Autism Conference

Cassi Breaux (pronouns they/her) is a content creator and the Manager of Educational Content Development for CRInstitute at CentralReach. They have been in the behavior field for more than 15 years, most notably as a special education teacher and behavior specialist for NYC public schools, a tech and BCBA in private clinics, and a private practice owner. They have been adjunct faculty for Association for Behavior Analysis International approved Verified Course Sequence courses for the more than 8 years. Over the last year they have created more than six hours of assent and dignity continuing education courses for CRInstitute. Their goal is to help the field of Applied Behavior Analysis become assent-based and client-centered, through a lens of anti-ableism.

Abstract

This workshop aims to help practitioners create assent-based practices to use in direct services and to develop an assent-based culture. This workshop also aims to help practitioners maintain an ethical and assent-based practice, and if applicable, maintain an ethical and assent-based culture within their organization. This workshop addresses the BACB compliance codes 4.02 Behavior analysts involve the client in the planning of and consent for behavior-change programs, 4.09 Behavior analysts review and appraise the restrictiveness of procedures and always recommend the least restrictive procedures likely to be effective, and 5.02 Behavior analysts ensure that supervision and trainings are behavior-analytic in content, effectively and ethically designed, and meet the requirements for licensure, certification, or other defined goals. This workshop includes a presentation on assent and assent-withdrawal, suggestions for training staff in assent, suggestions for collecting and analyzing data on assent and assent-withdrawal, role-playing assent-based scenarios, problem solving frequent assent-withdrawal in clients, and open discussion of managing assent opposition in staff and parents.

Objectives

At the completion of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Identify and state five assent-based terms.
2. Distinguish between assent and assent-withdrawal behaviors with 80% accuracy.
3. Identify and state at least three data collection techniques for assent and assent withdrawal.
4. Identify and state at least two appropriate actions when assent-withdrawal occurs.
5. Identify and state at least two strategies for data-based decision making in plan changes due to frequent assent-withdrawal.
6. Create a list of actions and trainings to support an assent-based culture.

Instructional Level

Basic

Workshop Format

Lecture, Role-Play, Practice with Scenarios, Discussion

Proposed Audience

Educators, Social Workers, Paraprofessionals, Students in a Behavior Analytic Field, Behavior Analysis Practitioners, Psychologists

Daphne Hartzheim is the director of therapy services at Autism and Behavioral Interventions (ABI) in Utah. Before joining ABI, she was an Assistant Professor in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department at Louisiana State University from 2015-2021. She is one of around 400 dually certified Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Speech-Language Pathologists worldwide. Her specialty is in the evaluation, funding, and treatment of non-vocal individuals with complex communication needs who need an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system. Prior to joining the faculty at LSU, she finished her Ph.D. in Disabilities Disciplines at Utah State University in 2015. Her career as a Speech-Language Pathologist started in 2005 after completing her master’s degree. She has worked as a clinician and instructor in the US as well as Germany.

Abstract

Considerable overlap is present when Board Certified Behavior Analysts and Speech-Language Pathologists treat non-vocal individuals. The presentation identifies different roles, responsibilities, and opportunities for collaboration within the interprofessional team focusing on individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) who are non-vocal. The critical difference between the scope of practice and scope of competence and its role in interprofessional practice will be examined. Within this context, an overview of different high-tech augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems or communication devices will be provided. Data will be presented on a study identifying the preference of two different types of systems. The aim of the study was to investigate how quickly someone unfamiliar with communication devices would navigate through two different systems and which system they preferred. The funding process for an AAC system will be reviewed and how each profession plays a crucial role in the progression. Lastly, some ideas will be shared regarding treatment goals for someone using a communication device.

Objectives

At the completion of this workshop, participants should be able to:

1. State at least one difference between the scope of practice and scope of competence of Board Certified Behavior Analysts and Speech-Language Pathologists.
2. Identify two different organizational setups of augmentative and alternative communication systems and list three helpful settings for the treatment of non-vocal children with autism.
3. State the first step in the funding process for an AAC system.
4. State four categories of goals that should be considered when treating an individual who uses high-tech AAC.

