Premature Ventricular Contractions and more

Hi,
I am looking for a therapist for my 9 year old son. I am from the
Westchester/Putnam NY area.
Thanks for any help
Jackie

Has anyone done anything with skills for taking a shower?
These are the things that aren't working:
1. how to make the steps small and detailed enough to be doable yet
that makes it seem so complex and disorganized.
2. how to account for variations in it (such as shower in morning -
put clothes on, or shower in evening - put pajamas on)
3. a clear "ending point" for each step - how to know its been
done "enough" like - "enough rinsing off?"
I'd really appreciate it if anyone can help me with this.
Thanks.

"Who are you Frank?
I keep hearing that one. I am a Father of a 6 yr old boy with autism and a
3yr old boy that had a big speech delay but is almost up to speed
(I have a loving wife and 3rd grade son as well- can't leave that out)
My 3yr old responded amazingly to verbal behavior. My 6 yr old is improving
with it but at a slower rate.
I am convinced that the teaching methods put forth by Dr Carbone provide
kids with autism the best chance of success. There is no guarantee of
anything however.
A properly implemented Verbal Behavior program at the school which is
carried over in the home by the parents should be the goal.
The challenge for all of us is to get parents and teachers the TRAINING they
need.
This workshop is just the 1st step in that process.
I urge anyone what ideas on how we might join together to provide ongoing
training locally to contact me..
We can arrange for some of Dr. Carbone's follow up workshops (given by his
associates). The cost of these workshops are a factor. (maybe someone knows
someone else that might sponsor a workshop)
Enjoy the workshop. Try to concentrate on grasping the underlying
principle's of the teaching method.
If you attempt to just learn what to do with one child at this moment in
time, it will not stand to you later. Whereas, a good grasp of the
principle's will help you adjust to whatever curveball a child may throw you
later.
After the workshop please email me with your thoughts.
Frank McGovern"
~~~Hey guys! I was able to attend this workshop! Frank sponsored 270 people to
attend Dr. Vincent Carbone's Verbal Behavior Workshop #1 in Connecticut earlier
this week. Most attendees were from surrounding Connecticut school districts,
preschools and Birth-3. WHAT AN AMAZING 3 DAY 21 hour CONFERENCE! Dr. Carbone
in detail explained the verbal operants as defined by B.F. Skinner and how to
"teach Verbal Behavior to persons who do not acquire it typically". He
explained through many video examples of how to apply proven (documented
studies) effective teaching procedures=using competing positive reinforcers,
errorless learning, interspersing easy and difficult targets, mixing and varying
tasks, extinction of off-task responses, fading in the # of demands, using easy
responses at first then increase difficulty, immediate delivery of reinforcers,
teaching to fluency, short inter trial interval as possible (ITI) along with
critical reinforcement variables= value of + rate of + immediacy of + magnitude
of + making sure effort of response required is not to difficult) while
utilizing and applying the Verbal Operants as defined by B.F. Skinner to your
ABA program (in the natural environment as well as during intensive
teaching~~NET-DTT).
What I've learned about my son Dustin is he is an Early Learner in the Natural
Environment but at the intermediate level during intensive discrete trial
teaching, and there are many crucial building blocks we have missed that need to
be targeted before I can expect more success. I'm confident that the many ideas
and techniques Dr. Carbone presented and thoroughly explained to us are going to
help our son achieve functional skills at a quicker more effective rate at the
same time ACTUALLY ENJOYING HIMSELF WHILE LEARINING TO LEARN!!!!!!! Every once
in a while I scanned the room during the presentation and the look on everyone's
faces was just amazing. He had everyone fully attending, hanging on every word,
and anxious to see the next video example of before and after effective teaching
from all sorts of learners, verbal and nonverbal, at all different ages (even a
33 year old man who had been institutionalized 30 years of his life, thought to
have no cognitive ability what so ever). Even more impressive was, as Dr.
Carbone put it, how quickly THE TEACHERS WERE ABLE TO RECOVER from poor
ineffective teaching! Dr. Carbone answered EVERYONE'S questions during his
presentation as well as during breaks, lunch, even on his way to the bathroom,
he worked hard! I can't say enough about this and how thankfull I am to the
McGovern's for allowing me to come to Verbal Behavior Workshop #1. I'm signed up
for #2 this summer and can't wait, EVEN BETTER, so far two of the teachers as
well as the Director from my sons preschool Just Kids are going to Workshop #1
in July through LISHA on Long Island, AND they are going to Workshop #5 through
ELIJA. We are all so excited for all the staff and children that will be
benefiting as WE LEARN HOW TO LET OUR CHILDREN TEACH US HOW THEY LEARN!!!! I am
also really looking forward to Pat McGreevy coming to Long Island in June, if
you are concerned about your child and would really like to learn more about ABA
and effective teaching to acquire functional skills for your child, these
workshops will be your greatest tool ever! Again, thank you so much to the
McGovern's, you provided us all with a wealth of knowledge (as well as awesome
lunches, refreshments and goodies at a beautiful hotel) what an impact you must
have made for all those whose lives are affected by Autism in Connecticut. Your
families generosity is beyond comprehension and so inspiring!
