Why Babies Look: Social referencing and its implications for children with special educational needs is the kind of topic that looks straightforward until it collides with the speed, ambiguity, and competing demands of adult services and community participation. In Why Babies Look: Social referencing and its implications for children with special educational needs, 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 Queens University Belfast
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Join Free →An area of socialization that develops towards the end of the first year of life is social referencing, wherein infants when confronted with a novel or unusual event, look at an adult, and base their subsequent behaviour on the facial expression of the adult. Social referencing is a preverbal foundational skill that seems pivotal to the development of verbal behaviour, and social and emotional skills in children. In my talk, I will describe (a) what is known so far about social referencing, (b) offer insight into its development over the course of the first two years of life in neurotypical and neurodiverse children, and (c) discuss training strategies to facilitate social referencing in children. Finally, I will also lay out my roadmap to extend this research program and discuss implications for the present state of intervention services.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1.5 | General |
Dr Maithri Sivaraman, BCBA is an engineer-turned-behaviour analyst who conducts research and clinical work with young children with special educational needs. Her research falls under three broad domains – (a) children’s verbal behaviour development, (b) their socio-emotional development, and (c) cultural adaptations made to behaviour analytic services. She completed her Ph.D in Psychology at Ghent University in Belgium at the Research in Developmental Disorders Lab studying early social and verbal repertoires in toddlers. Prior to her current position at Cardiff University, Maithri established the Tendrils Centre for Autism in Chennai, India offering behavioural services for children with special needs. She is a consultant for multiple ABA intervention centres in India and Europe. With Dr.Tricia Skoler, she blogs on child development for Psychology Today and is passionate about the cultural adaptation of ABA services.
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
280 research articles with practitioner takeaways
279 research articles with practitioner takeaways
256 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.