantly aligned with neurotypical students. Research studies demonstrate remarkable student and adult outcomes for students who participate in an SEL program compared with students that did not participate in an SEL program. The positive results, however, do not extend to students with ASD. This study investigates SEL outcomes for both, students with ASD and their neurotypical peers. The content from a SEL class program is transformed to include evidence-based strategies that support learning for students with ASD. Eighty-seven neurotypical students and ten students with ASD and other disabilities participated in a 10-week, 16 half-hour sessions, SEL school program. The Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment-Youth Version (SEI-YV), which was administered prior to and following the SEL program, revealed promising quantitative results. An important finding was that qualitative results for both, the neurotypical students and students with ASD and other disabilities. Although the sample size of this pilot study was small, the results warrant further investigation. It is recommended that a follow-up study include a control group and a larger sample size.

More than half of students in grades K-12 use school buses for transportation to school (Cook & Shinkle, 2012). Although school buses have historically lacked systematic approaches to behavior management, drivers have repeatedly reported an interest in reducing the distractions resulting from inappropriate student behaviors (Newcomer et al., 2009). Additionally, school bus drivers receive little to no training in high-incidence disabilities such as autism. Consequently, appropriate antecedent interventions and consequences for problematic behavior displayed by students with special needs may be unintentionally lacking on the school bus. As a framework of behavioral intervention designed to address the needs of all students, positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) has resulted in positive outcomes for students with a variety of behavioral needs. Studies concerning the use of PBIS have almost exclusively focused on teacher-implemented interventions within classrooms. Fully realizing the potential benefits of PBIS requires training a variety of personnel, such as bus drivers, to use behavior management practices across a range of settings. This presentation describes a training blueprint including procedures used with school bus drivers that identifies appropriate behavior management strategies while also taking a closer look at high-incidence disabilities and IDEA regulations in relation to the school bus environment.

Typically, children develop gross motor skills through peer interaction and play; however, this may be more difficult for children with ASD because they lack the social and communication skills to participate in physical play with others. This means that children with ASD have fewer opportunities to practice these critical skills. These motor skills deficits may carry over into adolescence and as a result, individuals with ASD are more likely to engage in a sedentary lifestyle (e.g., watching T.V.), which can increase the risk for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. By helping adolescents with ASD develop good physical activity skills, we can minimize their risk for lifelong health problems. Therefore, it is important to evaluate strategies to increase physical activity in individuals with ASD. The purpose of this study is to identify the physical activity behaviors and fitness needs of adolescents and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder in order to establish a better understanding of how to improve physical stamina and overall well being. This will be done by exploring the use of implementing video-modeling as an efficient tool to increase physical activity levels in adolescents with ASD. In order to advance the literature in this area, the following questions were asked: Are individuals with ASD are able to attend to and complete a physical activity circuit? And, are there any benefits when completing a physical activity circuit through a video-based modeling while measured via a physical activity monitor? Preliminary results demonstrate that participants were able to complete a physical activity circuit.

This study evaluates the late diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in minority populations. Research has shown that minority children are less likely to be diagnosed with ASD at an early age, which reduces the likelihood of them receiving any early intervention services. This delay in receiving supports at an early age places these children at a disadvantage in relation to their typically developing peers, specifically regarding their adaptive functioning, atypicality, and social skills development. The CDC recently reported the prevalence of ASD among Black and African-American children continues to be lower than the ASD prevalence among White children, although the gap has narrowed compared to previous years (Baio et al., 2018). White children display a likelihood of Autism diagnosis 30% more than Black children, and 50% more than Hispanic children (Center for Disease Control, 2014). Black and White parents raise developmental concerns with their healthcare providers when their children are at similar ages (Jang, Matson, Cervantes & Konst, 2014). Yet, compared to White children, Black children are diagnosed at later ages, are more likely misdiagnosed, and are less likely to receive a developmental evaluation before age three (Mandell et al., 2009).

This study evaluated the effects of behavioral skills training (BST) on abduction-prevention skills of six girls with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Across phases, evaluators presented four types of abduction lures commonly used by kidnappers: (a) simple requests, (b) appeals to authority, (c) assistance requests, and (d) incentives. During baseline, the girls left with the stranger. During intervention, BST targeted a three-step response (refuse, run, and tell) and the abduction-prevention skills of all participants improved. There is currently limited research on programs exclusive for girls with ASD. Abduction is one of the most important concerns caregivers have. It has been proved BST can be used to teach abduction-prevention skills to individuals with ASD, nevertheless, this is the first female based study.