Thank you!
Jennica (mom to Dustin 3.10 ASD)
(the following info I took from www.elija.org about Dr. Pat McGreevy Ph.D, BCBA
and his upcoming presentation in June)
Intensive Training for Professionals and Parents
This 2-day advanced workshop provides intensive training in the Verbal Behavior
approach to teaching language and appropriate behavior to vocal and non-vocal
children and adults with developmental disabilities, including autism. This ABA
approach, which is based on B.F. Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior
(expressive language), the research and writing of Jack Michael and others, the
book Teaching Language to Children with Autism and Other Developmental
Disabilities written by Mark Sundberg and Jim Partington, and the work of Vince
Carbone, Patrick McGreevy, and many others, begins with expressive language and
includes specific teaching procedures unfamiliar to most professionals and
parents. This workshop is designed for teachers, speech-language pathologists,
parents, and in-home therapists.
Participants will learn to (1) assess language and basic learner skills across
all domains and determine present levels of performance, (2) identify
instructional priorities and write measurable objectives, (3) arrange an
instructional environment in a home or school classroom to meet those
objectives, (4) implement intensive teaching, natural environment teaching,
errorless teaching, quick transfer procedures, teaching to fluency, and
trouble-shoot problems with the same, (5) coordinate home and school programs,
and (6) measure child progress without interfering with teaching - and teach
others to exhibit those same skills.

Cherish Richards & Holly Kibbe will be presenting Workshop #4: Teaching
Verbal Behavior: Hands-on Training for Tutors & Therapists on May 30 & 31,
2003 in Herndon, VA. If you would like more information, please email
lnicklas@....
Thanks very much

I am interested in changing my son over from a mass-trial ABA program
to a more AVB approach. My questions are:
1. How do you do the actual therapy sessions? I mean I know you are
supposed to intersperse trials rather than mass trial one target, but
can someone give me examples?
2. What about data collection? How do you know when your child has
mastered a target and how do you track progress?
3. Would it be beneficial before I start the new programming to do a
current ABLLS?
I feel like these are dumb questions but I am a super newbie.
Jana M. <
jjcsmarshall@...

Hello All,
My autistic son is turning 4yo this month. I would like to invite
his classmates to my house for a little birthday party. However I'm
at a loss at what kind of games/theme I should do. Most of the kids
in his class are barely verbal and the functioning levels ranges from
low to high functioning. I want to make it fun and provide a chance
for them to socialize and interact. It seems like an insurmountabe
hurdle at this point. Does anyone has suggestions or
recommendations? All comments are welcomed.
Nancy

"EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ABA BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK"
Presented by: Deborah Dukes, ABA Tutor
Date: Sunday, April 6, 2003
Time: Session A : 10am-1pm
Session B: 2pm-5pm
Location: 3595 East Imhoff (36th Ave)
Norman, OK
Please check out website for more info (click "workshops")
<A HREF="www.aokkids.bigstep.com"

Hello Listmates,
Verbal Behavior Consulting partners currently have availability to
accept new cases. We provide services in the Boston area.
If interested, please e-mail me privately for more information.

Hey guys! alright, I don't even know where to begin with this one! First thanks
to my husband for pulling it off as far as juggling his work schedule and
picking up the kids, feeding them, etc., he had to do this for 3 consecutive
days while I was in the City for this conference for two days, then in Plainveiw
for Lovaas on the third day, I love you, you're the best!
Alright, on Thurs and Fri. a collaborative conference hosted by the Alpine
Learning Group, NSSA, Eden 2, Connecticut Center for Child Development, and
Elija was held at the NY academy of Medicine. The mission of this first annual
conference was as follows:
"This conference is a collaborative effort to disseminate accurate, practical,
and useful information about the provision of effective education services for
individuals with autism. We believe that communication and collaboration,
across disciplines and service provision models, can have a far reaching impact
across a broad audience to benefit many individuals and families affected by
autism. The conference is designed to address a wide range of topics regarding
autism intervention across age and functioning levels and will be relevant to
parents and professionals alike. It is our hope that by sharing information and
resources and encouraging collaboration between agencies, diagnosticians,
service providers, educators, and families, more individuals with autism will
have an opportunity to maximize their full potential and be able to live lives
with dignity and purpose"
For me, this conference was very inspiring. There were 18 topics to choose from
on top of keynote and panel discussions during this 2 day conference and
realistically I could only pick six topics. It was hard to choose which speakers
to see as some topics were being presented simultaneously. I'm just gonna touch
on the presentations I saw that impacted me the most (I hope I get everyone's
names right and who said what, and don't leave anyone out, it was A LOT to take
in!!!)
