PLAY-SAY: Assent & Speech with Play Chains is the kind of topic that looks straightforward until it collides with the speed, ambiguity, and competing demands of case conceptualization, intervention design, staff training, and literature-informed problem solving. In Assent & Speech with Play Chains, for this course, the practical stakes show up in stronger conceptual consistency and better translational decision making, not in abstract discussion alone.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via Women in Behavior Analysis
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Join Free →Increased emphasis on client assent refocuses the importance of naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention (NDBI) to improve the value of social stimuli and shape indicating responses. Defining and measuring indicating responses (e.g., eye gaze, approach, gesture, vocalization) to identify "likes" (declarations of establishing operations), "dislikes" (declarations of abative operations) and withdrawal of assent provides opportunities to honor The Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts and shape agency in children with autism. Indicating responses provide opportunities to teach functional and formal communication to make choices, indicate assent, and calmly and clearly indicate assent withdrawal. Improving the frequency and variety of Indicating responses is also correlated with improved language outcomes (Topping, et al. 2013), learner cooperation (Shillingsburg, Bowen & Shapiro, 2014; Shillingsburg, Hansen & Wright, 2019), and has been correlated with social behavioral cusps and better learner outcomes (Harms & Greer, 2020). Instruction can be challenging when confronted with individuals with limited attending to others and restricted reinforcer pools. A view of early social, play, and communicative milestones through developmental and behavioral lenses allows the operationalization of methods to create play chains via four different categories of play. Pausing or adding novelty to the play chains provides opportunities to reinforce and shape early non-verbal communication, promote attending and responding to instructor social stimuli, condition ongoing social interaction as a reinforcer, and shape verbal behavior. Learn to scale and sequence training for successful staff implementation and client improvement. Outcome data from a pilot project which demonstrates improvement in learning opportunities after training implementation will also be presented. Carbone, V. J., Morgenstern, B., Zecchin-Tirri, G., & Kolberg, L. (2010). The Role of the Reflexive- Conditioned Motivating Operation (CMO-R) During Discrete Trial Instruction of Children With Autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 25(2), 110–124. Harms, G. & Greer, D. (2021). Joint Attention: A Verbal Behavior Analysis. [PowerPointSlides]. Shillingsburg, M. A., Hansen, B., & Wright, M. (2019). Rapport Building and Instructional Fading Prior to Discrete Trial Instruction: Moving From Child-Led Play to Intensive Teaching. Behavior Modification, 43(2), 288–306. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445517751436. Schreibman, L., Dawson, G., Stahmer, A. C., Landa, R., Rogers, S. J., McGee, G. G., Kasari, C., Ingersoll, B., Kaiser, A. P., Bruinsma, Y., McNerney, E., Wetherby, A., & Halladay, A. (2015). Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions: Empirically Validated Treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 45(8), 2411–2428. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2407-8
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1 | General |
Tamara Kasper, MS, CCC-SLP, BCBA, LBA is a dually certified behavior analyst and speech-language pathologist who dedicated her 36 + year career to developing, implementing, and disseminating treatment methods to improve engagement, communication, and speech production in individuals with autism. Mentored by Dr. Vincent Carbone, she became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in 2006. She collaborated with Nancy Kaufman, expert in verbal apraxia, to create The K&K Sign/Select to Talk Kit and is past recipient of WISHA’s Clinical Achievement Award and nominee for the ASHA DiCarlo Award. She is a contributing author to the books, "Understanding Ethics in Applied Behavior Analysis: Practical Applications,” and “Promoting Language for Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Guide for Applied Behavior Analysis Practitioners" as well as various articles and blogs. Described by attendees as “inspirational” and “empowering,” she is a frequently invited international lecturer, enthusiastically sharing research and intervention techniques that promote early non-vocal communication skills and social behavioral play chains, promote assent, build functional verbal and vocal behavior via individualized AAC and speech production skills intervention, promote social communication skills and combine social skills training with physical training. Previous owner owner/director of The Center for Autism Treatment and provider of consulting, training, products, and workshops through Kasper Enterprises (www.kasperenterprises.net). Tamara is a co-founder with Dr. Lilith Reuter-Yuill of BRIDGIFY, a global interprofessional network with a mission of connecting vetted expert voices for greater impact and contributes to Bridgify’s actionable tools. Tamara is also a Board Member of Speech Pathology Applied Behavior Analysis (SPABA), a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to a behavior-analytic approach to treating speech/language/feeding disorders of all ages & narrowing the research-practice gap through education, training, and mentorship.
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
279 research articles with practitioner takeaways
258 research articles with practitioner takeaways
239 research articles with practitioner takeaways
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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.