Association for Behavior Analysis International

The Association for Behavior Analysis International® (ABAI) is a nonprofit membership organization with the mission to contribute to the well-being of society by developing, enhancing, and supporting the growth and vitality of the science of behavior analysis through research, education, and practice.

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16th Annual Autism Conference; Seattle, WA; 2022

All times listed are Pacific Standard Time (UTC -8 at the time of the convention in March).

Program by Continuing Education Events: Sunday, March 6, 2022


The terminology utilized in the presentation titles and abstracts for this conference was selected to adhere to the seventh edition of the American Psychological Association Publication Manual and to be inclusive of those who prefer person-first as well as identity-first language.

 

Invited Paper Session #2
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Sexuality and the Spectrum: Lessons on ABA, Dating, and Love, Autism Style
Sunday, March 6, 2022
8:10 AM–9:00 AM
Fourth Floor; Grand Ballroom 1/2
Area: AUT; Domain: Service Delivery
Chair: Ruth Anne Rehfeldt (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Chicago)
CE Instructor: Ruth Anne Rehfeldt, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: AMY GRAVINO (A.S.C.O.T Consulting)
Abstract:

Autistics/individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are sexual beings, yet ABA as a field has not risen to the challenge of helping Autistics/individuals diagnosed with ASD to learn skills related to dating and sexuality. This session, which features a woman on the autism spectrum sharing her firsthand perspective, will discuss how and why the field of ABA has fallen short in teaching dating skills, what we can do better, and the potential challenges involved with teaching these skills. Applicable strategies and resources will also be offered to help professionals and parents begin conversations about relationships and sexuality with their children and clients.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) list the misconceptions around autism, sexuality, and ABA, and the potential serious consequences of not teaching dating and sexuality skills; (2) discuss the potential for using ABA to teach dating and relationship skills to individuals on the spectrum and the challenges involved in teaching these skills; (3) apply specific strategies when opening a dialogue about sexuality and dating with their children and clients.
 
AMY GRAVINO (A.S.C.O.T Consulting)
Amy Gravino, M.A., is an autism sexuality advocate and Relationship Coach in the Center for Adult Autism Services at Rutgers University. She is also the President of A.S.C.O.T Consulting, which offers autism consulting, college coaching, and mentoring services for organizations, schools, individuals on the autism spectrum, and their families. Amy is an international speaker who has given TED talks, spoken twice at the United Nations for World Autism Awareness Day, and presented worldwide to audiences on a variety of topics related to autism, with a dedicated special focus and research on the subject of autism and sexuality. Ms. Gravino obtained her Masters degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from Caldwell University in 2010 and currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Specialisterne USA, Yes She Can, Inc. and the Golden Door International Film Festival of Jersey City, as well as the Scientific Advisory Board of Simons Foundation Powering Autism Research (SPARK). She is an award-winning writer whose work has been featured in Spectrum, the leading online news source for autism research, Reader’s Digest, special education textbooks, and other outlets. Visit www.amygravino.com to learn more.
 
 
Invited Paper Session #3
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Using Telepractice to Build Capacity Within Families and Communities
Sunday, March 6, 2022
9:10 AM–10:00 AM
Fourth Floor; Grand Ballroom 1/2
Area: AUT; Domain: Service Delivery
Chair: Joseph H. Cihon (Autism Partnership Foundation)
CE Instructor: Hedda Meadan, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: HEDDA MEADAN (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Abstract:

High-quality early interventions are characterized by services that are developmentally appropriate, evidence-based, and delivered by caregivers and therapists in the child’s natural environment. However, there are significant challenges to providing services with needed dosage or intensity to families and Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities. Innovative solutions are needed to positively impact the early development of Autistic children/children diagnosed with ASDand other developmental disabilities by providing greater access to research-based interventions. Training and coaching the natural change agents, via telepractice, could help in building capacity within families and communities. This presentation will describe a cascading intervention model and a series of intervention studies on this topic. Challenges and opportunities related to telepractice will be discussed.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) explain the use of cascading intervention model for supporting professionals, family members, and children; (2) describe methods, benefits, and barriers for using telepractice; (3) discuss the importance of working with natural change agents in the natural environment.
 