Video-based modeling is an evidence-based practice for teaching social and communication skills, functional and daily living skills, and some academic skills to students with autism spectrum disorder. The efficacy of video-based modeling, however, has not yet been established for STEM skills related to science, technology, or engineering. Drawing on findings from a systematic review of video-based modeling to teach academic skills to students with autism spectrum disorder and/or intellectual disability, I used a single case study design to examine the efficacy of video-based modeling for teaching robotics and coding to students with autism spectrum disorder. Specifically, I used a multiple-probe across skills single case research design replicated across three middle school participants to teach block-based coding of robots. This afforded three intraparticipant replications and three interparticipant replications. Further, to substantiate the social and ecological validity of video-based modeling interventions for public school settings, a special education teacher implemented the intervention in a special education classroom during non-core instructional time. Additionally, questionnaires were disseminated to study participants and public school special educators naïve to the study purpose and outcomes to assess the social validity (i.e., feasibility and effectiveness) of the intervention.

Antecedent-based interventions (ABI) are effective strategies for address challenging behaviors associated with autism. The proposed poster will provide a review of the current literature on effective ABIs available for educators use: proximity control, providing structured environment, modifying instruction, encouraging self-monitoring, providing prompts, offering choices, pre-session attention, and high-probability command sequencing. ABI provide strategies to redirect and refocus behavior challenges associated with autism, specifically. Proximity control involves positioning the teacher near students to correct the inappropriate behavior. Providing a high-structured environment minimizes the opportunity for students to act out in a negative way. Established rules and procedures provide pre-direction informing students of acceptable behavior, thus, decreasing incidence of students acting out and disrupting others in the class. Allowing students choices as to who to work with or what goal to reach will assist in identifying motivational factors to achieve desire student behaviors. Encouraging students self-monitor of their progress will promote student engagement in meeting their goals. High-probability command sequence provides a set of commands to guide students as they progress to accomplishing more difficult tasks. Teacher's use of these types of preventative methods has consistently been associated with a reduction in a range of common undesirable behaviors which are often associated with autism spectrum disorder. This poster is intended to serve as a resource for educators working with students having ASD and summarizes the most recent findings on this topic in the applied behavior analytic literature.

Progressive Ratio Reinforcement (PR) has been recognized as an effective method in increasing targeted behaviors through systematic, scheduled reinforcement based on set criteria which gradually increase over time. There is limited research examining PR paired with Escape Extinction procedures. Additionally, there is limited research focusing on the use of PR and Escape Extinction with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to increase academic compliance through the implementation of PR and an escape extinction procedure through a changing criterion design. First, to further decrease the occurrence of noncompliance throughout sessions, an escape extinction procedure was implemented using verbal and physical prompting to remain seated. Second, the clinician implemented a PR procedure requiring the child to verbally identify letter sounds when presented with letter cards. Within the PR procedure, academic demands began with a 1:1 ratio in order to receive reinforcement (access to preferred tangible) and increased to 3:1 ratio, 5:1 ratio, 10:1 ratio, and back to 5:1 ratio. Criteria was considered mastered if compliance was exhibited 80% of the time for three consecutive trials. The use of PR paired with Escape Extinction was successful for all academic demand criteria, excluding 10:1 ratio.

Academic performance has long been an indispensable yet neglected topic in education of autism spectrum disorder. The purpose of the study was to examine a stimulus equivalence procedure to generate derived emotional metaphor expression by four children with mild to moderate autism. A multiple probe design across behaviors was used. In the study, emotional metaphor understanding and expression were taught by introducing two set of relations (emotion-shared feature, vehicle-shared feature) instead of teaching the straight metaphor relation of emotion-vehicle. Teaching materials includes pictures of five emotions with different gestures or facial expressions and pictures of corresponding emotional metaphor vehicles, each of them with multiple exemplars. The results show that stimulus equivalence training is effective in promoting the emergence of emotional metaphor expression as well as the understanding of the emotional metaphor for all four participants, although two of the four participants needs a second-round-teaching for 1-2 emotions (using different examples). The emergence of emotional expressions and other metaphor language in natural settings is also reported by parents.

