Behavior analysts typically assess and treat challenging behavior after it occurs regularly and at high severity. Although effective, this reactive approach is quite costly and resource intensive. A growing literature supports an alternative preventive approach; the first step involves conducting sensitivity tests to screen the topographies and…

Operational definitions have a significant history in applied behavior analysis. The practice's importance stems from the role operational definitions play in detecting an event, human thought, or action. While operationalizing target behaviors has enjoyed widespread practice, some concerns have recently arisen with translation validity and…

Behavioral skills training (BST) is a performance- and competency-based training package composed of instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. Previous reviews have demonstrated that BST is an effective training package to teach interventionists to implement behavior analytic interventions (Kirkpatrick et al. in "Journal of Behavioral…

This review synthesizes the literature base evaluating the effects of behavior analytic interventions delivered via augmented reality (AR) technology for individuals with autism. We also conducted a quality review. We identified 14 studies with a majority of the studies (n = 11; 79%) utilizing single-case research design. Of the 14 studies, three…

Evolving discourse about autistic individuals swims in murky territory, with ongoing debates over how the autistic community should represent itself and how the neurotypical population should engage with them. One tendency that has emerged is the depiction of autistic individuals as kind and well-intentioned but also simpleminded and guileless.…

Joint attention (JA) is a pivotal prelinguistic skill critical to developing language and social repertoires. This behavior is often absent or delayed in children with autism spectrum disorder, commonly resulting in problematic communicative consequences. Behavior-based interventions have been used to teach autistic children to initiate and…

This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of psychological behavioral therapies to improve behaviors of autistic children during dental visits. Screening, data extraction, risk-of-bias assessment, and evaluation of certainty of evidence were performed by two independent reviewers. Eighteen studies were ultimately included. On…

Many students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) need evidence-based intervention in school, and applied behavior analysis (ABA) offers an array of treatment options shown to improve outcomes. However, in Michigan, ABA has not been thoroughly integrated into public schools. The present dissertation assessed the mechanisms thought to…

An overview of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the Middle East was published by Kelly and colleagues in 2016. The focus of the review was to explore clinical services, educational opportunities, and published research in the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, namely the Kingdom of Bahrain, the…

Rising Autism diagnosis rates have prompted numerous awareness campaigns, treatment programs, social-emotional learning initiatives, research institutes, etc. Developing analogously, the Neurodiversity movement--an activist-led social justice movement focused on equity and justice for neurodivergent people--has presented compelling critiques of…

Sensory-based interventions are commonly utilized by pediatric occupational therapy practitioners when working with children with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of fixed-time breaks with access to sensory stimuli on behavior that interfered with participation in pediatric occupational therapy sessions. Two boys…

One of the most important outcomes in a child's education is the ability to read proficiently, which can improve future academic progress and occupational success. Due to the impairments in social and communication areas of development for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), literacy provides the possibility of improved communication…

The current study used a multiple baseline across behaviors design to evaluate a rapid coaching intervention for teaching two caregivers to implement naturalistic language interventions (NLIs) with their child with autism. Coaches were preservice behavior analysts completing a personnel preparation program in applied behavior analysis who…

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability affecting individuals across their entire lifespan. Autistic individuals have differences from nonautistic people (sometimes called allistic or neurotypical people) in social skills, communication, and atypical interests and/or repetitive behaviors. Approximately 1 in 59 children are born…

Questions about human behavior and diversity have captured the attention of scientists from a wide range of philosophical stances for centuries. While behavior analysts would argue that natural science is an enlightening perspective when applied to the understanding of the human condition, at times arguments within certain campaigns would prefer…