Instructional Level

Basic

Session Format

Lecture

Proposed Audience

Psychologists, Educators, Behavior Analysis Practitioners, Students in a Behavior Analytic Field

Leslie Neely is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is the Coordinator for the UTSA Behavior Analysis Program and Director for the Child and Adolescent Policy and Research Institute. Dr. Neely’s research focuses on progressing the treatment of problem behavior for individuals with developmental disabilities using the science of ABA. She advances the science through (1) investigation of novel technological applications such as telehealth, artificial intelligence, and virtual/augmentative reality in the assessment and treatment process, and (2) development of pre-emptive interventions for infants and toddlers aimed at preventing progression of symptomology. She engages local and international transdisciplinary teams in her work including computer scientists, engineers, special educators, neurologists, developmental pediatricians, and community leaders to tackle research questions with multiple levels of analysis.

Abstract

The field of behavior analysis is facing some major obstacles: a need to re-evaluate our social validity, overburdened BCBAs, and one-size-fits all treatment models. At the core of these issues is the human clinician and the human experience. The clinician is overwhelmed with caseloads and distracted by paperwork. The analyst role is almost non-existent and reliance on discrete, tunneled data has left our interventions “individualized” but not precise. Artificial intelligence (AI) can help take the load off, improve our precision, and help us better understand the other essentials of the human experience that influence our behavior. AI can free up space, bring analytics back, and allow BCBAs, therapists, and clinicians time to connect with their clients. This presentation will introduce the field of AI, contextualize AI for ABA, and discuss future applications of AI into ABA. While AI might not be the answer to all our problems, it just may be the solution we need to bring empathy and precision back to ABA.

Objectives

At the completion of this workshop, participants should be able to:

1. State at least two issues facing the field of ABA today.
2. Identify the context for considering Artificial Intelligence in ABA.
3. State two potential applications for AI into the field of ABA.

Instructional Level

Basic

Session Format

Lecture, Discussion

Proposed Audience

Psychologists, Behavior Analysis Practitioners, Educators, Students in a Behavior Analytic Field

Mary Rosswurm, MBA, started her career as a speech therapist. She joined LittleStar, a not for profit provider of applied behavior analysis therapy, in 2004 as the director then took 18 months off in 2008-2009 to spend time in Massachusetts and serve as the executive director of a Department of Education approved school for children with autism. She returned to LittleStar as the executive director in the fall of 2009. As an active member in the autism community, Mary was appointed to the Indiana Commission on Autism in 2005 and served five terms until the Commission ended in 2013. Mary has served on the Board of Directors for ASAT (The Association of Science in Autism Treatment) and is the founder and past vice president and president of InPEAT (Indiana Providers of Effective Autism Treatment) a membership organization for Indiana autism service providers, which was founded in 2014. In 2017, LittleStar was named Provider Advocate of the Year by Autism Speaks. Currently, Mary is serving as a board member for CASP (Council of Autism Service Providers) and is the co-chairperson of the annual conference committee. Mary is active on Instagram, sharing encouraging and educational videos about being a parent with autism on her channel, LifeWithaSideofAutism. Mary earned her MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University, and her Bachelor of Science in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology from Purdue University. She attended Penn State to earn a certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis for Special Education and is currently pursuing a PhD in Leadership and Organizational Development. Mary has two adult sons, one of whom has autism. She is also a grandmother to an active four year old grandson. Her research interests include fad treatments in autism, crisis of the commons and organizational behavior management. Mary is the co-author of several published articles as well as a curriculum on staff supervision. Mary believes that when done properly, ABA can change lives, no matter the age or level of disability.

