Workshops
Teaching Verbal Behavior in Public Schools and Home Settings, Natural Environment Teaching and Solving Challenging Behaviors
Day 1: Teaching Verbal Behavior in Public Schools and Home settings
Research has clearly established the effectiveness of intensive behavioral intervention with children
with autism. A great proportion of these services are delivered in home settings and have been provided to
children in 1 to 1 training sessions outside of a public school classroom. However, it is possible and desirable
to incorporate these effective educational services within public school classroom environments in order to
further enhance and compliment the home program. This workshop will review critical components for establishing
and providing effective language-based behavioral interventions within classrooms. A review of issues related to,
and specific recommendations for staff training, classroom structure and schedule, curriculum development, small
group (1 to 2+) instructional strategies, skill acquisition tracking, and behavioral consultation will be provided.
This workshop is highly recommended for educators, parents and consultants who wish to enhance the
overall effectiveness of their child’s program.
Participants will learn:
- Critical teaching skills that can be deployed by teachers, instructional assistants and parents in a language-based, ABA classroom or home program environment.
- Specific components of a classroom/home schedule that will allow for high frequency of learner responding to high-priority learning tasks.
- How to assess learner skills and construct an IEP to ensure the development of language and other important skills.
- Methods for implementing behavioral language training strategies in a small group format.
- Critical components of a classroom-wide, data collection system and a system for monitoring student progress.
- The critical elements of discrete trial instruction and how it can be implemented within the child’s typical daily events.
| Workshop Schedule | |
|---|---|
| 8:00 – 9:00 am | Registration |
| 9:00 – 10:30 am | Strategies for implementing Natural Environment teaching |
| 10:30 – 10:45 am | Break |
| 10:45 – 12:00 noon | Video review, data collection methods |
| 12:00 – 1:30 pm | Lunch break |
| 1:30 – 3:00 pm | Strategies for understanding and solving challenging behavior |
| 3:00 – 3:15 pm | Break |
| 3:15 – 4:30 pm | Functional Behavioral Assessment, ABC charting and positive behavior shaping |
Day 2 (morning): Natural Environment Teaching
Children with autism have communication delays that usually require intensive
language intervention. During the everyday activities of daily living, educators, therapists
and parents have many opportunities to teach language skills to their children. This
workshop is designed to help those who work with these children to identify how the
training of a variety of language skills (based upon Skinner’s analysis of verbal
behavior), can be incorporated into these daily activities. A brief review of Skinner’s
analysis of verbal behavior will be provided. Participants will review videotapes of many
children with autism in a variety of settings to see how this specific methodology for
developing and maintaining the student’s participation in language development is easily
incorporated into a comprehensive approach to treatment.
Participants will learn:
- How to teach basic language skills in the context of on-going daily activities across a variety of environments in both home and school.
- The different operants of Skinner’s theory of Verbal Behavior and how they relate to a comprehensive treatment approach.
- How to maintain the motivation of children during language instruction.
- Sequencing techniques that can be embedded into everyday activities for effective language development.
Day 2 (afternoon): Solving Challenging Behaviors
Parents and professionals often have concerns about how to encourage their child to
behave in an appropriate manner. Attempts to get a child with language delays to “go
along with us,” are complicated by the fact that the child often doesn’t understand what
we are trying to get them to do or not to do. Motivation is a critical factor that often
influences both appropriate and undesired behavior. As a result, parents and instructors
often find it a challenging task to get the child to do many of the things we need them to
do. This workshop specifically addresses practical issues and will give methods for
analyzing problem situations and developing strategies to solve them.
We will introduce and define many principles, strategies, and techniques used at Behavior Analysts, Inc. and STARS School. It is designed for all educators, parents and therapists who interact with the child on a daily basis. We will demonstrate how you can use effective behavioral language teaching techniques throughout your child’s day. We will also identify the behavioral barriers that prevent your child from engaging in everyday family and school activities (e.g., sitting at the table and eating with others, participating in learning tasks while doing ordinary daily activities, going to the grocery store without a tantrum, toileting issues, etc.)
Participants will learn:
- To identify the basic behavioral principles used to analyze both appropriate and undesired behavior
- How to increase appropriate behavior by developing positive instructional control, and teaching alternative behaviors
- About ABC charting and how to observe behavior to determine why a behavior is or isn’t occurring, and its probable function(s)
- How structuring situations can encourage desired behavior and avoid unwanted behavior
| Day 2 Workshop Schedule | |
|---|---|
| 8:00 – 9:00 am | Registration |
| 9:00 – 10:30 am | Strategies for implementing Natural Environment teaching |
| 10:30 – 10:45 am | Break |
| 10:45 – 12:00 noon | Video review, data collection methods |
| 12:00 – 1:30 pm | Lunch break |
| 1:30 – 3:00 pm | Strategies for understanding and solving challenging behavior |
| 3:00 – 3:15 pm | Break |
| 3:15 – 4:30 pm | Functional Behavioral Assessment, ABC charting and positive behavior shaping |
What our participants have said about The ABLLS:
“Outstanding—a real contribution to the field.”
- J. Morrow, Behavior Analyst
Sacramento, California
“Great conference—I enjoyed many of the challenges that it evoked in my current
thinking.”
- R. Lepak, Speech Pathologist
West Bloomfield, Michigan
| Upcoming Dates | ||||
|