Dr. Chris’ Autism Journal

I am posting this opportunity on behalf of a doctoral student, Amy Gallagher, at Argosy University, please contact her directly with any questions: 

I am a Clinical Psychology Doctoral student (Psy.D.) at Argosy University in Seattle, WA conducting research in order to understand the experiences that parents have when they use computer technology with their autistic children.

I am conducting interviews with parents of autistic children (aged six to twelve) who have used computer technology with their children over a period of at least six months. The study will require your attendance for one audio taped interview lasting about 1 ½ to 2 hours. During the interview, you will be asked about your experiences using computer technology with your autistic child. The interview will take place in a convenient, confidential location such as a local library or university study room. There is no compensation for participation.

In order to qualify for the study, you must be a parent of an autistic child (aged six to twelve) who has used computer technology/software with your child for at least six months. Also, you must reside in the Seattle/Puget Sound area of Washington State.

If you are interested in participating, or would like further information, please contact me, Amy Gallagher, at amya365@aol.com or 607-329-7403 (cell phone). This study has been approved by the Argosy University-Seattle Institutional Review Board at Argosy University-Seattle, 2601-A Elliott Ave; Seattle, WA 98121.   

If you are struggling with finding a quality service provider for your child, or if you are wondering if the ABA services you are receiving are appropriate, the ABA Autism Special Interest Group, with funding from the New Jersey Center for Outreach & Services for the Autism Community, have provided a set of guidelines that are extremely valuable:

ABAAutismSIG Gdlns 2007.pdf

In this document, they provide consumers with information about board certification for ABA providers and what other qualities to look for to increase the chances of receiving the quality services that your child deserves.  They note that certification is NECESSARY, but not SUFFICIENT for selecting a qualified professional.  In other words, someone who provides ABA services and who is not certified should be questioned regarding their education and ability to provide services.  However, just having that is not enough, you should look at the applicant’s experience with autism, and with the age group and functioning level of your child. 

This document was put together with a lot of expertise and thoughtfulness, I hope you find it helpful!

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Krista Schultz, who works in Alberta, Canada with children with autism.  She is an ABA and developmental specialist and a frequent user of TeachTown with her clients.  I love her philosophy for teaching children and her passion for making a difference in the autism community.  I also really enjoyed her responses regarding technology and her feedback on TeachTown.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! 

Interview with Krista
May 2, 2007

1) Please provide us with a brief background about your education and credentials:

I am originally from Northern Alberta, Canada and received my first degree (Bachelor of Education) from the University of Alberta.  During teaching and then school counseling, I worked through a Master of Science degree in Educational Psychology with a Specialization in Developmental Psychology.  Since that time I have become a Registered Psychologist in the Province of Alberta and have continued to work in educational systems as well as home environments supporting children with special needs.

2) When and why did you start working with children with autism?

To be honest, it was quite unintentional.  Behavior has always been my key interest and I had been working with severe behavior disorders in children and adolescents. I am an avid proponent of the position that although we live in very rural areas, we should be providing children with services and professionals to the best of our abilities.  I received a call from a colleague who had a referral for an adolescent with autism and she asked if I would consult.  It was then that I realized that the area of autism and the families in our communities were sadly being under represented.  At that time, autism was not widely recognized.  Due to many factors, media included, I find there to be far more interest from the general public on the area of autism and thankfully, more recognition from service providers and educators to broaden their own knowledge of the diagnosis.

3) What positions have you had in the past and where do you work now?

I have been a teacher of many subjects, gifted students, educable mentally handicapped and those with severe behavioral disabilities.  As a Psychologist, I have a private practice and contract to school divisions, multidisciplinary teams and family agencies to provide assessment, support and programming for children with a variety of needs including those with medical conditions, FASD, severe behavioral disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorders and learning disabilities.  I am also a workshop facilitator on several subjects surrounding special needs children and learning. 

4) What is the best part of your job?

Watching my clients successfully meet objectives and seeing the joy on the faces of parents.  AND, having clients whom other professionals cannot pick out of the classroom as the child who has the autism diagnosis!