Training education professionals to implement interventions for students with autism and developmental disabilities is a common practice designed to develop capacity in schools. Understanding evidence-based strategies and methodologies to conduct these trainings can make them more effective and can result in developing professionals who can train others within their classrooms and schools. The authors examined five years of training evaluation data to determine trends in training and to examine the social validity of the trainings conducted. Results indicated that the trainings were well received (relevant to the teachers who attended) resulting in an increase in requests and an increase in the quality of trainings conducted based on feedback utilized by the organization conducting the training.

Teaching children diagnosed with Autism to identify common objects is one of the imperative listener discrimination skill. Listener discrimination training helps to establish a discriminative stimulus control across various stimuli. Although there is an ample literature on teaching discrimination using transfer of stimulus control (e.g., matching-to-sample to listener responding), there is a need for different techniques that can be used to teach discrimination to children with limited listener discrimination and weak stimulus control. Thus, the current study is an attempt to replicate the transfer of stimulus control procedure (object imitation to Listener Responding), and evaluate the effect of teaching listener discrimination across the potential reinforcers on the acquisition of discriminative stimulus control across common objects. Last year, teaching listener discrimination across reinforcers was useful in establishing discriminative stimulus control in one boy diagnosed with autism. As a result, the purpose of replicating the similar procedure with emphasis on transfer of stimulus control from object imitation to listener discrimination will be evaluated with another learner diagnosed of autism and significant language delays.

The current study investigated the effects of intraverbal webbing procedure on the development of divergent and convergent intraverbal responses in three children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) between the ages of 3 and 10-years old. We used multiple-probe design across participants to demonstrate the effects of the procedure on the emergence of divergent and convergent intraverbal skills. The results demonstrated that the intraverbal webbing procedure was effective in the acquisition of trained verbal responses to fill-in-the blank statements regarding the function, feature, and class of several items. In addition, emergence was observed across untrained set of verbal stimuli.

According to Aquirre et al (2016) in the past 15 years, the empirical studies on verbal behavior have increased significantly. However, the research on intraverbal skills weren’t as high as the other verbal operants (e.g., mands). Only 14 empirical studies on intraverbal, and most of the studies were reported to publish from 1989 to 2004. Most of these studies focused mainly on intraverbal fill-in responses. Since it is difficult to teach each and every intraverbal response separately, it is imerative to establish divergent intraverbal control in children diagnosed with autism. This may also promote response generalization across various intraverbal responses based on item-function, item-feature, and item-class relations. Thus, the purpose of this study was to extend Goldsmith, LeBlanc, & Sautter (2007), to evaluate the effectiveness of tact-to-intraverbal transfer procedure on acquisition of divergent intraverbal classes. The result of the study was demonstrated using multiple baseline design across classes. Results suggested that tact to intraverbal transfer procedure was effective in increasing divergent intraverbal responses across classes, in two participants diagnosed with autism. However, both the participants required echoic prompts when the tact responses were not fluent.

We examined the effects of training children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in question-answering behaviors about past self-activity. Two boys with ASD participated. The subjects were required to play with play items in a room and then approach a questioner outside the room and answer certain types of questions (what- and yes-/no-type questions). For the what-type questions, the effectiveness of conditional discrimination training (CDT) and delayed prompt training (DPT) using activity items and activity photo cards was assessed for S1. For S2, by introducing delayed conditional discrimination training (DCDT) using activity photo cards, appropriate answering behavior about past self-activity questions became possible. Two subjects acquired appropriate answering during the probe sessions without the activity photo cards.

Study 1 evaluate the effect of the Matching-to-Sample (MTS) Equivalence-based Instruction (EBI) on the emergence of untrained relationships and on instructional control learning regarding the relationships between say-do in children with ASD. In the training and testing phases, three sets of stimuli were used: A) Clinical contexts; B) “.gif” of: taking off shoes, sitting on bench, and sitting on chair; C) Consequences. The AB and AC relationships were taught to three children through instructional MTS training (verbal instruction and physical help). In the test, untrained transitivity relationships (BC and CB) were evaluated. Finally, the participants were taken to the trained physical sites and were asked “What do you do here?” to verify the formation of a rule and the participant's overt behavior. The results showed that EBI was efficient for the formation of untrained stimulus equivalence classes. However, regarding the formation of a rule and its follow-up in the physical contexts, the data were not consistent among participants. Therefore, Study 2 aimed to analyze two procedures involved in the formation of instructional control and the correspondence between verbal and nonverbal behavior for new behaviors: the same as Study 1 (MTS and EBI), and intraverbal with tact prompt. The sets of stimuli were the same as those used in Study 1 in both cases. Four children diagnosed with ASD, different from those of study 1, participated in the research, all of whom performed both procedures, but alternately and with tests between procedures. Two participants went through MTS training first and then Intraverbal training, and the other two went through the opposite sequence. Three of the four participants have already completed the experiment, except for P1; and none of the participants followed up until the submission of this document. Preliminary data show that Intraverbal training has greater influence on the formation of a vocal rule and the correspondence of nonverbal behavior (following the taught rule).

