Defining Profound Autism: Seeking Clarity to Advance Services and Science belongs in serious BCBA study because it shapes whether behavior-analytic decisions stay useful once they leave a clean training example and enter adult services and community participation, clinic sessions and day-to-day service delivery. In Defining Profound Autism: Seeking Clarity to Advance Services and Science, for this course, the practical stakes show up in clearer case conceptualization, better instructional targets, and stronger generalization, not in abstract discussion alone.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via Profound Autism Summit
Take This Course →Including ethics, supervision, and topics like this one. New live CEU every Wednesday.
Join Free →Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by a range of symptoms and signs, but there has been limited research focusing on those who fall under the term Profound Autism (PA), and variability in how researchers approach this group. PA pertains to those requiring lifelong adult support for daily needs, but there is a lack of clarity in how to operationalize a definition using different measured domains, such as adaptive functioning, IQ, or verbal fluency. The definition of PA initially promulgated by the Lancet Commission had only one required element, level of adult support, but most studies thus far have focused on operationalizing IQ and spoken language as criteria. We will trace the development of the term and recent work focusing on creating clarity for measurement and support.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 0 | — |
| COA | 1 | — |
| NASW | 1 | — |
| PSY | 1 | — |
Matthew Siegel, MD is a Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine, Chief of Clinical Enterprise for Boston Childrens Hospital Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Chief Behavior Health Officer for Franciscan Childrens Hospital. He attended Amherst College,Stanford Medical School and trained at Brown University in child psychiatry, psychiatry, and pediatrics.Dr. Siegel built an internationally recognized continuum of care, teaching and research to address the behavioral health of youth with autism and other developmental disabilities in Maine. He founded and is the principal investigator of the Autism and Developmental Disorders Inpatient Research Collaborative(ADDIRC) , and founded the first U.S. learning health network of hospital psychiatric units serving youth with developmental disabilities. His research and clinical work have focused on better understanding the phenotypic profiles and clinical needs of youth with profound autism, intense behavior and co-occurring psychiatric disorders. He has led the creation of the Autism Inpatient Collection, a data resource of over 1500 deeply phenotyped and genetically sequenced participants, heavily weighted to those with profound autism and intense behavior, available to investigators worldwide through SFARIBase . Dr. Siegel is a federally appointed member of the National Institutes of Health Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee and a lead author of the practice guidelines of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for assessment and treatment of youth with autism, and youth with intellectual disability.
Side-by-side comparison with a clinical decision framework
Research-backed educational guide for behavior analysts
Research-backed answers to common clinical questions
All behavior-analytic intervention is individualized. The information on this page is for educational purposes and does not constitute clinical advice. Treatment decisions should be informed by the best available published research, individualized assessment, and obtained with the informed consent of the client or their legal guardian. Behavior analysts are responsible for practicing within the boundaries of their competence and adhering to the BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts.