Suchergebnisse

AbstractA proportion of children and adults in Canada are identified as having an intellectual or developmental disability (I/DD). Moreover, the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Canadian children has increased substantially over the past decade. Research has shown that these populations have a greater likelihood to engage in severe destructive behavior such as self‐injury and aggression, which places them at risk for exposure to intrusive interventions and denial of services. Functional behavior assessment (FBA) is an assessment strategy that takes the environmental variables responsible for the development and maintenance of destructive behavior into consideration and has shown to be the most informative for developing effective treatments for destructive behavior. We conducted a nation‐wide survey that queried behavior‐analyst practitioners working in the I/DD and ASD service sectors about their beliefs and use of FBA in clinical practice. We compared the results of this survey with similar surveys conducted in the United States. The results indicated that most Canadian practitioners are conducting some type of FBA; however, many of these assessments are not comprehensive and missing important components of the assessment process. We discuss the implications of these findings, as well as the barriers to implementing FBA in practice.

AbstractAdults living with intellectual and developmental disabilities are often prescribed psychotropic medication on an "as needed" basis (PRN) in response to behavioural challenges. In the present study we conducted a retrospective analysis of medication administration records in the 6‐months preceding and following discharge of 11 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to community settings from forensic inpatient units within a mental health hospital. We found a significant reduction in the frequency of PRN usage after discharge. We propose potential reasons for the difference in PRN administration across settings and make suggestions for future research.

The Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) is an evidence-based instructional approach that relies on written instruction, self-pacing, emphasis of concept mastery, and uses proctors (peers or supervisors who have previously mastered content) for evaluation, support and motivation. This study describes the result of a quality improvement project that used PSI methods to train 29 front-line staff employed in government-funded developmental sector group homes on knowledge of behavioural procedures. Following training, outcome measures included testing on staff knowledge of behavioural procedures, quality of staff-client rapport, and perceived level of staff stress. Training was correlated with increases in knowledge of behavioural procedures, but no significant change in quality of rapport or changes in staff-reported stress levels. Satisfaction surveys indicated that training was well received by front-line staff. We discuss the implications of PSI methods for training front-line staff and the feasibility of this instructional method in practical settings.