A Guide to Creating Meaningful Supervision Activities and Measures (Standard)

Dr. Cody Morris

The primary objective of supervising individuals who are accruing supervision hours toward the Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) edibility requirements is to provide experiential learning opportunities that target the skills needed to be a successful BCBA. Although the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB)’s Supervised Fieldwork Requirements describe acceptable, restricted, and unrestricted activities, it does not provide specific recommendations for activities/assignments that capture meaningful aspects of the BCBA experience. This talk will review the essential objectives of supervision, describe specific activities that target restricted and unrestricted supervision hours, and provide rubrics for evaluating the supervisee’s performance when participating in the recommended activities. The activities/assignments described in this talk are adaptable to any setting/client population within the scope of BCBA supervision.

About the Speaker

Dr. Cody Morris is an Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Director of Applied Behavior Analysis at Salve Regina University. He earned his doctorate in Psychology: Behavior Analysis at Western Michigan University. Cody has presented on various topics related to improving the practice of behavior analysis over 70 times at national, regional, and local conferences and workshops. He has published works in prominent behavior analytic journals, including the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavior Analysis in Practice, and the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management. He has served as a Reviewer for multiple behavior analytic journals and a Guest Associate Editor for Perspectives on Behavior Science and Behavior Analysis in Practice. Currently, Cody is the Director of the Executive Board for the Rhode Island Association for Behavior Analysis and the Executive Producer and Host of Behavior Analysis in Practice- The Podcast.

Toward the Development of an Equity Focused Teacher-Student Interaction Tool (Standard)

Dr. Nicole Hollins

Many students from diverse cultural backgrounds experience disproportionalities compared to their peers in public schools. One contributing factor may be due bias behaviors. Given the impact of biased behaviors on student academic and social outcomes, it is critical that school-based behavior analysts (SBBAs) objectively measure variable interactions to assist in providing objective feedback on teaching practices. This presentation will discuss the impacts of positive teacher-student interactions, a behavioral approach to conceptualizing bias, and discuss equity research in public schools. We conclude by proposing the need for an equity-focused data collection tool for SBBAs.

About the Speakers

Dr. Nicole Hollins (BCBA-D, LBA) holds a M.A. and Ph.D. in Applied Behavior Analysis from Western Michigan University. Currently, Dr. Hollins is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at Juniper Gardens Children’s Project research program at the University of Kansas. Her research and clinical work are focused on training pre-and in-service teachers, evidence-based instructional practices for students with and without disabilities, and school wide positive behavior interventions. In addition to publishing her research in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, Dr. Hollins has also presented her research at local and national conferences as well as workshops. Dr. Hollins also sits on the Board of Editors for Behavior Analysis in Practice. She has provided services and developed efficient systems across various applied settings including public schools, private schools, universities, autism treatment centers, Head Start programs, family homes, and group homes. As for community partnerships, Dr. Hollins has coordinated several grants that focused on an evaluation of current teacher practices while providing systemic recommendations for improving equity in the classrooms.

Daphne Snyder, MA, BCBA, LBA is a doctoral student at Western Michigan University under the direction of Dr. Stephanie Peterson. She received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Global Health Studies at Allegheny College. Her main research interests include the assessment and treatment of challenging behavior in the school setting and training teachers to implement effective classroom management strategies. Currently, Daphne is the Project Coordinator for KRESA Classroom Consultations (KCC). KCC provides graduate and undergraduate students with the opportunity to learn about applied behavior analysis and collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams in the school setting.

Functional Supervision: What It Is and What It Takes to Be a Successful Supervisor (Standard)

Dr. Heather McGee

What does it mean to provide “supervision”? The term “supervision” seems to have come to mean many different things within the field of behavior analysis. This is particularly true when comparing how the term is used in ABA professional certification/development circles versus OBM circles. In this talk, I will describe the various functions of supervision in human service settings, and discuss the role that OBM plays (or does not play) in each. Additionally, I will discuss the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) required of performers within each supervision function, and provide recommendations for how supervisors might gain those KSAs beyond the required BACB® supervision training and coursework.

About the Speaker

Heather M. McGee is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Co-Chair of the Industrial/Organizational Behavior Management graduate program at Western Michigan University (WMU). She received her B.S. (1998), M.A. (2003), and Ph.D. (2004) from WMU. Dr. McGee also consults with organizations, specializing in helping small businesses, non profits & human service settings by providing a variety of performance analysis, performance improvement, and training services. Dr. McGee has designed, developed and implemented organizational performance solutions in a variety of industries and settings, including autism service agencies, the pharmaceutical industry, education, and health and human services. These solutions have included performance-based instruction, performance management, behavioral systems changes, and lean sigma initiatives. Dr. McGee is the former Executive Director of the Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) Network and serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management (JOBM), and on the editorial board for Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice. Additionally, she serves on the Board of Directors for ALULA, and on Advisory Boards for Empower Behavioral Health and Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies.