HEDDA MEADAN (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Dr. Meadan is a Professor and the Head of the Department of Special Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a Goldstick Family Scholar and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Her research focuses on social-communication skills and challenging behavior of children with autism and other developmental disabilities and intervention methods to enhance these spheres of functioning. Dr. Meadan and her team use a cascading intervention model in which they train and coach, via telepractice, natural change agents (e.g., family members, service providers, behavior analysts) to use evidence-based strategies to promote social-communication skills of children in the natural environment. She has published widely on topics related to interventions for children with autism and their families and on the use of technology to enhance these interventions.
 
 
Invited Paper Session #5
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Innovative Technologies to Facilitate Language and Communication in Autistics/Individuals Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Sunday, March 6, 2022
10:30 AM–11:20 AM
Fourth Floor; Grand Ballroom 1/2
Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Research
Chair: Robert K. Ross (Beacon ABA Services)
CE Instructor: Ralf Schlosser, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: RALF SCHLOSSER (Northeastern University)
Abstract:

In this presentation, various research-based technological innovations are introduced that are aimed as language and communication supports for minimally verbal Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In addition to research into the role of animation in the processing of graphic symbols, the use of scene cues to foster directive following will be discussed. Newly developed applications (e.g., an augmented reality app) will be shared. The curricular construct of just-in-time and the idea of repurposing form the basis of our research into the application of smart watches with Autistic children/children diagnosed with ASD. Next, the presenter will introduce the Visual Immersion System™ (VIS), a comprehensive assessment and treatment framework aimed at promoting comprehension and expression for Autistic children/children diagnosed with ASD. Finally, the presenter will share the findings from a primarily telehealth-based year-long classroom-based coaching intervention involving the VIS.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) name five technology-based innovations for minimally-verbal Autistics/children diagnosed with ASD; (2) provide a rationale as to why a technology is considered an innovation for three out of the five presented technologies; (3) distinguish between repurposing general consumer-level technologies and assistive technologies; (4) describe the construct of just-in-time related to at least one technology-based innovation in terms of (a) intended purpose, (b) modalities, (c) source, and (d) delivery method; (5) describe the three foci of the Visual Immersion System.
 
RALF SCHLOSSER (Northeastern University)
Ralf Schlosser holds a Ph.D. in severe disabilities and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) from Purdue University. He is a Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders with a joint appointment in Applied Psychology at Northeastern University and the Director of Clinical Research at the Center for Communication Enhancement at Boston Children’s Hospital. Ralf is the current Editor-in-Chief of Augmentative and Alternative Communication and Co-Editor of Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention. Ralf has published extensively on AAC interventions for children with developmental disabilities in general and children with autism spectrum disorder in particular.
 
 
Invited Paper Session #8
CE Offered: PSY/BACB
Brain and Behavior in Autism: Insights From the Human Connectome
Sunday, March 6, 2022
1:30 PM–2:20 PM
Fourth Floor; Grand Ballroom 1/2
Area: AUT; Domain: Translational
Chair: Julia Ferguson (Autism Partnership Foundation)
CE Instructor: Adriana Di Martino, M.D.
Presenting Author: ADRIANA DI MARTINO (The Child Mind Institute)
Abstract:

Technical advancements in brain imaging represent an unprecedented opportunity to non-invasively examine the brain organization in terms of connections between brain regions. This is particularly relevant for autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions because a variety of sources support models of autism as a condition characterized by atypical connectivity among brain regions. Identifying the specific nature of the putative disconnections in autism is a challenging task; multiple neural circuit combinations can potentially be affected, they and can vary at any given developmental stage. Additionally, the biological and clinical heterogeneity of autism introduces additional complexity. This presentation will review key advancements as well as remaining gaps in effort to unravel the autism connectopathy using neuroimaging with a particular focus on large-scale studies, open data sharing, and approaches aimed to identify data driven autism brain-behavior subtypes.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students. 

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) define brain connectivity; (2) describe the main methods capturing brain connectivity in vivo; (3) contrast single region/behavior vs large-scale networks/multiple symptom domains models of autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions; (4) describe the power of open data sharing for discovery science; (5) discuss the neuronal circuits and underlying processes they serve that have been most consistently found atypical in autism.
 
