Teaching behavior analysts in an early intensive behavioral intervention setting to conduct a structured mealtime protocol

Ibañez et al. (2023) worked with EIBI staff who run therapy for kids with autism. The team used behavioral skills training to teach the staff a step-by-step mealtime protocol. They watched each staff member run the protocol and scored how many steps were done right.

After the short BST package, every staff member hit high integrity on the mealtime protocol. The gains held when the trainer left the room, showing the skill stuck.

The result lines up with Jimenez-Gomez et al. (2019), who also saw BST help EIBI techs master naturalistic play skills. It also echoes Hillman et al. (2021), where adults with autism learned DTT through BST and kept the skill for weeks.

Two 2023 papers seem to clash at first glance. Campanaro et al. (2023) got staff to high fidelity on DTT with only a 30-minute computer module, while Ibañez used live rehearsal. The gap is about modality, not merit: computer works for simple DTT steps, but the mealtime protocol needs real-time feedback and in-vivo practice to reach mastery.

McGeown et al. (2013) foreshadowed this years ago. They showed live BST beat computer-only training for DTI with adults. Ibañez extends that idea to a new protocol and confirms that hands-on rehearsal still wins when the task is multi-step and dynamic.

If you run an EIBI clinic, you can now add a brief BST cycle to train mealtime assessments without long workshops. Schedule one hour: show a model, have staff rehearse with a child, give instant feedback, and repeat until they hit 90% steps correct. You will save supervisor hours later and keep assessment quality high across your team.