Princeton Lecture Series

Jonathan Baker, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA
Western Michigan University

“Providing Behavior Analytic Services to Older Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Complex Training Demands in an Area with Growing Needs”

The efficacy of the application of behavior analytic principles to supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities has been demonstrated across the life span (Kurtz & Lind, 2013) and has been a hallmark of applied behavior analysis for decades. Although a great deal of literature has provided guidance on behavior analytic support for children and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, considerably less literature has focused on how those supports can be adapted and provided across a person’s lifespan, particularly into older adulthood. As medical advances continue to extend the expected lifespan and improve the quality of life for all people including those with intellectual or developmental disabilities, we are faced with a growing older adult population in need of supports. Advancements in certification, licensure, and funding for behavioral services mean that more individuals have received support at an early age and increasingly more are receiving supports throughout life. This presents a complex intersection of training needs for specialized staff supporting the needs of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are experiencing aging-related changes. This presentation will review the existing literature on staff training and intervention for older adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It will then present existing resources that can be readily adopted into training, as well as ideas for the development of specialized trainings. Finally, these resources will be incorporated in identifying staff training needs for both direct support staff and clinical staff. 

James Maraventano, Ed.D., BCBA-D, LBA
Rutgers University

“Behavior Analytic Approaches to Enhancing Employment Outcomes for Neurodivergent Employees”

An oft-cited barrier to realizing higher quality of life outcomes for neurodivergent adults is the ability to procure and maintain meaningful and gainful employment opportunities. As neurodivergent individuals transition to adult services, their access to resources, supports, and funding are significantly reduced. This transition often results in poorer outcomes for acquiring and maintaining gainful employment. Studies indicate the highest rates of unemployment and underemployment are among autistic adults. This is more than any other population of job seekers (Baldwin et al., 2014; Hedley et al., 2018; Howlin et al., 2004; Roux et al., 2013; Shattuck et al., 2012; Taylor et al., 2015). It is critical for adult service providers to implement empirically validated procedures to improve employment outcomes for neurodivergent adults. However, published behavior analytic research addressing this problem is sparse. The purpose of this presentation is to present findings from recent and ongoing research informing approaches for supporting neurodivergent adults on their employment journeys as well as offer recommendations with specific focus on:

• Methods for employing or adapting behavioral and vocational assessments
• Skill acquisition and behavior modification strategies in community-based settings
• Provision of competency-based staff training approaches
• Approaches to collaborating with employers in committing to a neurodiverse workforce

Joel Ringdahl, Ph.D., BCBA
University of Georgia

 “Contemporary Issues Related to Functional Communication Training: The Roles of Modality Preference and Concurrent Schedule Arrangements”

Functional communication training (FCT) has been identified as the most researched intervention to reduce challenging behavior exhibited by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). With well over 200 demonstrations of successful applications, clinicians often utilize this approach when the referral concern includes reduction of challenging behavior. Historically, researchers identified the FCT components sufficient and necessary to yield successful outcomes, including the role of extinction and punishment, as well as strategies to enhance the practicality of the intervention outside of tightly controlled clinical contexts (i.e., schedule thinning). While these lines of investigation continue to be important, two additional contemporary issues related to FCT-based intervention that warrant discussion and exploration include (a) the communication modality included and (b) the use/utility of concurrent schedule arrangements. This talk describes recent research related to modality selection, centered on the individual’s preference, and variables to consider when developing FCT-based interventions that include concurrent schedule arrangements.

Guillermo Sapiro, Ph.D.
Princeton University

“Early Detection of Autism at Home and in the Pediatric Clinic via the SenseToKnow App”

Early detection of autism is important for timely access to diagnostic evaluation and early intervention services, which improve children’s outcomes. Despite the ability of clinicians to reliably diagnose autism in toddlers, diagnosis is often delayed. SenseToKnow is a mobile autism screening application (app) delivered on a smartphone or tablet that provides an objective and quantitative assessment of early behavioral signs of autism based on computer vision (CV) and machine learning (ML). The app displays strategically designed movies and a bubble-popping game on an iPhone or iPad while recording the child’s behavioral responses through the device’s front-facing camera and touch/inertial sensors. Recordings of the child’s behavior are then automatically analyzed using CV. Multiple behavioral phenotypes are quantified and combined using ML in an algorithm for autism prediction. SenseToKnow showed extraordinary performance both at home, administrated by caregivers, or in the pediatric clinic. These results demonstrate that a mobile autism screening app based on CV can be delivered remotely by caregivers at home on their own devices and can provide a high level of accuracy for autism detection. Remote screening for autism potentially lowers barriers to autism screening, which could reduce disparities in early access to services and support and improve children’s outcomes.