The staff from Genesis (which is part of Eden 2) Ruth Donlin, Randy Horowitz,
and Mary McDonald along with Connie Russo from the Massapequa School District
and Cathy Rikhye from District 75 within the NYCDOE and Michele Kula-Korgood
Esq. as moderator, had a two part panel discussion of "innovative and
collaborative models of preparing and supporting students with autism in
inclusive settings"
The panel presented and discussed for 3 hours about laws for inclusion according
to IDEA, differing perspectives between parents and districts, transitioning
strategies and options for the student with autism to be in the Least
Restrictive Environment (LRE), placement selection, CSE agenda, assessments for
placement, advantages of inclusion programs for students as well as positives
for administration (specifically how Connie Russo's decision to have Genesis
basically run Massapequa School District's inclusion program for children with
Autism has cut District cost in half by not contracting out of district, less
time is spent on problems in classes since the staff from Genesis are the "right
people hired for the job" as opposed to having staff within district take a
crash course in Autism and ABA), Connie Russo spoke about some challenges of the
program and insight on unforseen problems. Ruth spoke about team
dynamics--getting the staff on board, striking a balance between partnerships
among many people- team members and partnership members--parents, child, special
ed and reg ed staff, related service providers--shared responsibilities,
collection of ideas, support among professionals, partnership challenges like
taking the time to plan and the importance of ensuring effective inclusion
programming by having team meetings, ongoing and initial staff training, the
development of a school and home correspondence system and schedule, the need
for a strategy on problem solving (like clarifying WHO is doing WHAT parts of
the plan and defining problem and desired outcomes)--THis was a fantastic panel,
vary informative, and a great model for other districts to consider (sorry guys,
Massapequa does not cross contract, you have to live there) I never knew Genesis
offered such services to families and districts (FYI I picked up a couple of
brochures about Eden 2 and Genesis Spring 2003 seminars www.eden2.org being held
the week of April 7th - April 11th, topics like introduction to ABA, Discrete
Trial instruction, Programming for students with Asperger's, promoting speech
and language skills, and understanding and managing challenging behaviors for
only $85 per topic! Trainings will be held at both Plainview and Staten Island
schools!)
The absolutely most insightful, intelligent, inspiring, informative speakers I
saw was the wonderful adult panel of four individuals (three are diagnosed with
Asperger's one with high functioning Autism) that so courageously and willingly
opened up to us all about their desire to promote general awareness about ASD
and the "need to educate the public about their capacity for feelings and
comminicating" the need for general public "to accept people's differences" the
need for "recognition and accomidations to make their uniqueness ok" the need to
"plan and execute ASAP a support system for the individual with Autism" the need
to let individuals on the spectrum know "they are special".
Perry Hoffman talked about some of his experiences and the pain and fear he felt
of intermingling, how he immersed himself in books for social avoidance, not
because he didn't want social interactions, but didn't know how. Perry was
specifically the one who stated the importance of needing to educate the public
on their capacity for feelings. (Perry, thank you for asking me if there was
anything you could do to help my son, you were a sweetheart, and great speaker,
I look forward to your memoirs!)
Katherine Eddy perfectly pointed out how labels can be positive for the
individual, then the label becomes other peoples choices. She eloquently
described how she simply does not at times want to talk, and how difficult eye
contact is for her as well as social interactions.
Micheal Carley was an amazing speaker, hypnotizing in his words. he talked about
"disability vs. difference" he's not a fan of poker but loves the line "don't
judge by the way the cards are dealt, but judge how they play them". He spoke
about how for him, he used laughter and taking roles like "rebel or class clown"
to bridge the social gap. He gave great advice to parents and teachers 1. find
what the child is good at 2. Import a work ethic. Accept people's differences.
The concept of trying and effort can be taught.
Karl Writing was the first on the panel to speak. that "general awareness can do
wonders" and about how thankful he was to have a mom that had taken a fantastic
record of his development including notes on awkward play skills he had as a
child to help identify his diagnosis of Asperger's at age 44. One of my
favorite things he said in reference to social skills was how "I wasn't aware I
wasn't aware that I should be aware of social differences" (Thanks Karl for
sitting with me during lunch on Friday, I really enjoyed my conversation with
you!)
Thank you all so much for overcoming some very personal challenges to educate
parents, professionals and the public and thank you Dr. Peter Gerhardt
(executive director of Nassau Suffolk Services for Autism) for moderating, it
was VERY enlightening!
I am looking forward to next years 2nd annual collaborative conference, in
closing I have to at the very least thank the presenters of the other breakout
sessions I attended, I really came home with a lot of great ideas and
information, although I think my head is going to burst!!! Suzanne Letso M.A.,
BCBA, James Mulick Ph.d, Ira Cohen Ph.D, Dr. James Partington Ph.D, BCBA,
Bridget Taylor, Psy.D., BCBA, Bobby Newman Ph.D BCBA, Joanne Gerenser M.A.,
CCC-slp, Amy Bergen, M.S., CCC-SLP, Frank Cicero, M.A., Bonnie Forman, M.S.,
CCC-SLP, and Janet Twyman Ph.D., BCBA.