5) What part of your job is most difficult?

Supporting families while waiting for services to be put in place.

6) What is your approach to using ABA? 

I believe that ABA incorporates many different teaching methods.  It is flexible and transitions between developmental stages as well as changes that a child presents during the course of their programming.  It is that flexibility - and the knowledge and openness to accept and embrace those times - that allows ABA programs to meet the needs of the individual child and address behavioral teaching.  Generalizing to natural settings and a comprehensive interventionist program that eventually fosters the fading of reinforcers is my key approach with my primary work being in school settings.

7) Other than ABA, what other treatment approaches do you incorporate into your practice?

My treatment practices in my work with autism have largely been guided by the science of ABA and the writings of Lovaas, Fenske, etc. 

8) Do you find that many children you work with benefit from using visual strategies?

Absolutely.  Given the difficulties with self regulation and auditory “overload”, many of the children I work with can build increased independent and functional skills from incorporating the visual modality.

9) How do you think that computers can help children with autism?

Computers are tools in our society.  Working with children with autism and using computers allows behavioral teaching and independence with skill building.  While the face to face, social component of interactions is certainly important, there are many aspects of teaching that can be completed by the use of computers.

10) Do you think computers can help parents, in what way?

Often the parents with whom I consult are eager, interested and motivated but they are not therapists or teachers.  They are not autism specialists or experts.  Having the technology and support of a good program that is effectively addressing the unique needs of their child(ren) with autism is empowering and motivating.  It also allows parents to be parents and not have the worry of appropriate programming or seeking out multidisciplinary teams to do, essentially, similar work.  Given our shortage of professionals in many areas and the factor of rural living, computers also “shrink” and sometimes eliminate barriers to effective programming.

11) How can computers help schools?

In our province, technology in schools is priority and for children with autism we find that while teachers want to offer similar experiences, they are often at a loss to make these times meaningful and functional.  In several situations this year, I have been exploring the use of TeachTown in a variety of settings in schools.  Again, non-expert facilitation and the preparation time that computers offer teaching professionals has been invaluable.

12) How do you use computers in your position and how can other clinicians benefit from technology?

I have been far more open to using technology and computers as tools for increasing functionality, independence and skillstreaming.  We are fortunate in this day and age that assistive technology devices and technology such as TeachTown has vastly reduced barriers that would have otherwise made appropriate and beneficial teaching very difficult or unrealistic.

13) What aspects of TeachTown: Basics are most helpful for you?

The non-expert model has been very motivating for those unfamiliar with autism.  The ease of setting the program up and moving parents and para-professionals through the trials has been excellent.  As an educational psychologist working with Individual Program Plans, the data, ease of collection and simplicity of results (graphs, etc.) have provided solid evidence of progress for clients.  Teachers have been thrilled with the explanations of objectives for sessions as it has allowed more meaningful short and long term goals to be added into the child’s program plan.

14) If you were on the design team at TeachTown, what would you do next to improve or enhance TeachTown: Basics?

Expand the developmental levels to promote additional training for older children!

15) What future directions should TeachTown take for developing other products?

I would like to see TeachTown work with assistive technology professionals to address the needs of children with autism who may present with additional impairments such as hearing impairments, visual problems or severe fine motor skill deficits. 

If you would like to put in your 2 cents regarding the use of technology in education, here is your opportunity! 

It is very important for teachers, parents, and service providers working with the schools to give their input as this kind of feedback may affect future programs and funding!

You can fill-out the virtual roundtable comment form and your ideas will be read by Secretary Spellings and the Department of Education.  There are only a few very pertinent questions, this should only take about 5 minutes for you to complete and it could make a big difference!

Coming up over Memorial Day weekend is the next ABA (Association for Behavior Analysis) conference in gorgeous San Diego, California!  This year there are more interesting presentations and opportunities for learning than ever before.  One of the most interesting things is seeing the advancement of ABA for treatment of children with autism and how even the most structured approaches are now realizing how critical generalization, creativity, and flexibilty are for the optimal treatment outcome!  This modern philosophy in ABA demonstrates that intervention can be extremely effective, scientific, and socially relevant.  I also am very interested to see the presentations on technology (although there are still only a few of these!!).

