Autism Conference

FULL DAY SESSION  Functional Communication Training (FCT) is an evidence-based practice rooted in Applied Behavior Analysis intervention methods for improving behavior and making meaningful changes in the lives of children with ASD. All behavior has meaning and communicates a person wants or needs. FCT is useful when children engage in disruptive, aggressive, self-injurious or other challenging behavior as a means of communicating what they want or do not want. This session will overview a three-step process for FCT— errorless teaching, schedule thinning, & intermittent reinforcement. The session will use lecture, videos, and role playing to help participants learn the process for implementing FCT young children with ASD. (Intermediate, Advanced)

Sonja de Boer, PhD, BCBA-D, Director of Special Education, North Haven Community School, North Haven Island, ME

Training in interdisciplinary collaboration is seldom a formal component of applied behavior analysis training programs (Kelly & Tincani, 2013). Yet, practicing behavior analysts must frequently collaborate with non-behavior analytic professionals in a variety of service delivery contexts. In this workshop, Dr. Tincani will identify the components of effective interdisciplinary collaboration, explain the benefits of collaborating across disciplines, and describe strategies for behavior analysts and non-behavior analysts to successfully work together. The target audiences for this presentation are BCBAs and other special education professionals (e.g., teachers, speech-language pathologists, psychologists, medical providers) who frequently collaborate within interdisciplinary contexts. (Intermediate)

Matt Tincani, PhD, BCBA-D, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Teaching and Learning, Temple University, West Chester, PA

Yes, we built it and you can too. Witness the journey from the ground up as Kansas Educators across the state implement evidence-based collaborative practices to best serve students with complex needs. Learn how two teams improved student outcomes by constructing strong collaborative methods of assessment using structured teaching, intensive teaching protocols, and positive behavior supports to deliver specially designed instruction to support communication, academics, and functional skills. Our on-site crew consists of a Para-Educator, an Occupational Therapist, an Adaptive-Physical Educator, Speech-Language Pathologists, Special-Education Teachers and Autism Consultants from a rural and suburban district. (Intermediate)

Multidisciplinary Teams from Auburn Washburn USD 437 & Northwest Kansas Special Education Service Center and Quinter School District; moderator, Dixie Teeter, MS, CCC-SLP, State Trainer, TASN Autism and Tertiary Behavior Supports, Holcomb, KS

Individuals with ASD face unique challenges during their transition to adulthood in the areas of competitive employment, postsecondary education, independent living, community integration, and building positive relationships. Young adults with ASD will share their personal experiences navigating the demands of adult life while also giving suggestions for enhanced quality of life for other individuals with ASD. Tips and suggestions for supporting transition-age youth with ASD to achieve their personal goals will be given. (Intermediate)

Leslie Bross, PhD, BCBA-D, Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC

This session will address specific methods of teaching discrete skills such as language and pre-academics to children with autism and other developmental disabilities in inclusive preschool settings. Specific topics will include appropriate skills to teach, methods for simple and user-friendly data collection, and strategies for fitting direct instruction into daily classroom routines. (Intermediate)

Mary Beth Patry, PhD, BCBA, Owner & Clinical Director and Michelle Hass, MA, BCBA, LBA, CCC-SLP, Owner & Program Director, Creating Connections Therapy, LLC, Prairie Village, KS

FULL DAY SESSION Functional Communication Training (FCT) is an evidence-based practice rooted in Applied Behavior Analysis intervention methods for improving behavior and making meaningful changes in the lives of children with ASD. All behavior has meaning and communicates a person wants or needs. FCT is useful when children engage in disruptive, aggressive, self-injurious or other challenging behavior as a means of communicating what they want or do not want. This session will overview a three-step process for FCT— errorless teaching, schedule thinning, & intermittent reinforcement. The session will use lecture, videos, and role playing to help participants learn the process for implementing FCT young children with ASD. (Intermediate, Advanced)

Sonja de Boer, PhD, BCBA-D, Director of Special Education, North Haven Community School, North Haven Island, ME

For the young child, play is the foundation for developing lifetime social competencies. This session offers a look at using evidence-based child-centered activities to explicitly teach play skills resulting in improved social competence. A discussion of foundational steps will provide participants insight into the role adults and peers have in fostering play, communication, and social engagement. (Intermediate)

Lori Chambers, MS, CCC/SLP, Regional Systems Coordinator, TASN Autism and Tertiary Behavior Supports, Kinsley, KS and Mary Pat Brun, MA, State Trainer, TASN Autism and Tertiary Behavior Supports, Wichita, KS

Child noncompliance during healthcare routines (e.g., dental exams) can be a serious problem, particularly when a routine involves the use of sharp objects (e.g., scissors, dental scrapper). After finding a high prevalence of the problem in our early intervention program, we evaluated a reinforcement-based training procedure (with and without extinction) for compliance with several healthcare routines. Training occurred in a simulated context, and probes were conducted periodically to evaluate compliance in the absence of treatment and generalization to novel therapists. Additionally, compliance was assessed periodically in the actual relevant environments to assess the extent to which training effects generalized. Several children required only exposure to the training environment, but training was required for the majority of children. Complete generalization to the actual environment was observed for a limited number of children. However, dramatic decreases in screaming and the use of restraint were observed for most children. Results will be discussed in terms of treatment effectiveness, advantages and disadvantages of extinction, and programming for generalization to actual healthcare settings. (Beginner, Intermediate)

Pamela Neidert, PhD, BCBA-D, LBA, Associate Professor, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

Children with autism who experience complex communication needs (CCN) can experience barriers to intervention, due to a shortage of providers with expertise in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Telehealth is an intervention delivery mechanism to connect children with intervention. This half-day workshop will provide an overview of telehealth use to support AAC for children autism and CCN, including different forms of telehealth modalities. The workshop will also include activities to support interventionists to implement telehealth for AAC: 1) Viewing and scoring fidelity during telehealth example videos, 2) Planning for the initial set up of telehealth technology through initial planning checklists for the organization providing the intervention (the “tele-interventionist” end) and the recipient of the services (the “tele-user” end). 3) Planning for intervention delivery and fidelity monitoring of the intervention. (Intermediate)

Jessica Simacek, PhD, Research Associate, Director, University of Minnesota, ICI Telehealth Lab, St Paul, MN

Those who work with, provide care for, and interface with those on the Autism Spectrum are increasingly facing more and more complex issues. Relatively new in the research and the field, is the awareness of ASD co-occurring with trauma. Research tells us that people with disabilities disproportionately face maltreatment. While having an awareness of this issue is a step to becoming trauma-informed, we know that becoming trauma-informed is a process. This session is designed to review the research on trauma and to look at the research on trauma and ASD. While knowing the facts is critically essential to moving forward in the process, one must ask the big question, “So what?” Specifically, how will having this information about my students impact the way I engage with them? Does my behavior need to change to create a positive rapport with this child? What strategies might I use to reduce the odds of my student escalating into action that is not safe for them or others in their environment? Join us for this session to be a part of the discussion and part of the identifying solutions. (Beginner, Intermediate)

Melissa Woods, LSCSW, Behavior Consultant, TASN Autism and Tertiary Behavior Supports, Wichita, KS and Lee Stickle, MSEd, Director, TASN Autism and Tertiary Behavior Supports and Director, School Mental Health Initiative, Kansas State Department of Education, Lenexa, KS