THanks Kathleen Mannion for posting this conference on the NSASA list and
sending me the info!!
take care, Jennica

I'm trying to gather a list of schools implementing a VB approach
within a public or private school setting. Can anyone add to this
list:
Private:
STARS School in CA;
Little Star School in IN;
Mariposa School in NC;
R.A.C.E. School in IL;
The Horizon Program at The Capitol School of Austin in TX;
Jericho School in FL;
Public:
Any public schools implementing VB classrooms other than what's
being done in New Jersey?
Thank you, Kim Stewart.

Hi Rose,
I had a similar problem years ago with my daughter Cady. This was prior to our
getting involved with ABA and VB. I was very concerned that she couldn't answer
yes or no questions, because her father still to this day cannot answer yes or
no questions. Only slightly frustrating as a wife. :( Anyway we ended up
writing 'yes' on a 3 by 5 card and 'no' on another one. Anytime a situation
came up where we required a yes or no answer from her, we held up both cards and
she would choose the correct answer. For her all she needed was a visual prompt
to figure out which response was appropriate. Now granted she was hyperlexic,
so the written words worked best for her.
Now since I know a little more about prompting than I did then, I would say only
hold up the correct answer card, for errorless teaching. Then fade the cards
out.
Even with us letting her choose between the two we were able to fade the cards
completely out after a couple months. And now, years later, she can answer yes
and no questions until the cows come home. My husband on the other hand still
can not. Oh well, I'll take what I can get. :)
-Kim Mom to Cady 8(ASD), Hayley 6(ASD), and Corey 4 (AS)

Hello Everybody -
Dr. McGreevy will be in the Minneapolis area in May to hold a
conference on VB training. Registration is encouraged by April 15th.
Thanks,
Mary Jo

Here is a way to teach Yes/No.
Write the words YES and NO on pieces of paper. Place them on the table
apart from each other.
Have a bag of objects. Announce "lets find a cow" or any object.
Pull out an item and ask "Is this a cow? No" while hand over hand prompting
him to point to the word No and saying No - then you praise
Repeat this a few times with different items all the while looking for the cow
Then pull out a cow and ask "Is this a cow? Yes" while hand over hand
prompting him to point to the word Yes and say Yes - then praise
Keep the words YES and NO on the table, longer than you think you need to.
Fade the words to just blank pieces of paper, then to nothing.
You also need to fade the hand over hand prompting and the verbal prompting.
So we basically had 3 prompts (verbal - saying "no", physical- having him
touch the word, text- allowing him to see the word) all going at the same time.
At first I thought this was overkill and way too much prompting, but it
seemed to work.
I think this worked for us because:
1. He could visualize the word choices Yes and No because they were written
out.
2. Saying and pointing to the answer gave him the ability to process the
question longer and select the right answer.
(before he would answer yes/no faster by just saying either fast)
3. Maybe the motor movement of pointing to the answer helped too
4. It was errorless
After yes/no for concrete objects you can expand to some more yes/no
questions as listed here in no particular order.
Is this [attribute]?
Do you want this?
Are you a [gender]?
Are you [hungry, thirsty, tired]?
Do you like [food]?
Do you have [object]?
Do you want [object]?
Am I [verbing]?
Is he [verbing]?
Is he wearing [clothing]?
Then you will find tons of question formats in first grade material like
Can a, Does a, Will the, Should you, May a, etc... where the child needs to
recognize "Ah this is a yes/no question"
This is just what worked for our little boy, who learns most things through
text. The written word is the most successful prompting and teaching
technique we have ever discovered.
Diana Luckevich
diana@...

I just wanted to inform everyone that I have some availability for consultations
in Austin Texas and the surrounding areas. I have 22 years of experience
working with children with Autism and Apraxia. I've taken 4 of Carbone's
courses including the Advanced Consultant course and am in the process of
completing my CABA certification. I am available to do home program
consultations, Intro to VB sessions and/or speech/language evaluations and
program recommendations.
Please contact me privately if you'd like more information or to schedule a
visit.
Thanks!
Tracy Vail,MS,CCC/SLP
Speech/Language Pathologist

Hi list. We are in need of two therapists. One
professional team leader and one person willing to
learn. We have a VB program and have a workshop
comming up in early April from our local Behavioral
therapist so we need someone ASAP. Any help out there
would be appreciated. We are in Goose Creek, SC.
Please email me personally. THANKS!!!!!
Kim Pence
rottenwoman_29@...
=====
God Bless!!!
Kim

Looking for two reliable, enthusiastic, energetic, and patient
therapists. Training provided for VB program. Located in Morristown,
NJ. Please contact me privately.
Thanks!

I am new to AVB and am trying to start a home program for my son.
Right now, I live overseas, so I am just working from the manual,
beginning to teach mands, tacts, intraverbals.
We are having a difficult time with my son not being able to protest
in a conventional way. My therapist tells me its because we have not
taught him properly (at home) to use PECS or other means so he uses
what he thinks works, which means tantrums or disruptive behaviors.
