Working with Parents

BCRC Goals:

• Support families in promoting their child’s optimal development
• Facilitate the child’s participation in family and community activities
• Assist families to promote healthy adaptive behavior and limit problem behavior patterns using non-coercive techniques
• Obtain these BCRC in an efficient and effective manner

Developing Your Child’s Program

• "To serve competently, applied behavior analysts must know what constitutes socially important behavior, have the technical skills to use appropriate assessment methods and instruments, and be able to match assessment data with an intervention strategy" (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007). Creating an individualized behavior program involves interviews, assessments, ongoing observations and data collection. Your child’s program will continually evolve so that his or her needs are being met appropriately. Initially, the Supervisor assigned to your case will need to conduct several in-depth assessments as well as a family interview. Listed below are a few examples of common, empirically validated, behavior analytic assessments used for the development of a behavior program.

Please note that for the purpose of this document, the title “Therapist” refers to any individual approved to implement special programs for children with special needs.

Structured Interview

This is the first step before starting any activities for children with Autism.

Once your child has been approved to receive services through BCRC, a Supervisor will contact you to schedule a structured behavioral interview. This interview, mostly comprised of question and answer, allows the Supervisor to get to know the child better as well as the family, to aid in the development of the intervention program. Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence (ABC) data will be taken to help determine the function of the behaviors your child is exhibiting. “By asking variations of what, when, and how questions, the behavior analyst can help significant others describe the problem in terms of specific behaviors and environmental conditions and events associated with those behaviors” (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007).

When answering questions during the structured interview, try to remain focused on the facts surrounding the behavior (before, during and after) instead of your impression of why the behavior occurred.

You and your family are the most important components of your child’s behavior program. The daily interactions with your child have the most influence on learning and development. Your involvement is key to making your child’s program a success. You know your child better than anyone and because of that we ask for your help in effective functional behavior assessment, the development of intervention goals and the implementation of procedures to achieve these goals. It is our goal to teach you how to manage your child’s challenging behavior, and know how to encourage your child to use the skills he or she has learned during therapy sessions in everyday life.

"The involvement of family is critical in the treatment process. No one knows your child better than you and you are ultimately the ones who care the most and are most affected by your child’s disorder. You spend a great deal of time with your child and you can use that time to generalize the teaching goals into everyday living (Leaf & McEachin, 1999)

Consistency

Consistency across settings and people in regards to delivery of instruction, communication, and response/consequences is paramount. It is crucial that everyone working with the child understands the behavior plan, why certain procedures are being used, and knows how to react to certain behavior challenges, especially if the behavior has been targeted for extinction. If a behavior is reinforced only some of the time, it will be more resistant to extinction and/or modification.