Association for Behavior Analysis International

Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is an eating or feeding disturbance involving avoidance or restriction of food intake resulting in four potentially overlapping manifestations: faltering growth (A1), nutritional deficiencies (A2 or severe food selectivity), enteral or oral formula supplementation (A3), and/or marked interference with psychosocial functioning (A4, American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Severe food selectivity is associated with nutritional insufficiencies and adverse health effects such as scurvy or rickets. Children with autism are at increased risk for severe food selectivity (Sharp et al., 2018). The current presentation will aim to discuss the difference between picky eating and food selectivity, the medical impact and etiology of food selectivity, and evidence-based treatment for children with autism and food selectivity.

Practitioners, researchers, or those who work in capacity with individuals who have food selectivity. This talk is also catered to those who want to learn more about the medical and nutritional impact of food selectivity, and learn about the evidence-based treatments available for these issues.

This presentation will review the research foundation, recent advances, and developing concerns with evidence-based staff training in human services. Initially, the basic criteria for quality training will be reviewed in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, and trainee acceptance. Next, a brief overview will be presented in terms of the research development of performance- and competency-based training with respect to the quality criteria, and how behavioral skills training (BST) subsequently evolved. Recent advances in BST will then be described with a focus on the efficiency of remote (telehealth) staff training approaches. Emerging concerns with various remote training approaches will likewise be described in regard to the overall level of demonstrated effectiveness within typical human service agencies.

BCBA's, Human Service Staff, Practitioners, and anyone else providing training and supervision.

Despite the plethora of research on the effectiveness of ABA-based interventions, some autism rights, neurodiversity activists, and behavior analysts have expressed concerns with ABA-based interventions as it relates to autism. These concerns have included discontent with historical events and reports of harm related to ABA-based procedures and the goals they target. As a science informed practice, it is of the utmost importance to evaluate and constantly progress our science and practice. One way to accomplish this is to have conversations among professionals and consumers about the concerns about ABA-based intervention. While these conversations may be difficult at times, they are essential for informing possible changes to our practices and preventing any possible harm for ensuring all consumers of ABA-based interventions. This panel will provide a thoughtful discussion about some concerns that have been voiced about ABA- based interventions and productive ways for the field to move forward.

ABA Practitioners

In this presentation, various speech output technologies are introduced that are aimed as language and communication supports for minimally verbal children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In addition to mapping the research evidence on the effectiveness of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions using speech output technologies (e.g., speech generating devices, mobile technologies with AAC-specific applications) for individuals with ASD, the presenter will identify gaps in the existing literature and posit directions for future research. Finally, the presenter will share the findings of recent work from his lab on the efficacy of speech output technologies in facilitating social communicative interactions in persons with ASD.

Practitioners, researchers, speech-language pathologists, and those working in behavior analysis who make use of augmentative and alternative communication interventions.

Parents/caregivers of autistic/individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are essential members of the clinical team. They are often tasked with finding appropriate services, being part of clinical intervention, attending IEP meetings, and advocating for their child’s rights and best interest - all while being a parent/caregiver. It is important for behavior analysts to better understand the experiences that parents/caregivers go through in the course of their child’s intervention and life. Thus, the purpose of this panel provide parents and caregivers with an opportunity to share their experiences with ABA-based interventions and Autism. The goal is to provide audience members a better understanding of their experience and ways to help improve ABA-based interventions to be more compassionate and family friendly.

ABA Practitioners

Behavior analysts have a long history of training caregivers and non-behavioral professionals to implement behavior-analytic procedures. However, the availability of qualified trainers and distance- or pandemic-related challenges have served as barriers to the dissemination of our science. The presenter will discuss research and practice on telehealth-based approaches to training, with a particular focus on preparing caregivers and medical personnel to work more effectively with individuals with neurotypical developmental disabilities (NDD). First, the presenter will describe research from her lab that aimed to train dentists and medical students to promote compliance when providing routine exams to adults with NDD. Next, the presenter will describe research that aimed to train caregivers of adults with Down syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea to increase tolerance to positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy. Results suggest that telehealth-based training is a promising approach for disseminating behavior-analytic interventions to caregivers and non-behavioral professionals.

All

Over the past decade, the development of methodological advances and guidelines for single-case design (SCD) research has accelerated and provided researchers with new methods to improve the rigor of study design and to apply visual and statistical analysis procedures to single-case design data that facilitate comparison to conventional group design outcomes. The use of SCD research is, of course, widespread in behavior analysis and also steadily increasing in use by a number of fields unrelated to behavior analysis; however, understanding and selecting strategies to improve the rigor of study design, conduct, and reporting is particularly important for intervention researchers involving autistic individuals. Much of the evidence-base guiding the selection of interventions for autistic individuals has utilized SCDs and offers a uniquely flexible and person-centered approach (i.e., research participant as unit of analysis) to examine causal relations between interventions and outcomes. This presentation has 2 aims: (a) review recent advances in SCD methods that can be used to improve the internal validity and acceptability of research involving autistic individuals, and (b) provide guidance on ways to increase autistic participant involvement in SCD intervention development and analysis of treatment effects and other experiences during intervention.

Researchers, students, practitioners