We examined the effects of training children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in question-answering behaviors about past self-activity. Three students with ASD participated in the study. The subjects were required to play with play items in a room and then approach a questioner outside the room and answer certain questions (what- and yes-/no-type questions). In Study (2), in addition to what-type questions, we analyzed the establishment of answering behavior while including yes-/no-type questions. For S2 and S3, in the acquisition of yes-/no-type questions, the correct response rate increased due to delayed conditional discrimination training (DCDT) using response cards. However, for S1, conditional discrimination trainings (CDT) 2 and 3 in a desk setting was necessary to establish the answering behavior for the yes-/no-type questions. In this study, we demonstrated the effectiveness of conditional discrimination training in the formation of the response behavior of students with ASD to questions about past self-activites.

Responding to demands can be notably difficult for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The presentation of these novel demands often elicit problem behaviors that lead to social isolation and a lack of learning opportunities (Williams, 2015). Treatment packages designed to increase success when responding to demands often include pairing them with additional stimuli to reduce the presence of problem behaviors, such as utilizing 2-D picture cards in this intervention. The purpose of this on-going study is to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching a child to utilize a low-response effort behavior to escape demands in two minimally verbal young children with autism. A shaping procedure was used to increase the complexity and appropriateness of the response behaviors. The participants are two two-year-old males with ASD, that were taught to communicate a refusal by first tapping a badge held by the therapist, then removing a 2-D visual “no” card from the badge, removing a 2-D visual “no” card from a bracelet and lastly responding with a vocal “no.” Results from this suggest that combining known visual stimuli paired with vocal cues, can be an effective approach in shaping a maladaptive response into a functional and appropriate response, while decreasing overall irritability.

Self-advocacy skills including negotiations and initiations are vital communicative behaviors for navigating social interactions. The presentation of unwanted items, transitions and demands typically elicit challenging behaviors in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and often lead to an inability to complete daily routines or demonstrate flexibility in novel situations. Additionally, a lack of negotiating skills can also lead to social isolation, over-compliance and are a threat to personal safety. Research has been conducted on teaching negotiating skills to teenagers or adults with ASD, however there is little evidence on teaching pre-school aged children these skills (Roberts, 2010). The purpose of this on-going study is to teach young children with limited communication repertoires to self-advocate by negotiating, as an alternative to challenging behaviors that often follow unwanted demands. The participants are two, two-year-old males with ASD that were taught to negotiate when presented with a variety of demands. The intervention includes a visual choice booklet used to prompt the learner through various strategies to negotiate. Results from this study suggest that combining visual stimuli and consistent key phrases for negotiating might be an effective approach to teach appropriate ways to advocate, increase functional communication, and decrease challenging behaviors.

