The 5th Annual Improving Life at Home and School Conference Conference Agenda

8:45am - 9:00am
Welcome
Speakers Introduction

9:00am - 10:15am
Linda A. LeBlanc, Ph.D., BCBA-D
*Selecting Function-Based Treatments for Socially Maintained Problem Behavior

10:15am - 10:30am
Break, Posters

10:30am - 11:45am
Linda A. LeBlanc, Ph.D., BCBA-D (cont'd)

11:45am - 1:00pm
Lunch
Posters

1:00pm - 2:15pm
James E. Carr, Ph.D., BCBA-D
**Understudied Intervention Procedures in the Early Behavioral Treatment of Autism

2:15pm - 2:30pm
Break

2:30pm - 3:45pm
James E. Carr, Ph.D., BCBA-D. (cont'd)

3:45pm - 4:00pm
Closing Announcements
Continuing Education
Certificates Distribution

*MORNING SESSION (3 hrs)

Linda A. LeBlanc, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Level: Beginning/intermediate

Selecting Function-Based Treatments for Socially Maintained Problem Behavior

The field of applied behavior analysis has developed a number of methods for identifying the function of problem behavior.  When the identified function is a social one (e.g., escape, attention, tangible), a number of empirically supported function-based treatments are potentially viable.  For example, escape could be provided contingent upon an appropriate response (DRA), on a fixed time schedule (NCR), or not at all (EXT).  We will review the procedures and evidence for several function-based treatments and will present decision-making models for selecting treatments for attention and escape-maintained problem behaviors.  These rubrics incorporate the most common barriers encountered in consultation and direct service delivery as well as client characteristics that might lead you to select one option over others.  Participants will complete each rubric for a client of their own and should bring the relevant details of their case to the workshop, though these details will not be shared publicly. Finally, common procedures for improving treatment implementation (e.g., schedule thinning, delay to reinforcement fading) will be reviewed.

**AFTERNOON SESSION (3 hrs)

James E. Carr, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Level: Intermediate/advanced

Understudied Intervention Procedures in the Early Behavioral Treatment of Autism

Large-scale applications of early and intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) have been demonstrated to be successful in producing significant improvements in the behavioral repertoires of children diagnosed with autism.  However, questions still remain about the use of a number of the specific intervention procedures involved in EIBI.  Unfortunately, some of these procedures have been disseminated, sometimes fervently, without sufficient supportive evidence.  The current presentation will include data from multiple experiments to illustrate the investigation of understudied intervention procedures within EIBI.  The topics of these experiments include teaching receptive (conditional) discriminations, the use of descriptive praise as reinforcement, and play-based discrete-trial teaching. The main findings and clinical implications of each of these studies will be presented. 

Improving Practitioners’ Access to the Research Literature

The profession of applied behavior analysis has undergone a number of exciting changes in recent years.  The demand for our services, growth of the certification program, and development of new graduate programs have all combined to increase the number of new behavior-analytic practitioners.  In fact, there are currently approximately 10,000 individuals who hold certification in behavior analysis worldwide, an increase of several thousand from just a few years ago.  Despite historical and ethical obligations to base behavior-analytic practice on peer-reviewed evidence, a number of barriers sometimes make this difficult.  For example, although graduate students in behavior analysis often receive training on how to critically consume the research literature, there are a number of obstacles to their access to the literature after graduation. In this presentation, I will describe a system practitioners can use to maintain contact with the research literature.

The Role of Problem Solving in Teaching Complex Verbal Repertoires

Language training curricula for individuals with developmental disabilities often include programs that teach expressive or intraverbal categorization in which learner is taught to answer questions such as “Name some colors.” Although such repertoires are undoubtedly important, some instructional approaches instill these repertoires as rote intraverbal chains.  However, it is apparent that verbally sophisticated learners answer such categorical questions not through rote learning but by first engaging in other (often covert) problem solving responses.  In this presentation, I will share the results of two investigations in which preschool-aged children were successfully taught verbal and visual imagining strategies to answer questions about category membership.  The implications of these studies for teaching language to individuals with developmental disabilities will be discussed and some recommendations toward that end will be provided.