ADRIANA DI MARTINO (The Child Mind Institute)

Adriana Di Martino is a child neuropsychiatrist and an internationally recognized scientist with a long-standing interest in autism and how to best understand its neurobiology through brain imaging and a range of other clinical and cognitive approaches. Currently, Dr. Di Martino is the founding research director for the Autism Center at the Child Mind Institute in New York where she leads a multidisciplinary team of investigators. Dr. Di Martino’s research has placed a particular emphasis on characterizing large-scale brain networks that emerge in childhood, with the goal of identifying objective biological markers that can be used to aid the selection and monitoring of treatments. Dr. Di Martino is one of our nation’s most prolific researchers in the neuroimaging of autism, with publications in the most scientifically respected journals in the field. Among her most notable accomplishments is her establishment of the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) which aggregates and shares functional and structural brain imaging data from many laboratories around the world. The datasets made available to the scientific community by ABIDE have attracted a broad range of researchers to the study of autism, with expertise ranging from neuroscience and psychology to statistics, mathematics, and engineering.  Dr. Di Martino is also a leader in efforts to recognize and understand overlaps in the neural bases of other neurodevelopmental conditions that commonly co-occur with autism, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Insights from this work are helping to provide a better understanding of differences in the clinical presentation of autism among individuals, as well as variations in the responses of treatment.

 
 
Invited Paper Session #9
CE Offered: BACB
Autism, BA, ABA, RFT, and ACT: What I Have Learned and Understood So Far
Sunday, March 6, 2022
2:30 PM–3:20 PM
Fourth Floor; Grand Ballroom 1/2
Area: AUT; Domain: Theory
Chair: Joseph H. Cihon (Autism Partnership Foundation)
CE Instructor: Giovambattista Presti, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: GIOVAMBATTISTA PRESTI (Kore University)
Abstract:

Autism and applied behavior analysis (ABA) seem to be strictly chained terms, although their function, when mutually related, can vary from adverse sentiments from fervent detractors to stadium-like cheers of enthusiastic zealots. We can read about both poles of reaction, and anything in between, everywhere from scientific journals to newspaper and magazines and on social platforms as well. These reactions are embedded in cultural, legal, and educational pillars that vary from nation to nation, from continent to continent. These contexts will be the background scene of the presentation which will address acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and relational frame theory (RFT) within what can be called mainstream ABA as commonly coded in two points of reference: the Cooper et al. (2020) manual and the description of the BA practice offered by the BACB and other US credentialing boards. ACT flourished from a branch of behavior analytics studies in the late 1980s on stimulus equivalence and rule governance as a behavioral application to psychotherapy of a theory of cognition and language known as RFT. Growing evidence has recently advocated for an expansion of the professional profile of behavior analysts (e.g., Tarbox et al. 2020) to include ACT model of intervention in their practices. In an ever-evolving scientific context there are at least two levels of analysis that this consideration of the contributions of ACT to the professional field can offer, and which will be analyzed in detail: (1) the role that RFT and ACT play in the bigger picture of behavior analysis at the scientific level, and (2) the impact that the application of protocols derived from the studies in the field can have on expanding, ameliorating, or differentiating the available sets of assessment and training procedures, with a special focus on Autistics/individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Ultimately, the reflections that will be shared will pose an interesting question from a non–US-centric perspective: Is there such a thing as a professional profile for a behavior analyst?

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) characterize the relationship between BA, ABA, ACT, and RFT; (2) distinguish the critical aspects connected to the application of ACT within the scope of professional practice of applied behavior analysis; (3) frame the practice of applied behavior analysis in a worldwide context; (4) identify the skills where ACT and RFT can offer training protocols for Autistics/individuals diagnosed with ASD; (5) identify the limits and the goals of the research and data available on ACT and RFT with Autistics/individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
 
GIOVAMBATTISTA PRESTI (Kore University)
Giovambattista Presti earned his Ph.D. in behavior analysis in 2010 from IULM University Milan. His research focuses on language development and training in children with special needs. Clinical research is devoted to development of ACT-based protocols in the treatment of obesity, pain, and clinical disorders in children. He has published on special education, experimental analysis of verbal behavior, clinical applications of third-wave CBT protocols, theoretical analysis of complex human behavior, application of computer science to clinical and educational psychology and medicine, and behavioral rehabilitation of cognitively impaired elderly individuals. He has written or edited several books in Italian on behavior analytic topics.
 
