Behavior

Welcome to the March edition of Ask Dr. Emily.

Ask Dr. Emily is a monthly series on The Autism Blog where Dr. Emily Neuhaus, a clinical psychologist at Seattle Children’s Autism Center, answers a reader’s question.

We often receive questions that we want to share with all our readers. We welcome you to send us your questions and Dr. Neuhaus will do her best to answer them each month. Send your questions to theautismblog@seattlechildrens.org.

This month, Dr. Emily answers a reader’s question about age-appropriate interests for their child with autism and severe intellectual disability.
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Please join us for Autism 203: ABA – What Parents Need To Know, on March 18, 2021, a virtual panel presentation about Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) treatment for children with autism spectrum disorder.

Presenters:

• Katherine Bateman, PhD, BCBA-D, LBA is a Research Scientist and Project Director in the Area of Special Education at the University of Washington
• Ilene Schwartz, PhD, BCBA-D is a professor of Special Education at the University of Washington and the Director of the Haring Center for Inclusive Education at the University of Washington
• Mendy Minjarez, PhD, is Executive Director, Seattle Children’s Autism Center, Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences University of Washington, Director, Applied Behavior Analysis Early Intervention Program, Seattle Children’s Autism Center
• Nancy Rosenberg, PhD, BCBA-D is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Special Education department at the University of Washington and the Director of the UW Applied Behavior Analysis program

Intervention using the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has long been considered an effective and gold standard treatment for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, ABA is frequently misunderstood. Perceptions of ABA have recently been a “hot button” issue, due to reports that this intervention can lead to trauma. In addition, ABA advocates and members of the neurodiversity movement have sometimes been at odds, the former advocating for intensive treatment and the latter arguing that autism must be accepted as a form of diversity. This mixed information can be confusing for parents who are striving to choose the best therapeutic interventions for their child with ASD. This presentation will explore these perceptions of ABA and provide clarification of the scientific evidence for various claims, with the goal of helping parents navigate the confusion and controversy and confidently identify the best therapeutic intervention for their child and family.

This panel presentation will include:

• Brief overview of ABA including different applications of ABA (parent education, social skills, 1:1 intensive intervention, etc.)
• Brief overview of scientific evidence for ABA
• Discussion of benefits and criticisms of ABA for children with ASD and related disorders
• How parents can become educated consumers of ABA
• ABA and neurodiversity

Date: March 18, 2020

Time: 7 to 8:30 p.m. PT

Registration is not required

Watch live on Seattle Children’s Facebook page.

The event will start at 7:00 p.m. and will include time for questions at the end of the presentation.

Following the presentation, it can be viewed on Seattle Children’s Facebook and will be added to Seattle Children’s Autism 200 YouTube channel within two weeks of the lecture date.

A parent and a provider share their thoughts:

Katrina Davis is a family advocate at Seattle Children’s Autism Center and mother to Arthur, her 20-year-old beautifully complex young man with autism who gave his permission to share his story. Read full post »

Welcome to the February edition of Ask Dr. Emily!

We often receive questions that we want to share with all our readers. To help with this, Dr. Emily Neuhaus, a clinical psychologist at Seattle Children’s Autism Center, will share insights in a question and answer format.

Read full post »

This month’s Autism 200 series class is Autism 202:  Best Practices in ASD Treatment: Applied Behavior Analysis Update

Instructors: Mendy Minjarez, PhD, and Elizabeth Hatzenbuhler, MS, BCBA

Interventions grounded in applied behavior analysis (ABA) have demonstrated effectiveness across a variety of individuals and behaviors especially within the treatment of autism. Decades of research support that ABA is an effective scientific methodology with an emphasis on teaching skills and reducing challenging behaviors. As ABA can be implemented in many different ways and the field has evolved over the last few decades, there are many types of treatment strategies supported by a large body of knowledge. As such, this can be confusing for parents, autistic individuals and other consumers outside of the field to navigate. This talk will provide an overview of the defining features of the science of ABA, provide an overview of some examples of how it can be applied and discuss quality indicators that can be used to evaluate ABA programs. It will also highlight some of the misconceptions and sources of confusion about ABA, including the origins of these issues as well as the response from the ABA field.  

This class will be held Thursday, February 21, 2019, at Seattle Children’s Hospital in Wright Auditorium from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Please join us in person or watch on Facebook live. For more information see the  Autism 200 Series webpage.