Despite increasing availability of systematic, evidence based practices for teaching individuals with autism spectrum disorder during the school years, outcomes after graduation remain poor (Gerhardt & Lanier, 2011), especially for the approximately 30% of individuals who experience significant challenges in social communication and are considered to be minimally verbal into adulthood (DiStefano, Shih, Kalser, Landa, & Kasari, 2016; Finke et al., 2017; Tager Flusberg & Kasari, 2013). Using a multiple baseline design, we investigated the effects of an intervention package to teach young adults with ASD to use an iPad with TouchChat to a) initiate a reciprocal greeting, b) continue the exchange, and c) use a closing in community settings. The intervention package included systematic instruction, prompting, and modeling, and was implemented in a one on one setting by near peer mentors, or individuals similar in age without disabilities. Participants included three young adults with ASD between the ages of 22 and 30 who had limited verbal communication (approximately five words or less), and took place on the campus of a large, urban university in the Midwest. Results indicated young adults with ASD can increase their social communication skills in community settings when given systematic instruction.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often display deficits in the area of social communication. These deficits can greatly impact the lives of these individuals, impeding their ability to appropriately interact with peers. Script-fading is an intervention that has been used to increase independent communication in children with ASD. Past research has demonstrated that script-fading is an effective intervention when siblings serve as the conversation partner (Akers, Higbee, Pollard, & Reinert, 2018) and when peers serves as the conversation partner (Whichnick-Gillis, Vener, & Poulson, 2019). As indicated by the title of the intervention, an important aspect of the intervention is the systematic fading of the scripted phrases. Following the fading of the scripts, individuals generally continue to emit the scripted phrases and also emit novel, untaught phrases. The majority of studies report completely fading scripts; however, to date no study has directly evaluated whether children with ASD will continue to emit more comments during play when the presence of the researcher has been completely faded. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to replicate and extend previous research by demonstrating that introducing a script-fading procedure would lead to an increase in comments made by children with ASD while playing with peers and evaluating whether these results will maintain when the researcher’s presence is completely faded. We currently have one completed data set which supports the use of script-fading to increase play-based comments. In addition, we found that the participant continued emitting more comments following the fading of the researcher.

Recently, there has been increasing use of medical marijuana. Coinciding with this trend is the belief that marijuana products can be used to treat symptoms of autism. There are no controlled studies evaluating the effects of marijuana on autism. Advocacy groups have formed to promote use of marijuana to reduce behavioral episodes and increase social behaviors. No scientific evidence exists that this drug is causally related to any improvements in developmental, behavioral or social areas. In contrast, most national organizations related to substance abuse strongly argue that marijuana is potentially dangerous.The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationship between changes in problem behaviors and the use of the marijuana products. Participants included adolescents diagnosed with autism. Target behaviors for which a marijuana product was prescribed were operationally defined. Staff gathered daily data on the occurrence of these targeted behaviors, and the dates of administration of the marijuana products. Results showed no direct correlation between the use of the marijuana product and positive changes in problem behavior, casting doubt on the efficacy of this intervention. This suggests the need for the involvement of behavior analysis when manipulating medication in order to empirically evaluate the impact of such interventions.

Latency-Based Functional Analysis (LBFA) is used to identify function of problem behaviors, particularly when it may be difficult or unsafe to measure repeatability of severe problem behavior. In the present study, a LBFA was employed to identify the function(s) of head banging exhibited by a 3 year-old male with autism spectrum disorder. Functions identified via LBFA as maintaining head banging included escape from demands and access to preferred tangibles; these data were then used to inform treatment in both demands and restricted tangible contexts. Treatments consisting of differential reinforcement were evaluated using changing criterion designs. Results indicated decreases in problem behavior across both contexts; problem behavior occurred in only two sessions of the tangible condition. Additional findings included successful acquisition of functional communication skills, as well as generalization to caregivers. Often, treatments derived from LBFA results focus on tolerance training, rather than skill acquisition. This case study highlights the effectiveness of LBFA, and furthers treatment utility not only in tolerance for demands, but one which includes skill acquisition, specifically functional communication training, in the context of restricted access to preferred tangible items.

Research on exploring the needs on services provided to parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has demonstrated great promise; however, few studies use focus groups to explore the needs and experiences of families with young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on the services received to support their children. Our research is trying to close that gap in the literature by doing focus groups to explore parent’s experiences and investigate in ways to help those parents. Specifically, this research sought to describe the (a) service needs and experience of parents and caretakers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and (b) how this was accomplished with a focus group. Our participant panel included a wide range of socioeconomic status, education levels, ethnicities, and ASD symptom severity levels. Responses regarding needs, successes, and recommendations for improvement resulted in the following themes: family support, advocacy, collaboration, need for consistency, access to services, and quality of programs. The current focus group, hopes to improve service delivery to meet children and families’ needs in the most efficient and effective way. Implications for practitioners and service providers will be discussed. In addition, suggestions for future research will be provided.