Can anyone give me any good ideas about teaching "Yes" "No" "I
don't want" or "I don't like that"?

THIS SATURDAY!!!!
March 22, 2003
The UCLA Model ~ The LOVAAS Institue for Early Intervention
Presented by Ray Cepeda BA
Time:Pre Reg is 8:30AM Workshop is 9-5 (3-5 is Q&A)
Cost:$50.00 NON MEMBERS $40.00 MEMBERS $60.00 WALK IN
Location: Marriott Residence Inn, Plainview New York
9 Gerhard Road
Plainview, NY 11803
CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION
http://elija.org/Cepeda.html
This workshop will be for parents and professionals providing intensive
treatment to children with autism. The "functional" components of the UCLA
(Lovaas) Model of Applied Behavior Analysis will be presented. The topics will
include: discrete trials, when to fade "trials", prompting and fading, avoiding
prompt dependency, conducting reinforcer assessments, "conditioning" an item as
a reinforcer, generalization of previously acquired skills, reinforcement as the
"key" to effective teaching, common treatment mistakes made with early learners,
and data collection procedures.
Ray Cepeda is a Clinic Supervisor and Workshop Consultant for the North Jersey
site of the Lovaas Institute for Early Intervention. Over the past nine years he
has been providing direct service as well as supervising home and school-based
programs.
ALSO
EDUCATING AUTISM LIVE!!!!!!!!!!! LIVE RADIO SHOW!!!!
Live Radio WSNR 620 AM
Every other Sunday Starting
March 23, 2003 9 PM - 10PM
CALL IN # (212) 760-1050 x 320 , 321
The ELIJA Foundation together with Dr. Bobby Newman B.C.B.A will be hosting a
live broadcast radio show every other Sunday starting 3/32/03. Our lines will be
open for discussions and comments regarding a wide range of topics regarding
Autism, Applied Behavior Analysis and similar interventions for children on the
Autistic Spectrum. EDUCATING AUTISM LIVE will feature guest speakers who are
either professionals in the field of interventions serving children on the
Spectrum or other individuals who have made a significant contribution to this
population. Our guests will be able to interact with our radio audience by
answering questions or comments that our live callers may have. This is yet
another way for parents and professionals to connect and gain knowledge about
different applications and interventions for children with Autism. It is
particularly helpful for parents who do not have the ability to attend workshops
and want to be kept on the forefront of effective interventions.
We welcome you to tune in!
Advertising
Do you offer services that could benefit our listeners? Our audience will
consist of professionals, educators, parents & caregivers of children with
Autism and Related Disabilities. Our show will air in all 5 boroughs including
some parts of Eastern NJ, Southern Westchester, Nassau County and Western
Suffolk. Please log onto our website for coverage area map.

Hi I have my little boy in school in the mornings and he is not
really learning so we chalked it up to fun time, fine with me, he
seems to do well after school with his in home program and tutors,
however I would like to try my hand at getting him ready myself for
Kindergarten and not sure where to start is there a beginner website
for this or can someone suggest books or instructional aids, instead
of moving all over in search of a great school maybe just maybe I can
try it myself allthough I am not teacher?
Natalie

Hi:
I am trying to switch my 2 year old son from a Sippy Cup to a Straw cup. His
Therapists feel that the Sippy cup inhibits his ability to speak. He will pick
the cup up and place the straw against his mouth and then he does not know what
to do.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!
Nancy in Haddonfield, NJ

Workshop #5
Classroom Workshop
Teaching Verbal Behavior in a Classroom Setting
Conducted by:
Gina Zecchin, M.S.Ed., BCaBA & Kelle Wood, M.Ed., BCBA
This is a 3-day hands-on workshop for educators. The purpose of the workshop is
to prepare educators to establish a classroom environment consistent with ABA
principles that emphasizes the teaching of verbal behavior. The target audience
for the workshop includes special education classroom teachers, teaching
assistants, school administrators, psychologists, diagnosticians, speech
pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists and others. The
workshop attendance is limited to approximately 30 participants to insure
sufficient time for individual attention and feedback. Each participant will be
provided opportunities for guided practice in implementing the methods described
in Dr. Carbone's Introductory Verbal Behavior Workshop #1 in a classroom
setting. The participants will view videotape examples from actual classroom
environments. In addition, important information related to organization of the
classroom, group ABA instructional methods, scheduling of 1-1 intensive teaching
sessions, training of classroom assistants, ordering of required materials and
other school-related topics will be discussed. (Prior attendance at the
Introductory Workshop is encouraged for maximum benefit.)
Specific topics covered during the workshop include:
a.. How to use the ABLLS to write appropriate IEP goals
b.. Writing intensive teaching lesson plans
c.. Writing natural environment lesson plans including circle time and group
activities
d.. Classroom set up and organization of materials
e.. Classroom schedules
f.. Functional assessment of problem behavior
g.. Reducing everyday problem behaviors
h.. Data collection and writing measurable behavioral intervention plans
i.. Review of Skinner's Analysis of Verbal Behavior
j.. Criteria for choosing an appropriate response form (sign, vocal, pictures)
k.. Effective teaching procedures
l.. Practice teaching Early Learner Skills
m.. Practice teaching Intermediate Learner Skills
n.. Practice teaching Advanced Learner Skills
Please bring the ABLLS with you if you have a copy. Audio taping is
allowed-please refrain from video taping.
