We are baaaaaack! Kelly, BCBA for 21 years, and Jen, mom to Dylan and Ethan talk through the best way to approach doctor's appointments with your autistic child. With nearly 40-80% of autistic individuals having medical co-morbidities, going to the doctor is not for the faint of heart for families. Listen to a caregiver's perspective over the years and how ABA providers can help support these appointments.
The Association for Science in Autism Treatment has fantastic resources to share with medical providers. You can find them here:
For Medical Professionals - Association for Science in Autism Treatment (asatonline.org)
Studies show that individuals with ASD have greater medical fears as compared to their peers. Kelly & Jen share their experience, strategies and research related to blood draws from their perspectives with their children who are now fully comfortable and independent in getting their blood drawn after years of stress!
Information:
A pilot study to improve venipuncture compliance in children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders - PMC (nih.gov)Blood Work Parents.pdf (autismspeaks.org)
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Kelly and Jen do I deep dive into the video, Assume That I Can, released on World Down's Syndrome Day, and talk about how our ethics code, 2.09, Involving Clients and Stakeholders and this video intersect into preference assessments for the purpose of assent and goal development.
Kelly and Jen are joined by Meghan Herron, Director of Research and Development from Easterseals, Southern California to discuss her research looking at measuring Quality of Life as an outcome for ABA services and discuss how this can be considered by any ABA practitioner, working alongside families.
Questionnaires - kidscreen.org
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There is research that suggests that individuals on the autism spectrum experience a much lower quality of life than nonautistic individuals across the lifespan. Quality of Life can be measured by happiness, which is considered a private event by behavior analysts. Indices of happiness are those observable behaviors that likely signal happiness, including smiling, laughing, and the absence of challenging behaviors. Both leisure skills and recreational skills are all ways to be happy yet are not often taught or included in programming or households living with autism.
Kely & Jen dive into the research and talk about the ways that Kelly has programmed for leisure and recreational skills and Jen has taught her own severely impacted son to have a very happy life.
Sponsored by: Cite Pro DEFINING, VALIDATING, AND INCREASING INDICES OF HAPPINESS AMONG PEOPLE WITH PROFOUND MULTIPLE DISABILITIES - Green - 1996 - Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis - Wiley Online Library Defining and Measuring Indices of Happiness and Unhappiness in Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder | Behavior Analysis in Practice (springer.com)
Kelly talks about her new book, including programming social skills intentionally to include group learning for children, and the difference between curriculum-based and activity and individualized learning.
Buy her book here: The Group Experience – Different Roads (difflearn.com) Sponsored by Cite Pro
Kelly and Jen talk with long-time RBT's Stephanie and Salvador about how they have managed to stay in the field for so long, and the real ways BCBA's and families can help support and prevent burnout. It's pretty real concrete and not rocket science.
Kelly and Jen talk about each of their perspectives regarding fulfilling the recommended hours of authorization. Some ABA companies often refer a family there to another agency if they do not commit to being able to use all of the hours. What do you think?
Although the data is varied, some data suggests that parents of a child diagnosed with autism have a higher chance of divorce than their counterparts, especially if they are younger when married and have a child early on in their marriage. Parents raising children with autism experience greater marriage strain in part due to stress related to resources, severity of Autism symptoms, and concerns over long-term care. Kelly and Jen have both experienced this firsthand and share their experiences. Sponsored by Cite Pro
Kelly and Jen speak to Jennifer, BCBA, and mom to her 13-year-old son with ADHD. She shared his struggles with ADHD and anxiety coming out of the pandemic, trying to organize his homework and keep us with social pressures that ultimately led to hospitalization. Research tells us there is a stronger link between homework difficulties and ADHD than the general population. The National Institute of Mental Health suggests medication and behavioral therapy as the two main treatments. But how do you know when to do what? Hear Jennifer's story and her advice to caregivers and BCBAs.
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Up to 75% of autistic children and adults will be bullied over the internet or taken advantage of in some way. Predators look for those who may not understand the nuances of social cues making autistic children and adults targets. In this podcast, Kelly speaks with Dennis Debbaudt, long-time safety trainer and author on how to create a cyber safety plan. Links for filters and protections can be found here:
Dennis: Autism Risk & Safety Management | Autism Training for Police (autismriskmanagement.com)
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Kelly & Jen talk with long-time Registered Behavior Therapist Salvador Cadenas about why he works with children and adults on the autism spectrum with severe behavior and shares his perspective on what BCBAs and families get right to keep behavior interventionists (RBTs) in their jobs, and what they don't get right, which may contribute to turnover and burnout. In this session, we also discuss the importance of not using jargon when working with families and reference the following research article:
Effects of Jargon on Parent Implementation of Discrete Trial Teaching | Request PDF (researchgate.net) Salvador is also a published author and you can find his book here:
The Lonely Blue: Cadenas Jr, Salvador, Bacon, Erika: 9798511837178: Amazon.com: Books Sponsored by: Cite Pro
Kelly & Jen wrap up season 3 by talking about the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysis, specifically 2.12, Considering Medical Needs. "Behavior Analysts ensure, to the best of their ability that medical needs are addressed and make referrals as needed." From the caregiver's perspective, finding qualified medical professionals that understand and even help those on the autism spectrum is nearly impossible. With GI disorders nearly eight times more common in children and adults with autism than other children and adults, a call to action must happen. Sponsored by Cite Pro
When an infant's attention is drawn to another person's face and voice, they experience a positive emotion as the amygdala and prefrontal cortex are activated. These networks are often faulty in children on the autism spectrum. As a result, no MO is created for wanting to look toward others. Coordinated eye gaze and shared experiences with others, knowns as joint attention, is considered a prerequisite skill for other skills including imitation, social engagement, and communication, a behavior cusp skill. Teaching this skill is often left out of ABA programs because it is challenging to teach, and requires very thoughtful and specific planning. Hear more from Kelly about this topic and learn how you can have further training on this topic from her. Social Skills Collaborative - Autism Skills & ABA Training. Or join my Patreon for monthly learning: Social Skills Learning Collaborative with Kelly (McKinnon) Bermingham | Creating ABA content for therapists and parents | Patreon Sponsored by Cite Pro
Extinction can best be defined as the discontinuing of reinforcement of a previously reinforced behavior (i.e., response no longer produces reinforcement). The goal of extinction is for the behavior to cease without having used a punishment procedure. Over the years the concept of extinction has become controversial. Kelly & Jen break down the different functions of behavior and discuss why extinction may or may not be warranted, from a BCBA and a caregiver perspective.
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