High prevalence rates of sleep problems, such as behaviors that interfere with sleep onset and difficulties staying asleep, have been reported in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Research suggests that sleep problems negatively affect children with ASD and their families, including correlations between diminished sleep and challenging behavior (Cohen et al., 2014). Recent reviews of treatments for pediatric sleep problems encourage behavioral strategies, including functional analysis and a comprehensive approach to sleep intervention (e.g., Mindell, Kuhn, Lewin, Meltzer, & Sadeh, 2006). Although these reviews are promising, more research is required to determine the effectiveness of parent-led behavioral sleep interventions, implemented by community-based clinicians. The current study, which uses a non-concurrent multiple-baseline across participants design, evaluates the results of a parent-implemented, behavior-analytic sleep intervention. To-date, three children with ASD have been recruited. Individualized behavior-analytic sleep interventions (e.g., faded bedtime, eliminating sleep dependencies) have been implemented with two participants in conjunction with community-clinical services. Nightly sleep log and video data indicate that sleep onset delay and sleep interfering behaviors have decreased, and duration of time asleep alone has increased. Interobserver agreement (collected on 30% of data) is above 80%. Practical considerations for implementing community-based, parent-led behavioral sleep interventions will be discussed.

Activity schedules are a well-established treatment option for promoting independent behavior in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; MacDuff, Krantz, & McClannahan, 1993). This study used an A-B-A-B reversal design to evaluate the effects of using a tablet-based, digital activity schedule application to teach a boy with ASD to get ready for school in the morning. The digital activity schedule application consisted of a choice board, a visual schedule of tasks (written/photographic), as well as a token reinforcement component for task completion. Training for task and schedule following involved graduated guidance. Results show that during baseline the participant did not perform any steps independently. After introduction of the digital activity schedule with graduated guidance the boy acquired a significant percentage of the skills necessary to get ready for school independently. Additionally, the participant returned to baseline levels of responding during the reversal, and then resumed task completion upon restoring treatment, indicating dependence on the digital activity schedule for on-task behavior. The implications of teaching daily living skills by embedding activity schedules within digital applications will be discussed. The ease of implementation for practitioners and the general preference for technology in children make the transition to a digital application noteworthy.

Behavioral goals or objectives in applied setting often include tasks that are composed of behavior chains consisting of a sequence of complex stimulus-response chains. Many teaching strategies available, however, do not always reliably foster effective skill acquisition of those steps that are particularly challenging in these behavior chains. The current investigation evaluated the effects of relational training, using an analog behavior chain, in which individuals with ASD were required to complete a six-step stimulus discrimination task. Teenagers diagnosed with ASD were first asked to complete 20 trials of the discrimination task. Six steps were included in this task, four of which included numbers and the other two incorporated Chinese characters. Participants were then exposed to a series of relational training tasks with half of the Chinese characters used in the first task. Participants then completed 20 additional trials of the original discrimination task. Preliminary data indicates a significant difference in correct responding between the trained and untrained Chinese characters, with a higher number of correct responding on trained characters. Participants’ performance on untrained characters remained unchanged despite repeated practice. Results suggest that relational training could be an effective way to improve performance on difficult steps in establishing behavior chains.

This study evaluated caregiver accuracy at identifying demands most likely to evoke escape-maintained problem behavior for 4 children with autism or developmental disabilities using the Demand Assessment for Individuals with Severe Disabilities (DAISD). After a demand aversiveness hierarchy was established with the DAISD, a corresponding demand latency assessment (DLA) was conducted with each child. A functional analysis (FA) was conducted using demands identified by both the DAISD and DLA as most and least likely to evoke problem behavior. Correlations between caregiver-ranked demands and DLA rankings were variable. FA results indicated that DAISD rankings were not a reliable measure to determine highly aversive demands and practitioners should not rely on caregiver report alone. Although all caregivers identified at least 8 demands and created an aversiveness hierarchy, caregiver demand hierarchies did not correspond with demands most and least likely to yield an escape function. For 50% of participants, the caregiver-nominated demand resulted in a false-negative outcome, whereas the least-aversive DLA demand resulted in an escape-function for all participants. Rates of problem behavior and percent compliance between demand conditions further confirmed that aversiveness was inaccurately determined. Practitioners should use caregiver report to identify aversive demands and follow up with direct child demand assessments.

