Practitioner Development
Teaching foster grandparents to train severely handicapped persons.
★ The Verdict
A quick BST package turns foster grandparents into solid instructors whose skills last after supervision stops.
✓ Read this if BCBAs who train parents, staff, or volunteers in any setting.
✗ Skip if Researchers only looking at child-only interventions.
01Research in Context
01
Why it matters
You can train almost any willing adult to deliver good ABA with a short BST package.
This opens the door to using family members, volunteers, or staff who are not yet certified.
Try it next time you need extra hands on a case.
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Pick one parent or aide, run a 15-minute BST on giving clear instructions and praise, then fade your prompts.
02At a glance
Intervention
behavioral skills training
Design
multiple baseline across participants
Sample size
4
Population
intellectual disability
Finding
positive
03Original abstract
Five foster grandparents were taught training skills for use in their daily interactions with severely handicapped persons in an institution. Following baseline, specific teaching procedures consisting of teacher instructions, prompts, modelling, and praise were implemented. The grandparents' frequency of training three skill areas increased as the specific teaching was implemented in multiple-baseline format. The total amount of training continued as teacher instructions, prompts, and modelling were terminated and praise continued, although the grandparents spent their training time emphasizing only two of the three skill areas. Teacher presence was gradually reduced over an 11-week period, with no decrease in grandparents' frequency of training. Four of the foster grandchildren, all profoundly retarded and multiply handicapped, demonstrated progress throughout the study. Results were discussed in light of the available contributions of foster grandparents in institutional settings and maintenance of staff training.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1978 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1978.11-111