********************************************************************************\
**
Cost: $595 per person Location: Hilton Garden Inn, 800 Albany Shaker Rd, Albany,
NY
Date: June 9, 10, & 11, 2003 ph: 518-464-6666 (no room block---individual basis)
Time: Registration at 8:30am-presentation runs 9am to 5pm -- cont'l b'fast and
lunch included
Mail Registration form and payment to: Dr. Vincent J. Carbone, PO Box 350490,
Jacksonville, Fl 32225
Name:

Hi, my name is Audra Lampkins. I am a senior at Indiana University in
Bloomington, Indiana, graduating in May 2003 with a major in Speech Language
Pathology and a minor in Psychology. I have about 7 months experience with a 4
yr old boy using the traditional Lovaas approach first and then learning Verbal
Behavior. I have had experience at his school as well as in a home-based
program. I am part of a team and regularly attend our weekly team meetings. I am
looking to gain more experience as well as incorporate my training as a Speech
Language Pathology student into the programs. I am currently taking a year off
of school and then continuing my education to obtain a doctoral degree in
Clinical Audiology.
Additional Information: I am a mother of a 5 yr old and I have been married for
almost 6 yrs. I am very responsible, goal oriented, and dependable. I am also
very interested in Autism and different approaches to maximize learning with
children as well as adolescents and adults.
If there are any opprotunities out there for me to gain more experience I can be
reached privately at urluving_this@... or auajones@....
Resume and references available upon request.
Audra Lampkins
I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do
something; and, because I cant do everything, I will not refuse to do the
something I can do.Edward Everett Hale

Hello! I'm looking for a private school for my 6 year old daughter. We had
an intake at The Children's Institute in Verona. The school looked great
and we are waiting to hear if she has been accepted. Is any one familiar
with this school? I would love to hear some feedback on it!
Thanks!
Terri

Try increasing her motivation for giving the correct response. For example,
(here come the M&M's), if she likes a food such as M&M's that come in
multiple colors, allow her to choose one based on the color. Here is how I
would do it:
Receptive:
Have the field be M&M's. Start with a field of two.
SD: "Touch Red"
If she gets it, give her the red M&M.
Expressive:
Hold up one M&M
SD: "What color?"
If she gets it, give her the M&M.
This is obviously very simple, but it could just be a motivation problem.
Another thing to keep in mind if this doesn't work is that receptive and
expressive skills are very different. To be able to sort colors receptively
does not automatically mean that she can tact simply because she is capable
of saying or signing the word red. Expressive skills require her to look at
the item, process the information, and then produce a word. It is possible
that this is a difficult skill for her and she simply needs more development
of the skill. Good luck!
Christie Berthelsen

Hi! We live in northeast PA (bordering both NY & NJ) if anyone
knows of a great VBC around this area - please let me know. My
daughter is 28 months old and we're just beginning with therapies.
Thanks! You can email me at: psychmjr@...

I am working with a child who is having a great deal of trouble learning
colors. We have tried teaching it receptively and expressively and now have
backed up to having her sort colors. She seems to be getting the sorting but
not getting the name of the color. I tell her, "sort Red" she does it and I
say, "what color" and she consistently gets it wrong. Any help would be
appreciated.
She can expressively and receptively ID shapes and TONS of objects.
Melanie

Need to vist scolls in NJ for possible palcment.
Anyboyd know know what schools in NJ are using VB ABA? Any feedack on
effectivenes.
If you prefer, please reply confidentaill off the list at pcjr101

Does anyone know of a Virginia Feat or sometype of Autism parent
support group in Virginia somewhere?
Natalie

I'm pleased with the progress I am seeing with Kenzie lately. I still have a
6.5 y.o. son with a 2.5 y.o. brain but he's working so hard and doing much
better. It's enough that you say to yourself, "Ok, let's keep going...it's
really worth it." Kenzie has maybe 50 words. These are for the most part
single word requests or sometimes tagged with "I want". I am extremely grateful
that he can communicate his wants. That's huge. I do the extending of mands to
at least try to chain words together for a sentence. Sometimes he'll play along
with that game. I'm just wondering if at his ripe old age he'll ever develop
more than that. He constantly babbles and seems to have a very definite
language of his own. I know he enjoys his voice.
I'm always a little envious of people who either have big language questions or
big academic questions. Deeper in the the actual "context" of conversation. Or
the people that have a 3 or 4 year old with over 200 words but don't know what
to do with them. I know there are also people out there who have never heard
their child say one word. For them my heart breaks because the greatest thing
for me is to hear his voice. I can't believe I have tears in my eyes right now
because of that. He has the sweetest, gentlest sound. I just want to hear more.
