Abstract

Many children and adults with autism and closely-related developmental disabilities experience difficulty acquiring and expanding the following skill repertoires…

1. One of the six Vocal Profiles
2. One of the 46 topography-based or selection-based alternative methods of speaking described in Essential for Living, performed accurately and fluently
3. A repertoire of mands [requests for highly-preferred items and activities] performed accurately and fluently 
4. A repertoire of daily living skills and listener responses that insure health and safety performed accurately and fluently

Begin intervention by ‘experimenting’ with one of the six Vocal Profiles and later one or more of the 46 alternative methods of speaking, using the following basic, behavioral teaching procedures:

• Prompting — most-to-least 
• Reinforcement — immediate and differential 
• Practice — frequent with prompting and reinforcement
• Proceed with teaching other skills ONLY WHEN a repertoire of each of ‘these skills’ occurs and results in a substantial improve-ment in a child or adult’s quality of life. 

When these skill repertoires are occurring fluently, ‘and only then’, consider teaching the following skills:

1. A repertoire of socially-appropriate behavior, rather then problem behavior, maintained by Attention, Escape, and Access to Preferred Items and Activities
2. A repertoire tacts [names], intraverbals [answers to questions], and frequently-occurring conversations 
3. A repertoire of generalized skills, that is, skills that occur in a variety of situations

This presentation will describe each of the issues detailed above and what often results when teaching begins.

Biography

Patrick McGreevy received B.S. and M.A. degrees in Psychology and Special Education, respectively, from the University of Iowa. He was a special education teacher for eight years, working with children and young adults with moderate-to-severe developmental disabilities. He received the Ph.D. degree in Education from Kansas University under the guidance of Ogden R. Lindsley.

Dr. McGreevy served as an assistant research professor in the Institute for Community Studies and the Department of Special Education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and as an assistant professor in the Department of Special Education at Louisiana State University. He taught courses in applied behavior analysis, as well as, curriculum and instruction for students with moderate-to-severe disabilities. He is the author of Teaching and Learning in Plain English, an introduction to Precision Teaching, and the founder and first editor of the Journal of Precision Teaching and Standard Celeration Charting. He is a recipient of the Ogden R. Lindsley Lifetime Achievement Award of the Standard Celeration Society. 

He is also the author of nine journal articles and a book chapter on teaching B. F. Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior. He is also the first author of Essential for Living, a functional, life skills curriculum, assessment, and professional practitioner’s handbook for children and adults with moderate-to-severe disabilities. From 2005-2014, Dr. McGreevy served as an assistant professor in the Behavior Analysis Program at the Florida Institute of Technology. He taught on-campus courses and seminars, and online lectures, with an emphasis on the application of principles and procedures from Applied Behavior Analysis.

For the past 30 years, Dr. McGreevy has provided consultations for children and adults with developmental disabilities and hands-on training for their families. He has also provided consultation and training for school districts, residential programs, and hospitals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Norway, Switzerland, Spain, UAE, and Brazil, specializing in the treatment of aggressive and self-injurious behavior in individuals with limited communication or language skills. Dr. McGreevy has also conducted workshops on teaching communication skills and language in the context of severe problem behavior, which are based on B. F. Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior.

Learning outcomes

• Describe the essential elements of ABA intervention that includes Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior

• Describe ABA teaching procedures included in this presentation

Level: Intermediate

Target audience: Those with some experience with children with autism and related disabilities, and those with a limited knowledge of Applied Behavior Analysis

Duration: 1hr 15 min

ABAA PDUs/BACB CEs: 1.5