Token economies are often implemented in educational settings via design of student token boards. In particular, students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are frequently provided individualized token boards as supplement to additional behavioral programming. Despite their prevalence in both practice and research, token systems have received limited evaluation at the functional-mechanical level. Consequently, certain practices in the design of a token economy lack empirical basis. One such practice includes the theming of visual stimuli included on a token board. Token boards designed for students with ASD are routinely constructed so as to emphasize visual themes and iconography-- a procedural element presumably thought to increase the reinforcing value of the token board. The current work is a pilot study evaluating this relation between token board aesthetic/theming and student responding. Ongoing trials evaluate student responding under alternating arrangements of ‘themed’ and ‘plain’ token boards. Additionally, the current experiment assesses reinforcing potency of themed and plain boards through implementation of a progressive-ratio schedule of reinforcement. Implications for followup research are discussed, as well as a discussion on how findings may steer design of token economies for use by students with ASD.

This project is a comprehensive review of the behavior analytic literature on toileting interventions for individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Our review included any peer-reviewed work available through the PsycInfo database. We use findings from our analysis of the literature to provide recommendations for areas of critical need in future research on toileting interventions in ASD populations. Additionally, our review more generally identifies how toileting has historically been discussed and measured by researchers in the behavioral-psychological disciplines. Limitations and areas for expansion of this work are discussed.

The following study used a multiple baseline design to examine the effects of a social skills group intervention using scripted instructions, visual text cues, and contingent reinforcement. A token economy was also used to help increase communicative acts across participants. Three participants were included in the current study, two African American males and one Caucasian female between the ages of 8 and 9, all with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Prior to intervention, baseline was collected. For each skill, the intervention was randomly introduced while the other skills remained in baseline. During the intervention, direct-instruction using a script was used to review each skill. The skill was then practiced one-on-one with a clinician and then practiced with a peer. Data on the skill was then collected during free-play. Prompts to use visual text cues were given when needed. Results showed that the intervention was effective in increasing communicative acts for three elementary-aged students. The current study supports past research in using scripted instructions, visual text cues, and contingent reinforcement using a token economy to increase an individual’s communication skills with their same-aged peers.

A structured caregiver attention preference assessment interview was developed to assess and rank attention across 9 categories. Twenty caregivers of children with autism (range, 3-11 years) identified a mean of 7.67 forms of preferred attention across 5.77 categories. A paired-stimulus preference assessment was conducted with child participants using images of attention types. The mean rank order correlation between caregiver and child preference assessments was 0.55 (moderate correlation). A reinforcer efficacy assessment using a concurrent operants arrangement was conducted with each child. The floor was marked with 3 squares (1.524m x 1.524m) with attention picture icons in two squares and the third square serving as a control. In-square behavior resulted in delivery of the designated attention type. Caregiver and child-high, moderate, and low attention types were analyzed. Preliminary results indicated that caregiver-high and moderate attention types resulted in greater in-square behavior than the low, with no consistent distinction between high and moderate types. Results from the child attention types demonstrated that reinforcer efficacy for high, moderate, and low matched the preference assessment. The child-high served as a more potent reinforcer than the caregiver-high. Results demonstrate the validity of a child attention preference assessment using the types of attention identified by caregivers.

This case study illustrates a brief, intensive, Cognitive-Behavioral (CBT) intervention for a young male client with a specific phobia of dogs and comorbid Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Cognitive-behavioral therapy has been shown to be an effective treatment for anxiety in children with ASD, however, this work has not often been extended to children with language impairment. This case study presents modifications to One-Session Treatment (OST) for Specific Phobia to make it accessible to a child with Minimally-Verbal ASD. The intervention included four 3-hour sessions conducted over the course of four days. Assessment sessions were conducted before treatment, and 1 week and 3 months following treatment. The client’s phobia symptoms decreased following the intervention at both the post-treatment and follow-up sessions. The Reliable Change Index (RCI) was calculated to evaluate changes from pre-treatment to post-treatment and follow-up and demonstrated a clinically significant decrease in phobia symptomology following intervention. The results suggest the potential efficacy for a brief, intensive CBT treatment for a child with Minimally-Verbal ASD and a severe phobia.

Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI) can increase social behavior in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), although the mechanism by which this occurs remains elusive. The central goal of this project is to identify the mechanisms involved in the social-enhancing effect of dogs on adolescents with ASD. We will incorporate therapy dogs into an established evidence-based, social skills program for adolescents with ASD, using a controlled experimental design with between- and within- subject comparisons and physiological and behavioral outcome measures. We predict therapy dogs to have a specific and measurable effect on adolescents’ social behavior and that this effect is gained through identifiable mechanisms. We enrolled 18 students with ASD into 3 different social skills classes taught by 6 therapists. Each child will experienced a 10-week, 6-student class in which either (a) the first 5 weeks will involve a therapy dog, (b) the last 5 weeks will involve the therapy dog, or (c) the class will not involve a therapy dog. We will repeat the measures with new students in the fall and spring. The therapists will teach the courses repeatedly across the three cycles of the program with different adolescents, rotating through each condition. Social behavior, stress behavior, heart rate, electrodermal activity, and salivary cortisol concentrations of adolescents and therapists will be assessed and compared across conditions as well as skill acquisition. Skill acquisition is measure through Behavioral Skills Training (BST). During the first class, therapists probed each skills the students would be learning and repeated the probe during the last class. We compared the average percent improvement from baseline to the end of intervention across the three conditions. The outcomes of this research will lead to significant enhancements in current interventions for individuals with ASD.

Culture plays an important role in a parent training. As part of our ethical responsibility, we are expected to seek training, experience, consultation, and/or the necessary supervision when differences (e.g., age, race, culture, ethnicity, etc) affect the competence of our services (BACB 2015). Behavior analysts should implement culturally informed interventions (Fong et al., 2014). This study aimed to identify the cultural values of Latino, Asian, African American, and Caucasian families and compare the alignment of those values to the principles of applied behavior analysis with the number of goals met during a 3, 6, or 9 month reporting period. Data collected revealed incongruencies between the principles of behavior analysis and cultural values among the families surveyed. Caucasian families met 100% of their goals within three months of the initiation of services. Asian families met their parent education goals within 6-9 months, while Latino and African American families met their goals after 9 months of the initiation of services. Cultural values may impact a parent’s rate of acquisition of new skills and mastery of goals; those values should be accounted for when designing an effective parent training program.

A three-year-old diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder engaged in high-frequency masturbation in clinical and home settings. A functional assessment suggested the masturbation was a function of sensory stimulation. Multiple research-based procedures showed little effect in decreasing the behavior. We used procedures similar to Luiselli, Helfen, Pemberton, and Reisman (1977), that included non-contingent access to a vibrating pillow to hug and brief contingent exercise on the occurrence of masturbation. The masturbation was systematically reduced in clinic, after-school, and home settings. During follow-up, a brief experimental design showed that treatment effects were best accounted for by contingent exercise.

This study examined variation in geographic access to BCBAs for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Between March 2019 and May 2019, we integrated publicly available data from the US Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection, Behavior Analyst Certification Board’s certificant registry, and US Census. We included US counties in 49 states (N=3,043). Using GIS software, we assigned BCBAs to counties based on their residence, allocated children via school districts to counties, and generated per-capita ASD/BCBA ratios. Using a modified Jenks Natural Breaks Classification method, we assigned counties to five categories of per-capita ratios. To illustrate distribution, we developed several national maps. Results demonstrate very uneven county-level BCBA distribution across the US. Approximately half of all counties had no BCBA. Counties in the highest accessibility category included <=5 children per BCBA while counties in the lowest accessibility category included >=100 children per BCBA. Eighty-two of the 3,043 counties with highest ASD prevalence had no BCBA; 13 of the 3,043 counties with highest ASD prevalence had no BCBA in the county or in neighboring counties. To improve access to behavior analytic services, we must identify factors driving unequal distribution that can inform provider recruitment and retention efforts in underserved areas.

Stereotyped Motor Movements (SMMs), such as hand flapping or body rocking, are among the most common behaviors in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Automatic monitoring and detection of SMMs would enable timely intervention to cope with potentially problematic behaviors. In this study, a personalized feature learning method is used to learn the patterns of SMMs from 3-axis accelerometers worn by six individuals with ASD in a classroom environment. This open-access dataset (Goodwin et al. 2014) includes accelerometer data from two studies conducted three years apart. The features are first evaluated with respect to their discriminative significance and classification accuracy. Then, an online and unsupervised algorithm for SMM monitoring is proposed that uses the same feature learning method. It learns various SMM patterns from each subject which captures inter-individual differences and also changes in the same person's movements over time. The proposed algorithm does not require annotated data. The learned patterns provide insights for better understanding the nature of SMMs.