I want to talk about his day with an actual exchange. Sometimes when my
daughters are having their hundredth fight for the day I jokingly say "Hey, not
being able to talk is not always a bad thing." It's not a bad thing but damn, I
want so desperately to talk together. You know he talks and I talk and it all
somehow makes sense. I have enjoyed him more lately than I ever have and a
personality is emerging. I thank the big guy every day for that. I have a
little person now and it's great. But please God can he and I just have a chat?
More thoughts and ramblings from Penny who would like to know if anyone else is
where I am and did your child emerge with great bursts of expressive
conversation at an older ripe old age.
Penny

Dear List mates:
We are in the process of moving to Maryland. One of the reasons for our move
is we have a 6 year old child with severe autism. I am looking for feedback
on the public schools in these counties and how you feel about their
educational programs for children with Autism. Most of my family lives in
the sounding MD/DC/VA area, but they are not familiar with Autism programs.
Please help me locate a good public school for my children. I also have a
high school aged child who is in an accelerated program.
Thanks,
Tammy

Hi, my friends. By now, I'm sure most of you have heard about the
tragic accident in which Neal Quigg and his two sons, Patrick and
Christopher, died in a fire in their home in New Jersey last Saturday. Their
mother, Anne, was hurt in the fire, but survived. Both boys were diagnosed
as having been on the spectrum, although apparently Patrick was considered to
be recovered. Thus some of you may have met or known the Quiggs through the
autism community.
I did not know the family personally, but I, like many of you, I'm
sure, was devastated to hear this news. In fact, it has affected me more
deeply than I can explain. I am not a mother yet, but as a wife, I cannot
imagine what the loss of a husband alone must mean, and Anne has lost not
only her husband but her children as well. I attended the wake last night
because I felt I had to be there and to do something, although clearly little
of strong impact can be done for Anne right now. Now, having met Anne,
having seen pictures of Neal and their boys, and having cried and grieved
along with the hundreds that attended the wake, I cannot describe the sadness
I feel for this woman and her family. Nor can I describe the incredible
strength and grace she showed last night, though I cannot imagine what she
must be feeling or thinking.
It's natural, I guess, to want to try to do something more for Anne.
None of us can touch her grief or lessen it, but I believe that we can be
there for her as a community. Whether by sending cards, food, clothes, money
-- anything -- I think that reaching out to her may mean more than we might
think as people who don't know her. To be honest, I'm frightened by what
might happen to her without as much love and support as we can give her. Not
just now, while the pain is still fresh, but later, too, when the crowds have
gone home and she may feel her loneliness most acutely.
All I can think to do is to offer my help. What I'd like to do is to
give a conference and donate all of the registration fees to Anne and her
family. Unfortunately, I don't have a big enough space in which to do it,
since the more attendees we have, the more money we'll raise. If any other
speakers want to participate or if anyone wants to help me organize this, to
help out by offering space, time, etc., please let me know. Otherwise, in
lieu of flowers Anne has requested that you send donations to Anne Quigg; in
the memo section write: "Patrick and Christopher Quigg Fund." She is also
in need of clothing (size 16 and large shirts). Mail to:
Cure Autism Now
700-76 Broadway
PMB 307
Westwood, NJ 07675
Finally, I wanted to share with you the poem inscribed on the Quigg
mass card; hopefully, it will remind us all to keep those we love close to
us.
Togetherness
Death is nothing at all--I have only slipped away into the next room.
Whatever we were to each other, that we still are. Call me by my old
familiar name, speak to me in the easy way which you always used. Laugh as
we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play, smile,
think of me, pray for me. Let my name be the household word it always was.
Let it be spoken without effort. Life means all that it ever meant. It is
the same as it ever was; there is absolutely unbroken continuity. Why should
I be out of your mind because I am out of your sight? I am but waiting for
you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner. All is
well. Nothing is past; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as
before--only better, infinitely happier and forever we will all be one
together with Christ.
Thanks,
Christina

It is through tears and with great sadness that I write this message. My dear
friend has lost her two beautiful sons and husband in a terrible house fire
yesterday. I am forwarding a note from my local support group in New Jersey.
I feel great support from you all and now in this time of suffering I felt the
need to share. We, although geographically widespread, are a strong unit of
which Anne is a valuable part. I hope that our good thoughts and prayers will
support her through this unbearable tragedy.
Also, Anne has lost all of her clothes and personal belongings in the fire. If
anyone would like to make clothing or item donations you can e-mail me
personally. I will try to work something out. Our local chapter of CAN is
collecting monetary donations on her behalf. Any funds they raise in the
chapter will be used for research in the name of the Quigg family to preserve
the memory of Patrick and Christopher.
Mary Ann Cannella

Therapists, trained in Verbal Behavior,are available in Emerald Isle,
NC.
