A Better Tomorrow Starts Today

Great new research review from Tiffany Crow!

Susan — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 17:13:41 +0000

This article by Geiger, Carr, and LeBlanc (2010) titled, Function-based treatments for escape-maintained problem behavior. A treatment-selection model for practicing behavior analysis by Behavior Analysis in Practice (2, 1-11) was designed as a guide for interventions for individuals who exhibit problem behavior to get out of tasks. This is more formally known as escape maintained behavior because the person exhibits problem behaviors to escape from the current task/demand. The authors of this article suggest six interventions and briefly explain the components of the intervention process along with the pros and cons.
1. Activity choice- the individual is allowed to choose a task/activity from a selection.
2. Curricular Revisions- adjustments to some part of the task so the individual does not want to escape the task any longer (i.e. task shortened or change the way they respond to multiple choice or orally)
3. Demand Fading- all demands/tasks are taken away and then reintroduced slowly systematically
4. Differential (negative)Reinforcement of alternate behaviors- this varies but the individual would earn a break (the negative reinforcement) for an alternate behavior such as completing a portion of the task
5. Escape extinction- present a task and do not allow escape from the task for problem behavior
6. Noncontingent escape- the individual gets breaks from the task no matter what their behavior based on a preset time (i.e. Bill gets a break from his task every 2 mins no matter what he is doing.)
The article goes a little deeper and briefly describes research to support each of the six interventions. Also, in the article there is a table that lists the treatments with a description, strengths and weaknesses of each intervention. Two things to keep in mind, this article was specifically written to behavior analysts but is applicable to parents, teachers and caregivers that deal with escape maintained problem behaviors. The second thing to keep in mind and is stressed in this article is that a functional analysis should be conducted to determine that the problem behaviors are maintained by escape before implementing an intervention.

Thanks Tiffany! We would love to hear any feedback!

A Better Tomorrow Starts Today - The Autism in Action Blog

Exciting News! The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television has released a video “teaser” about the autism and ABA perfomance!

Susan — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:46:05 +0000

Please take a look at the attached video “teaser” announcing the segment featuring Dr. Beverly Braman and Dr. Susan Catlett discussing autism and ABA. Set your DVRs or tune on on April 10 and/or May 8!.

A Better Tomorrow Starts Today - The Autism in Action Blog

Great information on teaching daily living skills and self-management to children with autism

Susan — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:51:09 +0000

Tiffany Crow, behavior analysis graduate student and special education teacher shares this excellent review of a research article by K. L. Pierce L. Schreibman from the Journal of Applied Beahvior Analysis (27, 471-485). Teaching daily living skills to children with autism in unsupervised settings through pictorial self-management

Daily self-management and independence are skills that most parents strive to teach their children. Self-management skills could allow a child to function independent of a care giver, for daily tasks such as grooming, meal preparations, cleaning, possibly have a job in the community or participating in group activities. Children with disabilities are at higher risk in that they do not as often obtain such a level of independence in self-management skills. Photographic picture schedules have been successful in the past in teaching children with autism independence. The current research article specifically targets children with autism to increase their independence of daily living skills through the use of pictures in the absence of a trainer/caregiver. There were 3 participants in this study, all boys that were diagnosed with autism and attended a classroom for children with disabilities. A task analysis (steps of a task) was created for each of the 3 tasks and picture prompts were created to depict each step in the analysis. Each step of the analysis was placed on an individual page and made into a book. The participant had to flip through each page, complete the step on that page until the total task was completed. On the last page of the task book there was a smiley face indicating to the participant that they could self-reinforce (give themselves a reward). Upon independent performance of each of these skills the experimenter then began to fade themselves out of the environment by standing further distances away and eventually out of the room while the participant completed the task analysis and self-reinforcement. The participants in this study were categorized as low-functioning children with autism and the procedures used in this experiment proved to be effective in independent self-management skills without the presence of a care giver for every participant.

A Better Tomorrow Starts Today - The Autism in Action Blog

Functional Communication Training – A Great article review by Tiffany Crow, behavior analysis graduate student and teacher!

Susan — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:45:14 +0000

The following is an excellent article review by Tiffany Crow, behavior analysis graduate student and special education teacher. This review was written about the FCT: A Review and Practical Guide, from Behavior Analysis in Practice, 1, 16-23 by Tiger, Hanley and Bruzek (2008).

This article is a type of review or collection of information about best practices for the implementation of functional communication training (FCT) covering the years from 1985 to 2006. I found the article very informative and one that I will reference in the future.

Functional communication training (FCT) is the process of teaching a person (with disabilities) to ask (communicate) for something they want or need in an appropriate way. This technique is typically used when a person is using a problem behavior (i.e. hitting, property destruction, self-injurious behavior) to communicate a want/need. An example of this would be a scenario where a child wants a cookie. Instead of asking for the cookie they fall on the floor and tantrum until the cookie is given to them. The tantrum was the child’s way to ask for the cookie. The child has learned that by having a tantrum he can obtain things he wants. In this example FCT would teach the child to say, “I want ___.” Or exchange a picture card of a desired object to obtain things he wants. During FCT the tantrums would no longer produce the desired items and the child would be taught to appropriately ask for the desired item. This procedure works because the child still wants the desired item and they learn that the only way to get it is by using the “new/appropriate” functional communication. In doing this the child appropriately asks for desired items and problem behavior decreases.