 
Invited Paper Session #11
CE Offered: PSY/BACB/QABA/NASP
Culturally Tailoring Parent-Mediated Interventions: An Iterative Process
Sunday, March 6, 2022
3:50 PM–4:40 PM
Fourth Floor; Grand Ballroom 1/2
Area: AUT; Domain: Service Delivery
Chair: Robert K. Ross (Beacon ABA Services)
CE Instructor: Sandy Magaña, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: SANDY MAGAÑA (The University of Texas at Austin)
Abstract:

In this talk, Dr. Magaña will discuss the need for culturally tailored, parent-mediated interventions for parents of Autistic children/children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the process of cultural adaptation. She will use examples from her own research in which a parent educational intervention was developed for Latino families of Autistic children/children diagnosed with ASD and later adapted for African American, Chinese American, and low-resource communities.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Board certified behavior analysts; licensed psychologists; graduate students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) explain the importance of cultural adaptation; (2) identify at least three key components important for cultural adaptation; (3) apply at least one strategy for working with diverse populations in their own practice.
 
SANDY MAGAÑA (The University of Texas at Austin)
Sandy Magaña, Ph.D., MSW, holds the Professorship in Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. She received a Master of Social Work from California State University, San Bernardino and her Ph.D. from the Heller Graduate School of Social Policy at Brandeis University. Dr. Magaña completed post-doctoral training from the NICHD funded Post-Doctoral Program in Developmental Disabilities Research at the Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was a faculty member in the UW-Madison School of Social Work for 12 years and later served as a Professor at the Department of Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her current research includes investigating racial and ethnic disparities among children with autism and developmental disabilities and developing culturally relevant interventions to address these disparities. She has received funding for her research from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR).
 
 
Invited Paper Session #12
CE Offered: BACB/PSY/QABA
Managing Distress During Medical/Dental Appointments is Like... Well, It’s Like Pulling Teeth!
Sunday, March 6, 2022
4:50 PM–5:40 PM
Fourth Floor; Grand Ballroom 1/2
Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Research
Chair: Julia Ferguson (Autism Partnership Foundation)
CE Instructor: Keith D. Allen, Ph.D.
Presenting Author: KEITH D. ALLEN (Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center)
Abstract:

Noncompliance with basic health care can have profound effects on long-term health and well-being for everyone, but especially for Autistics/individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Perhaps the factor most responsible for noncompliance is the fear associated with medical and dental procedures. This presentation will review both the respondent and operant conditioning features responsible for the disruptive behaviors that result and then briefly review the empirical literature to identify the most well-supported approaches for preventing and managing distress and noncompliance during medical and dental appointments with Autistics/individuals diagnosed with ASDand IDD. Promising alternative and supplemental treatments will be discussed, and then step-by-step practice recommendations will be provided for preventing, managing and resolving noncompliance.

Instruction Level: Intermediate
Target Audience:

Applied behavior analysts, behavior therapists, behavioral technicians and caregivers who are responsible for direct care or overseeing programs designed to help those with IDD access health care.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: (1) identify both respondent and operant learning components in medical/dental noncompliance; (2) describe the core components of empirically supported treatments for medical/dental noncompliance; (3) describe the step-by-step components of a good preventive and intervention program for addressing medical/dental noncompliance and distress in individuals with developmental disabilities.
 
KEITH D. ALLEN (Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center)
Keith D Allen, Ph.D., BCBA-D, is the Director of Psychology and Professor in Pediatrics and Psychology at the Munroe-Meyer Institute and the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He completed his training in ABA at Western Michigan University and in clinical psychology at West Virginia University. His clinical and research interests include parent training, pain and stress-related disorders in children, and management of noncompliance with medical/dental routines. He has published over 100 scientific papers and chapters on interventions to address behavioral health problems in children and adolescents and he has published a book on the science and practice of parent training. He is a Fellow of ABAI, has been awarded research grants from NIH and the US Department of Education and has been recognized as both a Distinguished Researcher and as an Outstanding Teacher of the Year at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
 

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