Is It Training or Is It Feedback? Ensuring Proper Plan Implementation in 24-Hour Settings (Standard)

Dr. Jeana Koerber

When treatment is designed by BCBAs and implemented by technicians, training must be provided to ensure proper implementation. However, when there are implementation errors, it is not always the case that training was inadequate. In order to produce sustained implementation, feedback must be provided to staff. Different types of feedback will be discussed as well as ways to identify if there is still an underlying training issue. Finally, the context of this system in a 24-hour setting will be discussed.

About the Speaker

Dr. Jeana Koerber is the Executive Director of Autism Services at the Great Lakes Center (GLC) for AutismTreatment and Research, a program of Residential Opportunities, Inc. She received her master’s degree in Organizational Behavior Management in 2009 from Western Michigan University and became a BoardCertified Behavior Analyst in 2011. She completed her doctoral degree in Behavior Analysis fromWestern Michigan University in 2015. Dr. Koerber has worked with adults and children with developmental disabilities for 20 years and also has extensive experience in systems analysis, instructional design, and staff management.

Contracting: A Positive Way to Improve Family Dynamics and Learn New Skills (Standard)

Dr. Jill Dardig & Dr. Bill Heward

First developed in the 1970s, contingency contracting is a behavior change strategy that identifies a task to be completed and a reward to follow successful accomplishment of the task. Numerous research studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of contracting to improve behavior and teach new skills to children with and without disabilities in home, school, and community settings. Using children’s stories, examples of contracts used by families to help children fulfill household responsibilities, learn new skills, get ready for school in the morning, and make friends at school will be presented.

About the Speakers

Jill C. Dardig is a professor of education at Ohio Dominican University, where she teaches a variety of courses and supervises student teachers. She has trained intervention specialists for the past 30 years at the university and was the first recipient of Ohio Dominican’s Booth-Ferris Master Faculty Award. Dardig has served as president of the Teacher Education Division of the Ohio Federation Council for Exceptional Children. She worked previously as a curriculum specialist for the Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, a special education faculty member at Russell Sage College, a research assistant for the Northeast Regional Media Center for the Deaf, and a parent educator for Project Change. Dardig has written a variety of books and other publications about and for parents.

William L. Heward, Ed.D., BCBA-D, is Professor Emeritus in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. Dr. Heward has taught at universities in Brazil, Japan, Portugal, and Singapore and given lectures and workshops in 22 other countries. His publications include co-authoring the books Applied Behavior Analysis (3rd ed., Pearson, 2020), Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education (12th ed., Pearson, 2022), and Let’s Make a Contract: A Positive Way to Change Your Chilld’s Behavior (Collective Book Studio, 2022). Awards recognizing Bill’s contributions to education and behavior analysis include the Fred S. Keller Behavioral Education Award from the American Psychological Association’s Division 25, the Ellen P. Reese Award for Communication of Behavioral Concepts from the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, and the Distinguished Psychology Department Alumnus Award from Western Michigan University.

B.F. Skinner on Education (Standard)

A photograph of B.F. Skinner

In this 1972 conversation with John M. Whiteley, B.F. Skinner addresses a variety of important issues in education that remain relevant today. He advocates using positive reinforcement and behavioral approaches to instruction to improve both our educational system and our culture. Topics addressed include aversive control, free will, effective instruction, morality, culture, philanthropy, educational reform, and programmed versus natural contingencies. Filmed at WTTW in Chicago in cooperation with KETC Channel 9 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Treating Food Selectivity as Resistance to Change (Standard)

Dr. Kathryn Peterson

Change-resistant behavior, such as rigid and selective food consumption, is a core symptom of autism that can have significant negative consequences for the child (Flygare Wallén, Ljunggren, Carlsson, Pettersson, & Wändell, 2018; Levy et al., 2019). In the current study, we used a matching-law-based intervention (Fisher et al., 2019) to treat the change-resistant feeding behavior of 7 young children with autism. The feeder gave the participant a choice between his or her change-resistant food and an alternative food during free- and asymmetrical-choice conditions. Alternative-food consumption increased for 2 participants during asymmetrical choice when the feeder provided a preferred item for consuming the alternative food and no programmed consequence for consuming the change-resistant food. Alternative food consumption increased for the other 5 participants after the feeder exposed at least one food to single choice in which the feeder guided the participant to put the bite of alternative food in his or her mouth if he or she did not do so within 8 s of presentation. Effects of the single-choice contingencies maintained during reversals and generalized to other alternative foods the feeder did not expose to single choice. These results are important because we taught participants to consume alternative foods even when their change-resistant foods were present, which is more like typical mealtime situations in which children have choices among foods.