Tiger et. al. in this article lay out the best ways to implement FCT. They start by describing the 3 stages of FCT, describe who could benefit from FCT then continue by providing guidelines for teaching FCT that are research based. They also tell who should implement FCT, how to teach the new response and how to transition from training to a sustainable behavior. This article provides the collective knowledge of 91 articles on FCT! I specifically thought the article could be useful for parents/teachers/caregivers that are facing the decision of what type of communication they want to teach their child (oral language, picture exchange or sign language). The authors explain best practices for making this initial decision.

A Better Tomorrow Starts Today - The Autism in Action Blog

Beverly Braman and Susan Catlett from Autism in Action to be on The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television!

Susan — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:49:05 +0000

Earlier this week, Beverly Braman, Ph.D., BCBA-D and Susan Catlett, Ph.D., BCBA-D, co-owners of Autism in Action, flew to Pompano Beach, Florida to tape a segment for The Balancing Act. The topic of discussion was autism and ABA and the first airing is scheduled for April 3. Check out the photos of their exciting experience!

A Better Tomorrow Starts Today - The Autism in Action Blog

About the Autism in Action Blog

Susan — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:07:12 +0000

We, Beverly and Susan, want to build a community where people can come to learn more about autism spectrum disorders (ASD) by sharing experiences, thoughts, ideas, and research. We are especially excited at creating a place where parents and teachers from the autism community can come together to talk about ways to use applied behavior analysis (ABA) as a part of everyday life. Whether you are using ABA for a child with autism at home, in the community, or at school – we would love to hear about your successes and challenges. Parents-you are the experts when it comes to your child and we would love to learn from your everyday experiences. Teachers-you are who parents entrust their children to everyday to provide a quality education-Autism In Action would love to hear your perspectives on using ABA in the school setting. Let’s open communication and bring those perspectives together so that we can all learn from one another. Bev and Susan

A Better Tomorrow Starts Today - The Autism in Action Blog

Why Applied Behavior Analysis and Autism Spectrum Disorders?

Susan — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:07:12 +0000

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) can generally be described as “the science of behavior”. It is a part of our daily lives whether we recognize it or not. For example, we all do certain things because they result in things we like; just as we all try to avoid things that result in what we don’t like. These are just two of the ways the principles of ABA influence us all. But ABA has been around since the early 1960s- so why are we hearing about it so much now? Well for starters, we are in the middle of a world-wide autism epidemic and ABA has decades of research to demonstrate it is the most effective treatment approach for individuals on the autism spectrum! Sometimes parents and teachers think that ABA is a new treatment intended only for young children with autism or that it can only be done in a therapy setting. It isn’t new, it isn’t just a private therapy, and it is not just for people with autism- ABA has been used in schools, homes, and all types of other settings for many years with all kinds of learners. It has gained popularity for teaching individuals with ASD because it systematically breaks learning into specific behavior-environment connections. This helps people on the spectrum understand when and how to do things we want them to learn to do. Let us know if we can be of any help in clarifying and describing how ABA is the ideal fit for learners on the autism spectrum. Bev and Susan

A Better Tomorrow Starts Today - The Autism in Action Blog

The Dreaded “D” Word…DATA!

Susan — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:07:11 +0000

Collecting good data doesn’t need to be something we dread…not when we learn to make it simple and still get the information we need. Classroom teachers have A LOT going on…we get that because when we aren’t training; we work in schools every day. We’ve also lived with kids that have autism and have worked in many of their homes…and wow… parents have A LOT going on too! That’s why when we need to collect data, it has to be efficient or it just won’t reliably happen. Let’s say we want to get started on a toilet training program. Parents will need to communicate how it is going at home and teachers will need to communicate how it is going at school. It doesn’t really work to just kind of talk about our general impressions because we miss out on too much valuable information. Besides, our perception of “how things are going” isn’t always so accurate when you compare it to actual data. So, if for example, we wanted to share information about when the child is most likely to urinate we could just record times when accidents occur each day. By looking at that data for natural patterns- a more refined and realistic toilet training schedule can be set which saves everybody time! We’d love to hear about how you’ve made data easy to collect and how you’ve used it to make good decisions for kids with autism spectrum disorders. Bev and Susan

A Better Tomorrow Starts Today - The Autism in Action Blog

Apps for Autism!

Susan — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:22:07 +0000

Did you know that there are thousands of apps for the IPad to help learners with autism? Many of them are free. It has been found that many individuals with an autism spectrum disorder use the IPad’s touch screen to communicate wants and needs that they were not able to request using traditional forms of communication (i.e., verbally). Some apps that we like include those from Kindergarten.com. These apps help learners expressively and receptively identify items like foods, emotions, and other common items. Another free app is called “Tap To Talk” and it allows the individual to request things like places to go as well as food and drink items. It also allows one to express emotions.

Some other apps that teachers and parents have found useful include the free one from Model Me Kids. It contains videos for social skills such as how to behave at the hairdresser, doctors’ offices, grocery stores, playgrounds, shopping malls, and restaurants!

Check out the link to see a recent 60 Minutes segment covering autism and the use of the IPad for communication!

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-20124225/apps-for-autism-communicating-on-the-ipad/?pageNum=4&tag=contentMain;contentBody

A Better Tomorrow Starts Today - The Autism in Action Blog