Assent-based and trauma-informed practices have emerged as essential frameworks for ethical and effective ABA service delivery. While behavior analysts increasingly recognize the importance of these approaches, a significant gap persists between understanding their value and implementing them consistently in clinical practice.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via BABAT
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Join Free →Assent and trauma-informed practices are essential to addressing the unique needs of our clients. Practitioners often understand the importance of such practices but they may still struggle with their application during the course of service delivery. Therefore, helping practitioners navigate the conditions under which it is relevant to program for assent and trauma-informed practices during service delivery is integral for supporting both service providers (practitioners and direct care providers) and clients. This symposium includes a collection of three different applications of Behavioral Skills Training (BST) to train service providers to implement assent-based and trauma-informed interventions in response to distress and behaviors that may interfere with learning. Specifically addressed are skills including identifying assent and assent withdrawal, collecting data on these behaviors, problem-solving how to address assent withdrawal during instruction, and assessment and treatment risk-benefit considerations from a trauma-informed practice lens. All trainings aimed to teach practitioners how to objectively assess and make individualized modifications to existing programs to better meet the needs of their clients. In addition, social validity measures across clients, caregivers, and service providers will also be discussed.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1.5 | Ethics |
| COA | 1.5 | — |
Dr. Candice Colón serves as the Director of Research and oversees peer review and continuing education at LEARN Behavioral. She received her doctoral degree from Western New England University and a Master of Science degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from Northeastern University. She specializes in the assessment and treatment of severe behavior for children and adolescents and has experience providing and overseeing clinical and training practices in insurance-based home and community settings as well as private school and residential settings. In addition, Dr. Colón has served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Bay Path University and is a Co-Founder of Resilience Skill Building, an ABA-based executive function skills coaching company. Her research interests include treatment/procedural integrity, training, and professional development practices, the assessment and treatment of interfering behavior, executive function skills, health related skills (e.g., toileting and sleep hygeine) and designing such procedures to be efficient, socially valid, and practical across settings. Her research is published in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) and Behavioral Interventions. She has presented at national and regional conferences and also serves as a reviewer for journals such as The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (TAVB), Behavioral Interventions, and JABA. Since 2017, Dr. Colón has also served on the BABAT Board of Directors to support Massachusetts Professionals in Behavior Analysis. In her spare time, she enjoys running, coaching track & field, reading, coloring, and spending time with her husband, daughters, and their dogs.
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
244 research articles with practitioner takeaways
225 research articles with practitioner takeaways
212 research articles with practitioner takeaways
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.