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Kathryn Peterson, Ph.D., BCBA-D, is an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Munroe-Meyer Institute. Dr. Peterson earned her Master’s degree in applied behavior analysis from Pennsylvania State University in 2008 and spent several years working as a behavior consultant specializing in the assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). During that time, Dr. Peterson also served as the editorial assistant for Behavioral Interventions. Dr. Peterson then earned her doctoral degree in applied behavior analysis from the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s (UNMC) Munroe-Meyer Institute under the mentorship of Drs. Valerie Volkert and Cathleen Piazza. Dr. Peterson currently serves as a research faculty member and case manager within the Pediatric Feeding Disorders Program at UNMC, where she conducts research on the assessment and treatment of pediatric feeding disorders. She has published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and has secured grant awards through UNMC’s Pediatrics and Diversity funds to conduct research on effective treatments for food selectivity in children with ASD. Dr. Peterson recently served as the president of the Heartland Association for Behavior Analysis.

Cathleen C. Piazza, Ph.D. received her Ph.D. from Tulane University and completed a predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Kennedy Krieger Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is a professor in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University and the founding director of the intensive Pediatric Feeding Disorders Program at Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Jersey. She previously founded and directed the Pediatric Feeding Disorders Programs at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Munroe Meyer-Institute and the Marcus Institute at Emory University. She also served as the director of the Pediatric Feeding Disorders Program at the Kennedy Krieger Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is a licensed psychologist and a board-certified behavior analyst – doctoral. Dr. Piazza and her colleagues have examined various aspects of feeding behavior and have developed a series of interventions to address one of the most common health problems in children. Her research in this area has been among the most systematic in the field and has established empirical support for applied behavior-analytic interventions for feeding disorders. Dr. Piazza is a former Editor of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, a past president of the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, a fellow in the Association for Behavior Analysis International, a recipient of the American Psychological Association (Division 25) Distinguished Contribution to Applied Behavior Analysis Award, and a recipient of the Association of Applied Behavior Analysis International Outstanding Mentor Award.
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Training Providers to Conduct Trial-Based Functional Analysis (Standard)

Dr. Mandy Rispoli

Behavioral interventions developed from a functional behavior assessment (FBA) are more likely to be effective than interventions that are not function-related (Carr, 1994). Further, the quality and fidelity of FBAs are positively correlated with student educational outcomes including reduction in challenging behavior, increases in appropriate behavior, and improved academic performance (Cook et al., 2012). Trial-based functional analysis (TBFA) can be used as an effective and efficient approach to confirm FBA results, thereby increasing the likelihood for effective function-based intervention. Preparing school personnel and ABA providers to conduct systematic TBFAs with fidelity is one means of increasing school capacity to assess student challenging behaviors. This session will illustrate a model to prepare service providers to conduct TBFA. Data from single case design studies evaluating this model will be presented.

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Dr. Mandy Rispoli is a Professor of Special Education at Purdue University and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral level. She is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions. Operating from a behavior analytic framework, Dr. Rispoli’s scholarship is built upon sustained university-community partnerships to improve teachers’ meaningful involvement in functional behavior assessment and intervention and to promote positive outcomes for young children with autism and developmental disabilities.
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Peer to Peer Support Builds Meaningful Social Relationships (Standard)

Dr. Amy Matthews

Peer relationships are critical for students with ASD, however opportunities for social engagement are often limited. For example, only 29% of high school students with ASD get together with friends at least once per week (Lipscomb et al., 2017). Instead, much of their day is spent among adult providers and family. Although teaching specific social skills may result in some improvement in social behaviors, a comprehensive approach to building relationships is more socially significant and long-lasting. Peer mediated instruction and interventions (PMII) are an evidence-based practice with a behavioral and social learning foundation that involves teaching peers without disabilities ways of engaging individuals with ASD in meaningful social interactions within the natural environment. The Statewide Autism Resources and Training Project (START) is funded by the Michigan Department of Education to bring evidence-based interventions to schools to support students with ASD. START has worked with schools for twenty years to establish a comprehensive PMII program, called Peer to Peer Support, in each building that educates students with ASD. Implemented in more than 700 elementary and secondary schools—and involving more than 3,000 students with ASD and more than 14,000 peers—these programs offer social opportunities and inclusive experiences during the school day and extracurricular activities. In this presentation, staff from START and school professionals from Intermediate School Districts will describe this program and share their experiences with peer to peer support including qualitative and quantitative data that demonstrates the impact on students and school culture.

