Presenters

Description

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) provides a holistic framework for understanding disability, emphasising both strengths and support needs. While widely adopted in other fields, its application in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) remains under explored. This workshop equips ABA practitioners with practical strategies to integrate the ICF framework into autism assessment and intervention planning, aligning their practice with the newly released National Framework for Assessing Children’s Functional Strengths and Support Needs (December 2024).

With the recent release of the National Framework, the Australian disability sector is shifting towards a holistic, function-based assessment approach. This workshop will guide participants in applying the ICF to align their practice with this framework, ensuring ABA interventions remain evidence-based, comprehensive, and compatible with the National Disability Insurance Agency’s (NDIA) funding model.

As the disability sector evolves, ABA practitioners must adapt their assessment and intervention strategies to align with contemporary frameworks and funding structures. The ICF expands traditional ABA assessment approaches by emphasising participation and functional strengths, moving beyond behaviour reduction to contextualised, meaningful skill development.

Through interactive activities, case studies, and group discussions, attendees will learn to assess functional strengths and support needs across body functions, activity, and participation domains, while considering environmental and personal factors. Participants will use this information to develop individualised goals that promote independence, communication, and social participation.

Objectives

At the conclusion of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Apply the ICF framework to identify the functional strengths and support needs of autistic children using real-world case studies.
2. Identify individualised goals that are behaviourally analytic within the ICF framework
3. Align their ABA assessment and intervention practices with the National Framework for Assessing Children’s Functional Strengths and Support Needs
4. Increase their verbal repertoire to include a common language when communicating with professionals outside of behaviour analysis

Date and Time

25 July 2025

12:30 - 3:30 pm

Duration

3 hours (with break)

Professional Development

3 ABAA PDUs/BACB Learning CEs

Target Audience

Early career ABA practitioners