Autism: Positive Behavior Support

*Individual purchase cost is $5 per credit hour for courses or some districts may have a contract.

The History of Applied Behavior Analysis

Participants will

• familiarize themselves with the historical context and development of Applied Behavior Analysis,
• demonstrate a basic understanding of the principles of the pure science of behavior analysis and Applied Behavior Analysis,
• recognize the Seven Dimensions of Applied Behavior Analysis, and
• identify the evidence-based practices for instruction of students with an autism diagnosis.

Principles of Reinforcement and Punishment

Participants will

• recognize the effects of reinforcement and punishment of various types on behavior,
• complete Field Exercise 1 by administering a Preference Assessment and interpreting its results,
• develop an awareness of the importance of the concept of pairing with students,
• compile a rich list of student reinforcer ideas,
• embed understanding of the terms satiation and deprivation when using student reinforcers,
• demonstrate an understanding of and seek improvement in classroom Instructional Control based on feedback provided through classroom observation, and
• complete Field Experience 2 by completing an Instructional Control self-assessment.

Teaching Using Behavioral Principles

Participants will

• become aware of the purpose for and factors that are important when choosing and administering multiple assessment instruments,
• recognize the three core areas of functioning that should be assessed in students with ASD,
• enhance data collection and recording skills,
• identify the Discrete Trial Training teaching procedures and strategies,
• recognize the hierarchy of prompting types and their respective prompting strategies,
• identify errorless teaching procedures, and
• compare and contrast Natural Environment Training to Discrete Trial Training.

Measurement and Data Collection

Participants will

• recognize the importance of accurately defining target behaviors;
• develop an awareness of the dimensions of behavior;
• when collecting behavioral data, determine the appropriate measure: count, rate, duration, latency, and interresponse time;
• develop an awareness of school personnel available to support ASD students and resource materials available for classroom data collection;
• complete Field Experience Activity #3 and observe, record, and analyze behavior; and
• enhance knowledge of graph components and of the data graphing process.

Functions of Behavior and Intervention Plans

Participants will

• identify the function of behaviors;
• identify antecedents, behaviors, and consequences;
• recognize behavioral setting events;
• utilize tools for gathering data for a functional behavior assessment (FBA); and
• use gathered data from the FBA to develop a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP).

Strategies to Increase and Develop New Behaviors

Participants will

• recognize the major types of reinforcement schedules and their benefits,
• recognize the terms of shaping and chaining,
• develop task analysis skills, and
• complete Field Exercise #4 which includes a task analysis and chaining tasks.

Preventing Challenging Behaviors: PBIS In Action

Participants will

• explore the background of the development of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS),
• recognize the preventative school-wide and classroom-level tenets of PBIS, and
• understand the next steps to take when preventative behavioral strategies have not had the desired result.

Dealing with Challenging Behaviors

Participants will

• analyze and chose interventions and replacement behaviors based on the function of behavior, and
• recognize socially appropriate replacement behaviors.

Additional Strategies in Dealing with Challenging Behaviors

Participants will

• explore the use of behavior contracts, group contingencies and token economies for managing student behavior.

Ethics and ABA in the Classroom

Participants will

• familiarize themselves with the definition of ethics; and
• identify the ethical elements of the application of Applied Behavior Analysis in the classroom to include
  • therapeutic environment,
  • behavior change focused on student benefit,
  • professional use of ABA through collaboration,
  • student independence-focused goals,
  • on-going data collection and evaluation, and
  • teacher accountability.

2 File Uploads - Learner demonstrates implementation of course content by submitting documentation of a specified activity.
1 Multiple Choice Exam - Learner demonstrates knowledge of content by selecting the correct answer from the choices provided.
4 Reflections - Learner synthesizes previous knowledge and course content in order to develop a narrative response.