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Amy Matthews, PhD, BCBA

Amy Matthews is a Professor of Psychology at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) and has served as the director of the START Project, funded by the Michigan Department of Education-Office of Special Education, for 20 years. The START Project is focused on a statewide collaborative effort to make systems level changes to improve the educational programming and quality of life for students with autism and their families. Dr. Matthews is involved in various state projects to increase integrated opportunities and improve post school outcomes for individuals with ASD, including serving as vice chair of the Governor’s Autism Council. Dr. Matthews is a licensed psychologist and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA).

Carrie Carr, M.Ed

Carrie serves as the regional Teacher Consultant for Students with Autism for the Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District. She has worked with numerous staff in the EUPISD to develop peer to peer support programs. Carrie is a statewide presenter and content developer for Peer to Peer Supports for Students with Autism for the START Project.

Katy Foster, M. Ed

Katy Foster is a Teacher Consultant for Autism employed by Berrien RESA. She is a veteran special education teacher with vast experiences that have included working with students in many settings. Katy is a trainer with the START Project and she provides professional development in Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports and the use of evidence-based practices for regional and local school staff and families.

Lindsey Harr-Smith, MA, CCC-SLP

Lindsey has worked in the school setting as a speech-language pathologist, Autism Consultant, and Peer to Peer Consultant since 2004. She has extensive experience with developing and implementing peer to peer programs in preschool-12th grade. In addition, she is an Autism Education and Intervention Specialist and state-wide presenter with the START Project with a focus on Peer to Peer Supports. Lindsey provides support to school-based teams across the state to increase implementation of peer to peer and inclusive opportunities for students with ASD.

Kathy Hickok, M. Ed., BCBA

Kathy Hickok is a Teacher Consultant for Autism at Berrien RESA. Before coming to RESA, Kathy spent twenty-six years in the classroom teaching and learning from students with academic, behavioral and social/emotional challenges. As the Peer to Peer coordinator for Berrien RESA, she works with staff to address the behavioral needs of children throughout the county. Kathy serves as a START Project trainer with a focus on peer to peer support and behavior support.

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Bridging for Success in Autism: Training and Collaboration Across Community Systems (Standard)

Dr. Naomi Swiezy

Based upon basic premises of long-term practice and research, the HANDS (Helping Answer Needs by Developing Specialists) in Autism® Model Training Curriculum and Framework was developed in 2004. It was noted that professionals would benefit most from an active learning process that would allow them to better comprehend and envision the application of EBPs thus increasing the feasibility and ability to apply, maintain and generalize information to their natural settings for individuals with ASD and related disabilities. The specific curriculum content and delivery of the HANDS in Autism® Model is novel in its approach with recognition that no single intervention or strategy is equally effective with all individuals, and personnel require a “toolbox” approach to intervention. As such, the Model adheres to a comprehensive set of strategies with solid empirical support. The HANDS in Autism® Model adheres to a progressive, systematic approach to training the curriculum, framework, and process to increase the likelihood that strategies will be adopted, utilized and integrated into practice. This presentation will introduce the HANDS Model, the variety of applications, outcomes, and lessons learned as well as the resources available to support application across schools and other community practice settings and contexts.

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Dr.Swiezy specializes in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), staff and caregiver training, and behavioral assessment and treatment of autism spectrum and related disorders as well as global systems change and implementation efforts. Dr. Swiezy has served on a number of hospital, community, state, and federal boards and committees. She presents and publishes widely in the area of autism and the development of the center she founded and directs, the HANDS in Autism® Interdisciplinary Training and Resource Center. She provides center and community-based consultation and direct services locally and globally and facilitates stakeholders for collective impact at community and state levels. With growing prevalence of autism spectrum and related disorders (ASD), Dr. Swiezy has been committed to the evolution of the HANDS in Autism® framework, curriculum and training model that aims to: 1) facilitate development of local capacity in implementation of evidence based practices; 2) bridge of local capacity in implementation of evidence-based practices; 2) bridge multiple stakeholders across varied environments (i.e., educational, medical, home, community); and 3) mentor a range of care and service providers in data- driven strategies to support individuals with ASD and related disorders in achieving their full potential.
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