Michele Trivedi is a graduate of the Xavier University Master’s Program in Health Services Administration (Cincinnati, OH) and was the Senior Director of Quality, Education and Managed Care for a 200+-physician primary care group in Cincinnati, Ohio. Michele’s health administration work included managed care contracting and negotiations, benefit design for a self-funded HMO product for the health system, statistical process control in health services delivery and continuous quality improvement in clinical practice and administrative systems. Michele left her career in health administration to care for her young daughter, who was diagnosed with autism at age three. Michele’s daughter was one of the first children in the nation to access autism treatment coverage under private health insurance; and Michele fought the “test cases” for the nation’s first autism health reform law (passed in Indiana in 2000) on behalf of her daughter. These test cases resulted in state-wide enforcement of autism coverage in Indiana based commercial health insurance products and opened the door for other states to pass autism health insurance reform bills. Currently, all 50 states have some form of required coverage for autism treatment, with Indiana’s law being one of the most comprehensive autism coverage laws. Michele served on the Indiana regulatory committee as the sole patient representative to establish Indiana’s autism health reform enforcement parameters, and served on the state’s workgroup to modify Indiana’s Medicaid ABA benefit. For over 20 years, Michele has volunteered on behalf of the Indiana autism community in many capacities with the Autism Society of Indiana, the Autism Society of America’s Government Relations Committee, as a Board Member of Little Star ABA Therapy, a non-profit ABA therapy center, as former State Policy Chairperson for Indiana for Autism Speaks, and as a volunteer speaker for the Indiana Resource Center for Autism, Butler University’s Speech and Language Pathology Department, Canine Companions for Independence and several parent support groups across the state of Indiana Michele presents to advocates, providers, policy makers and parents on the following topics: autism health insurance mandate implementation, Medicaid funded autism and ABA services, establishing best practices for ABA providers to document medical necessity and appeal adverse medical necessity decisions, navigating the health insurance system, negotiating an autism benefit with your ERISA employer, operational best practices for ABA providers, parents’ guide to filing appeals and grievances with your insurer and health insurance regulators, parents’ guide to selecting a quality ABA provider, and health equity for people with autism and I/DD.

Lorri Shealy Unumb is a lawyer, mother of three teenage boys, and an internationally renowned autism advocate. She began her career as an appellate attorney with the United States Department of Justice and then as a full-time law professor. Following her son’s diagnosis with autism, she began volunteering for autism causes, writing ground-breaking autism insurance legislation for South Carolina (“Ryan’s Law”) that passed in 2007 and served as the catalyst for the national movement toward autism insurance reform. She served for a decade as the national head of state government affairs for the international nonprofit Autism Speaks. Lorri is also the founder of the annual Autism Law Summit, now in its 14th year, and is co-author of the law school textbook “Autism and the Law.” In 2010, she founded the Autism Academy of South Carolina, a nonprofit ABA center now known as The Unumb Center for Neurodevelopment. For her local, national, and international advocacy efforts, Lorri has been recognized with • the NASCAR Foundation’s Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award; • the Miss South Carolina Pageant “Woman of Achievement” Award; • the Jefferson Award for Public Service (Charleston, SC); • the Professional Women in Advocacy “Excellence in a State Campaign” Award; and • the Civitan International World Citizenship Award. Her work has been profiled on CNN, on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” and in Town&Country magazine, from whom she received one of three 2009 “Women Who Make a Difference” awards. She is also profiled in the American Academy of Pediatrics 2013 book “Autism Spectrum Disorders: What Every Parent Needs to Know.”

Abstract

Clinicians work with a wide variety of families affected by autism and come to feel as if they are a part of the family and really understand what autism parents and families go through. This panel, made up of three mothers who are also in the “field” and parenting young adults, will discuss what it’s truly like to raise a child with autism. From angry, resentful siblings, to parental guilt, and cruel comments made by strangers, and sexual abuse, these topics and more will be discussed in a frank manner so that participants will have a better understanding of the autistic life. Marital stress, financial strain and the constant fear of losing services will be addressed. Please don’t think you know what an autism parent goes through unless you’ve walked a mile in their moccasins.

Objectives

At the completion of this workshop, participants should be able to:

1. Describe at least three stressors that parents face as a result of raising a child with autism.
2. Identify at least three “must teach” skills to parents of children with autism, which will greatly increase the quality of the parent’s life.
3. Describe what “normal” means to parents of children with autism over the course of their life span.

Instructional Level

Basic

Session Format

Lecture, Question & Answer

Proposed Audience

Psychologists, Behavior Analysis Professionals, Educators, Social Workers, Paraprofessionals, Parents/Caregivers, Students in a Behavior Analytic Field