Understanding Anxiety in Individuals with Autism is the kind of topic that looks straightforward until it collides with the speed, ambiguity, and competing demands of clinic sessions and day-to-day service delivery. In Anxiety in Individuals with Autism, for this course, the practical stakes show up in stronger conceptual consistency and better translational decision making, not in abstract discussion alone.
Provider: BehaviorLive
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Join Free →This webinar is designed specifically for behavior analysts who work with individuals with autism. In this presentation participants will learn how to functionally define anxiety as behavior and will learn the difference between studying anxiety as behavior vs. as a hypothetical construct that causes behavior. We will then discuss the relation between autism and anxiety. There has been speculation in both research and clinical practice that many individuals with autism have anxiety (e.g., Kanner, 1943; White et al., 2009). Typically, anxiety is detected through verbal report, however many individuals with autism lack these communication skills, making anxiety difficult to measure, assess, and treat in this population. After learning how to operationally define anxiety as behavior, participants will learn how to use behavioral methods to measure, assess, and treat anxiety in children with autism. We will specifically discuss the assessment and treatment methods used in Moore et al., 2021 and how these methods can be applied as a general roadmap for assessing and treating anxiety. Learning Objectives: - Participants will learn how to define anxiety as behavior and assess anxiety through the lens of the four term contingency. - Participants will learn how anxiety is conceptually different from other behavior such as excitement, repetitive and ritualistic behavior, and OCD. - Participants will learn several methods of measuring and assessing anxiety in individuals with autism that do not rely on verbal report. - Participants will learn at least two functional treatment strategies for treating anxiety in individuals with autism.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 2 | General |
Dr. Moore is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Licensed Behavior Analyst who has been working in the field for over 20 years. She began her career at the world-renowned New England Center for Children working in both clinic-based and residential programs while earning her MS in Applied Behavior Analysis from Northeastern University, and then her PhD in Behavior Analysis from Western New England University. After working at the New England Center for Children, Dr. Moore worked on translational grant research at UMASS Medical School's EK Shriver Center. In the years since, she has worked in just about any setting a behavior analyst can work in, including school based, residential, day programs, home based, and tele-consultation, before deciding to open her own consulting company focusing on sleep problems and assessment and treatment of severe behavior problems. Currently, in addition to consulting, Dr. Moore teaches for Regis College's Masters in Applied Behavior Analysis program. Dr. Moore is also a KPA-CTP certified dog trainer and runs a second business, Pet Project Dog Training, using Behavior Analysis to help dog owners reduce challenging behavior and teach their dogs new skills.
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
236 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.