Report On Evidence-Based Treatments for Autism

Maine released its ratings of the treatments for autism with the greatest evidence behind them. Good information to share.

FYI: Functional Analysis Workshop in March

This was in the emails this morning:

Dr Brian Iwata will conduct a two-day workshop, “Functional Analysis & Treatment of Severe Behavior Disorders,” March 25-26 in Oak Brook, IL [25 minutes from downtown Chicago]. BCBAs may receive 12 Type II CE credits and Psychologists may receive 11 CE Credits. Must attend both days as scheduled – no partial credit. Register early – last 21 workshops sold out quickly. Go to our website www.bisoxford.com for registration information, forms and fees. Call Walt Antonow at [662] 234-1640 for more information.

I attended Dr. Iwata's workshop a while back. It was excellent.

Technical Note: Behavior Observation Software

When I interned at the BBU/Children's Seashore House in the '90s, we used a simple but effective program there that, I think, had been either written or adapted by Mike Shea in Basic and ran on these super-heavy Grid laptops. I've periodically hunted around for similarly simple, low-cost (i.e., free) software I could use for behavioral observations -- something which would basically record when a key was entered, give me a display at the end of what was entered when on a second by second basis, and give me summaries of what keys were pressed how many times. Ideally, there would be an option for duration as well as frequency recording. Even better would be software working on a handheld device.

I knew Mark Dixon had published on how to program a Pocket PC for this purpose, and had even kicked around the idea of getting a used Pocket PC, but did not want to purchase another device. (I already own a Nokia 810 internet tablet and a couple of old Palm devices, as well as a 10 year old Mac Powerbook.) I also doubted I had the time to learn and to program in Visual Basic.

Well, Whoo hoo! I finally managed to find some software that fits the bill.

It turns out that field researchers in animal behavior (not necessarily behavior analysts) tend to write their own programs for observations, so the following resources, should you go on to check the links, are written about by their authors in that context. However, for free programs, they look capable of doing the job (or have appeared so, so far).

EZ Record and Pen Record are PalmOS-based programs available here. I currently prefer EZ Record because the program creates buttons on the Palm's touch screen which one hits to record when a behavior or other event has occurred. Aside from recording duration, the program accomplishes the functions mentioned above. Pen Review then reads the file produced by EZ Record and produces a second by second record of the session, a summary graph, counts of what keys were hit how many times, a figure showing distribution of events recorded across time in the session, and a matrix showing how often events followed each other. Right now, I'm copying down the length of the session and event frequencies from the screen due to difficultly in exporting the data file.

There are several other observation programs on the site, including Windows-based programs -- please consider trying them out and posting further information in the comments to this post.

The PalmOS-based programs look simple enough to run on older palm devices which may be relatively inexpensive on the used market. Although I have a couple of old Palms, I've been using the programs using a free Palm emulator called GarnetVM. It looks like a Palm emulator for other mobile devices is available here, but I haven't tested it. (Hint, hint.) The same folks may have an iPhone/iPod Touch version in beta.

If you have a Windows or Mac machine, JWatcher looks like another behavior observation software option. JWatcher appears has more functionality than EZ Record, allowing for event and state recording. To be honest, I could get quickly over my head with the various options for sophisticated data recording. I was able to run the program on an older (about 600 mhz) Windows XP laptop and the old Mac Powerbook (266 mhz, OS 10.2). The learning curve and set-up time on this program appear to be higher, as one needs to create related several files and relate those files to each other before observations can start. Although the program is free, the book with detailed instructions needs to be purchased. One might be able to get by with the pdf of less instructions available on the site. Again, comments regarding others' experience with JWatcher are welcome.

Not having an iPhone or iPod Touch, I haven't looked into software on these devices -- so, once again, others' information is not only welcome, but requested.

Hope its been a helpful post!

Facing Autism in NB Highlights Morris on Gernsbacher

Facing Autism in New Brunswick provides a good perspective on autism and aba from a person who is not an aba-professional nor an aba-focused academic. This recent post highlights Edward Morris' critique of "The Gernsbacher Lectures", which Morris argues misrepresent behavior analysis:

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Autism and ABA: Morris's (Unanswered) Challenge to Gernsbacher Will Be Featured at CalABA Annual Conference 2010

Edward K. Morris is scheduled to give
what should be a fascinating keynote speech at the 28th Annual Regional
Conference of the California Association for Behavior Analysis. Professor
Morris's topic will be The Gernsbacher Lectures: Cut Aways, Outtakes, and
Bloopers - and Essentialism. The CalABA conference is scheduled for February 18
to 20, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine California.

Professor Morris published a scathing article in the Behavior Analyst, A Case Study in the Misrepresentation of Applied Behavior Analysis in Autism: The Gernsbacher Lectures, in which he thoroughly, systematically and candidly dissected and demolished her criticisms of ABA.

To my knowledge Professor Gernsbacher has not provided a public reply to
Professor Morris's challenge .... [click for more]

Another good Kazdin article in Slate

Dr Kazdin has an occassional series on behavior, especially issues regarding child behavior.

The following does a good job addressing an issue many ABA folks have a hard time addressing -- the roots of many of our treatments in basic (read: often animal" research:

Like a Rat

Animal research and your child's behavior.

By Alan E. Kazdin and Carlo RotellaPosted Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009, at 1:23 PM ET

Psychologists who work with children and families tend to avoid mentioning to parents that the treatments they use are often based on research done on animals. It's no secret that the widely used technique of the timeout was developed in studies on rats or that important early research leading to treatments for anxiety in humans was done on dogs, cats, and other species—but the subject doesn't come up a lot in conversation. We will confess to doing our bit to perpetuate this professional shyness about animal research by tiptoeing around it in our Slate pieces and in the book we wrote together. Why?... (click to continue reading)

Token Economy Spotted In The Wild!

SAT., AUG 29, 2009 - 10:14 AM

'Behavior bucks' bloom into garden at school entrance

By GAYLE WORLAND
608-252-6188

gworland@madison.com

When students at Lindbergh Elementary enter their building Tuesday for the first day of school, they’ll pass by new flowering plants and prairie grasses that, in a way, they grew with their own generosity.

It all started with “behavior bucks,” small green slips of paper that serve as currency at the North Side school.

Invented last year by Lindbergh staff, the bucks were designed to curb discipline problems. And the program worked. For a gesture of kindness, children earned a buck on the spot. Perpetual rule-breakers won a buck for obeying the rules. Some made a buck simply by paying attention in a class they normally disrupted ....

Now, I don't know if its a perfect implementation, although the ability to donate 'bucks' to charity is a neat idea. In any case, (apparent) effective use of structured motivational systems by non-behavior analysts deserves support (such as letters to the editor of the State Journal or encouraging emails to the school, hint, hint).
--mjw

ARTICLE URL: http://www.madison.com/wsj/mad/top/463770

Children With Disabilities Spanked More Often

As a behavior analyst, how would you talk about this with coworkers, parents, or teachers?

Disabled Students Are Spanked More
By SAM DILLON
Published: August 11, 2009
More than 200,000 schoolchildren are subjected to physical punishment each year, and disabled students get a disproportionate share, according to a new study.