Association for Behavior Analysis International

Noncompliance with basic health care can have profound effects on long term health and well-being for everyone, but especially for individuals with 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 in the IDD population. Promising alternative and supplemental treatments will be discussed, and then step-by-step practice recommendations will be provided for preventing, managing and resolving noncompliance.

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.

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. 

Instructors, trainers, tutors, and supervisors have been designing and delivering remote learning experiences for a range of learners for many years. However, some of the common methodologies and modalities, and available resources may appear to be high-quality but many of these technologies often do not incorporate best practices of instruction based on the principles of behavior analysis. In addition, some of these technologies and systems that use best practices of behavioral education and training as demonstrated by recently published publications are not often widely known or implemented across a range of instructional and training settings. This tutorial will present attendees with common practical problems and hurdles related to remote training, and will also provide attendees with easily implemented solutions based on the principles of behavior analysis and that use free or low-cost and widely available technologies and applications. The tutorial will also include detailed demonstrations of some of these solutions directly related to practical skills of interest to a range of behavior analytic practitioners and supervisors across a variety of settings.

Faculty, supervisors, and trainers

Dr. Bryan J. Blair is currently an Assistant Professor at Long Island University - Brooklyn where he is also the coordinator of the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) graduate certificate and supervised fieldwork programs. He is a licensed behavior analyst and doctoral-level Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D) and has worked with children and adults with developmental disabilities and clinical disorders for over 15 years in a variety of settings. He received an M.S. in ABA from Northeastern University in 2007 and a Ph.D. in ABA from Endicott College in 2017. Dr. Blair also provides digital technology consultation related to the practice of ABA. He has presented on topics in ABA and autism spectrum disorder at state, regional, and national conferences and has published research in peer-reviewed journals. His research and professional areas of interest include complex human behavior, improving learning outcomes, verbal behavior, staff training, parent consultation, instructional design, digital learning, and BCBA/Clinical supervision.

Many students with autism and other developmental disabilities have difficulty sequencing their own behavior during free-choice situations. Rather, they rely on adults to prompt them to engage in particular activities. Many do not interact appropriately with play materials or may select one activity and engage in it for an extended period of time. Photographic activity schedules have been shown to be an effective tool to teach children to sequence their own behavior and transition smoothly between multiple activities. Children learn to follow the visual cues in the activity schedule to make transitions instead of relying on adult-provided prompts. Activity schedules also provide a context for teaching basic and complex choice-making behavior. As children develop verbal behavior, social scripts can also be added and then later faded to promote social interaction. Activity schedules have been used successfully in a variety of settings with both children and adults with various disabilities. They are easy to use and can be adapted to most environments. In the present tutorial, participants will learn how to use activity schedules with clients/students as well as learn about recent research on using these techniques to promote complex social play.

Practitioners and applied researchers.

The field of behavior analysis has defined its scope of practice through credentialing and licensure efforts. However, scope of competence in behavior analysis has received little discussion. Scope of competence refers to activities that the individual practitioner can perform at a certain criterion level (e.g., the functional analysis is conducted accurately and safely, a skill acquisition program includes critical program components and establishes accurate stimulus control). Given the successful efforts of behavior analysts in growth and recognition of the field, it is time for a robust conversation about scope of competence for the field of behavior analysis. This discussion can clarify how behavior analysts self-evaluate their own scope of competence and how they might expand their scope of competence if the needs of consumers requires practitioners to expand into new areas.

Board certified behavior analysts; graduate students.