Online curriculum development resource for ABA/IBI/DTT/NET programs

[Guest guest]

NEW INTERNET SERVICE OFFERS CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT DATABASE/RESOURCE

FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH AUTISM AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES

www.abacsllc.memberlodge.org to serve as centralized area for

membership forum

Herscovitch, M.S.ABA, BCBA

PhD Candidate in Applied Behavior Analysis

Program Director, ABACS, LLC

www.abacsllc.memberlodge.org

Phone: (774) 249-8403

Fax: (774) 745-0369

Email: bherscovitch@...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (July 1, 2008) – ABACS, LLC

(www.abacsllc.memberlodge.org), an organization offering behavior

analysis services directed towards those whose lives have been

touched by autism spectrum disorders, as well as other developmental

or behavioral disorders, presents a new Online Program Development

Resource (PDR). The online PDR has been developed to change the

operation of school-based, home-based, and center-based behavior

intervention programs, by offering an efficient and cost-effective

way for systematizing, simplifying and standardizing the process of

curriculum development.

This service is geared towards behavior analysts, teachers, parents,

senior therapists, or anyone responsible for developing program

content for intensive behavioral intervention (IBI) programs,

including discrete trial teaching (DTT) and natural environment

training (NET), inclusive of protocols for the acquisition of verbal

behavior (VB). Members should have sufficient knowledge of target

selection, and curriculum development for individuals with autism and

other developmental disabilities.

The curriculum format can accommodate any skill that will be taught

using either of the aforementioned formats, including beginner,

intermediate, and advanced objectives, across a number of domains.

Such domains may include communication/verbal behavior (VB), social

skills, academics/pre-academics, play, activities of daily living,

gross/fine motor (OT/PT), and vocational/pre-vocational skills.

The PDR can be used on its own, or in conjunction with other

resources for selecting goals and objectives, such as individualized

education plans (IEPs), department of education frameworks, or

popular autism manuals. Though objectives listed in IEPs and other

autism manuals specify what the student will learn, they often do not

prescribe procedures to ensure consistency of program implementation

across people (and time). Teacher requests, prompts/cues,

reinforcement, correction procedures, and data collection strategies

tend to change when there is not a system in place to ensure

consistent implementation. The ABACS, LLC Online PDR currently

provides a system in which to prescribe all key elements of

curricula. Listed below is a brief summary of the features currently

available (note that 1.2 is currently being made available, but is

still in the development phase).

1. Curriculum task list

1.1. A versatile form that simplifies the process of developing

curriculum (program instructions) specific to each objective.

1.2. A bank of completed curriculum (program instructions) for

beginner, intermediate, and advanced objectives, across a number of

domains (i.e. social, pre-academic, academic, play, activities of

daily living, gross/fine motor - OT/PT, and vocational), is currently

being created and made available to members. **The first complete

version of the curriculum bank is expected to be available by

September 1st, 2008**, on time for the 2008/2009 school year.

However, curricula are being made available as they are developed,

and the bank will continue to be updated following its formal

completion. This feature will continue to grow with the feedback of

members. It will be set up so as to provide members with guidance

through the identification of progressively more complex target

skills, as the learner masters out of objectives.

1.3. Many prompting hierarchy forms with associated data

collection systems

1.4. A maintenance form

1.5. Numerous data sheets

1.6. Instructions on how to read curricula and associated data

collection systems

1.7. Procedural integrity forms to ensure accurate teacher

implementation

1.8. Spreadsheet and instructions for data summary and graphing

2. News (blog)

2.1. The news blog addresses a variety of different issues and

topics, but is primarily intended as a resource to convey information

about the online PRD. Topics may include, but are not limited to,

strategies for using the PDR, program ideas, and a forum to answer

common (and perhaps not so common) questions regarding the PDR.

3. Discussion forum

3.1. This is a place for members to post questions and ideas about

the PDR, as well as read and comment upon other members' posts.

4. List of articles

4.1. A growing list of articles will be made available to members,

on a variety of different topics.

5. List of links

5.1. Links will be made available to members, on a variety of

different topics.

6. Newsletter

6.1. Receive newsletters throughout the year about a variety of

different topics in behavior analysis and autism (please contact

admin@... if you are interested in contributing to

the newsletter).

Regular updates will be made to the PDR. Members can access all

updates to the PDR during the period of their membership. Please

visit the website and click on the Program Development link on the

left side of the page, where you can obtain further information about

the PDR and registration.