Here are some things that I recommend checking out if you plan to attend (workshops have an additional fee but are nice because they are more focused and detailed and you often have less crowds to deal with).  These suggestions are ones which would appeal to someone interested in autism and who holds a similar treatment philosophy to TeachTown (i.e. using sound principles of science, but realizing the importance of generalization and natural routines):

TEACHTOWN EVENTS!!

***STOP BY OUR EXHIBIT BOOTH ANY TIME THROUGHOUT THE CONFERENCE FOR DEMOS, INFORMATION, OR JUST TO MEET OUR TEAM!!!****

*#218 Symposium—5/27/07—1:30-2:50pm—America’s Cup AB
BACB CE Offered. CE Instructor: Philip N. Chase, Ph.D.

Empirical Validation of Internet-Based Curriculum
Chair: Philip N. Chase (West Virginia University)
Discussant: Satoru Shimamune (Hosei University)

The current crisis in education recognized by a variety of reports, studies, and commentators could have serious long-term effects on children world wide. In response to this crisis a number of behavior analysts have targeted the empirical validation of curriculum for their research agenda. In particular, with recent advances in computer technology, there has been a strong interest in developing and evaluating internet curricula. Three examples are Headsprout, a program that teaches beginning reading, iLearn a middle school mathematics curriculum, and TeachTown, a program for autistic children. This symposium will present the current data and methods used to evaluate these programs. Emphasis will be given to descriptions of the how these programs have integrated single-subject methods with program evaluation methods, methods for evaluating teacher and other professional implementation, and more traditional random controlled studies to create a thorough method of empirical validation.

An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of iLearn Math in Improving Math Achievement in Middle School. ROBERT L. COLLINS (iLearn, Inc.)
Abstract: The effectiveness of iLearn Math in improving math achievement was evaluated in the sixth grade of a Title I middle school in a rural area of Georgia using a quasi-experimental design. The Experimental Group used iLearn Math as their only math instruction for the school year. The Control Group received their regularly-scheduled traditional classroom instruction. At the start of the year, there was no difference between the two groups on an experimenter-developed pretest. At the end of the school year, differences were assessed using scores on the Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) administered annually to all six-grade students in Georgia. For the iLearn Group, 87% of the students met or exceeded the standard on the CRCT vs. 65% for the Control Group. The state average was 74%. In addition, 28% of the iLearn Group exceeded the standard vs. 10% for the Control Group.

Education and Treatment of Children with Autism Using Computer-Assisted Programs from TeachTown. CHRISTINA WHALEN DALLAIRE (TeachTown)
Abstract: Because of the numerous education options available for children with autism, many of which are not supported by research, the use of evidence-based practices is particularly important for this population. With recent advances in computer technology, there has been a strong interest in the use of computer-assisted instruction (CAI). Due to the unique characteristics and learning styles of children with autism, the interest and need for CAI is especially strong. TeachTown: Basics utilizes not only computer instruction and data tracking, but provides off-computer generalization activities and a communication system for the child’s team. Several research studies have been or are being conducted to assess the efficacy and expand this product. In addition, research is underway for the design of future products. Data from these studies will be presented along with a discussion of the importance of developing evidence-based technology for children with autism and the implications for designers and researchers.

Headsprout Early Reading: Multi-Year, Multi-Site Measures of Effectiveness. Janet S. Twyman, T. V. Joe Layng, and DEBORAH HAAS (Headsprout)
Abstract: This presentation will first review the teaching routines used, the critical reading repertoires taught, and the formative evaluation data which shaped Headsprout Early ReadingR, a scientifically-based, empirically validated online early reading program. The presentation will then focus on data from the growing body of summative, or large scale, evaluations of the program. Data will be presented from empirically-based case studies, outcome measures from field use, multi-year evaluations, and perhaps of greatest importance, controlled research featuring unbiased group assignment.