Please call: Jennifer Smith 252-241-3192 and/or Lisa Aloia at 910-743-
0207

Someone posted recently looking for a VB consultant for their program in Long
Beach - I tried to contact them off-list but the e-mail address was not
recognised. If this was you, please contact me offlist as I may be able to
give you some information of use to you. Davidkay58@...

Hi,
I'm a third year Psychology student, seeking a VB therapist
position in Melbourne, Australia. I have 7 months of experience
working with children diagnosed with Autism and Asperger, in the home-
based ABA programs.
If anyone is interested, please e-mail me privately at
sarahchen@...
References and resume are available upon request.
Thank you
Sarah

First of all I want to thank everyone for their response on IQ and what it means
in terms of gains. I know it's an ambiguous yardstick in terms of cognition,
self help and general independence. Of course no one can accurately predict a
child's out come. I put Dr. Aguilar up against the wall with my request. He
based that on Kenzie's past EEG's, brain mappings and psych evals. We have
been five times to compare them or a total of 2.5 years. It has been my only
source to actually see for myself, repair. Each visit I see a split screen of
the previous visit with the current visit. There is always improvement. Right
now, that's good enough for me. For those that asked what FGF stands for it's
Fibroblast Growth Factor. It is a hormone that comes from a bovine source. The
cattle are specifically raised for this purpose with as I'm told, no concern for
mad cow's disease. This hormone repairs and rebuilds the damaged neurons in the
brain. Dr. Aguilar has been doing this for many years on brain damaged patients
and downs syndrome children. Autistic children are newer to the mix of
patients. I have a great deal of faith and confidence in this doctor but that's
another discussion altogether.
Now, my original ponderance....which came first behavioral or biomedical? Of
course behavioral came first with Dr. Lovaas. I'm starting this with a
disclaimer....I completely and totally believe in the science of ABA. I
appreciate the fact that currently it is the only scientific data to support
improvement and possibility recovery in autistic children. That being said I
think there is an exciting new option on the horizon. I am on many list and as
shown by my survey I wanted to mix things up a bit. There can be some pretty
passionate opinions about what is the best method of treatment. Why wouldn't we
be passionate...we're talking about our kids. I have tried from the beginning
of this journey to be open minded to most anything. In fact that often gets me
in trouble because I want to try everything NOW. Of course I research it first
but I want immediate gratification so everything goes at once. I know that is
not a sound way to judge the efficacy of a treatment...but hey, that's me. Miss
Impatient. You know when they say "God only grants you as much as you can
handle"....did he miss that part on how impatient I am? Anyhow, I, like most of
you have read a great deal these last 3 or 4 years and my strong interest keeps
leaning towards the biomedical. We know what good behavioral intervention can
do. But what are the possibilities of the biomedical aspect? The more I read
the more convinced I am that this is the road that should be taken, if not first
then in conjunction with behavioral. I know there will be many people from the
steadfast behavioral end that will say a few choice words to that
statement...but, it is just my belief. I'm wondering in the next five years
what we will see from the COMBINATION of the two spectrums of treatment. I
think it will be very exciting. It makes sense to me that if you make the kid
healthy, then the environment to learn will be improved greatly.
From my personal experience I started an intense ABA program with Kenzie just
before his third birthday. We did 35-40 hours per week for l.5 years and then
gradually decreased it 25, 20 to now he's lucky to get five hours per week. We
started the biomedical three years ago this June with beginning chelation
therapy, yeast treatments and eventually, FGF. We did the diet in the early
years for close to two years and began digestive enzymes after that. Although I
complain all the time I must say in the last six to eight months, Kenzie has
made more gains than ever. His learning acquisition rate has increased
dramatically. Would he have gotten to this point without all the biomedical
interventions...who knows? Is he simply going through a growth spurt and would
have gotten here anyhow...who knows? But reading about how messed up most of
these children are physiology, I have to believe that plays a huge roll in
improvement. Sure I feel guilty and bad about making him swallows tons of
supplements everyday, about that quarterly visit to get a blood draw and about
our visit to Mexico twice a year which is always stressful for us both, but....I
wouldn't change a thing. I feel like our connections are finally being made. I
know it's difficult to not be cynical to hearing about a 20 point increase in IQ
and how much merit should we put in IQ anyway, but you know what? It's hope.
It's something to shoot for. It can keep me going til the next crisis. Isn't
that how we all get through our days anyhow.
Thanks for letting me contemplate my question. Hope I didn't P--- off anyone.
Penny

Kim wrote:
"She does fine with Receptive ID (Touch the ____) as long as we sign the SD, and
motor im, and beginning intraverbals, but she won't tact. Any ideas? We have
the field of three pictures out, and we say and sign "What's this?" and point
to the picture. We also tried just holding up one picture and saying "What's
this?" Neither seem to work. Is it important procedure wise to do it one way
over the other?"
If she is able to mand for the items and respond with an intraverbal fill-in,
both can be used to transfer to the tact response.
ex:
Show her an item she can fluently mand for (ex: = juice) and ask:
What's this? R= juice (add in a couple motor imitation tasks) then ask "what do
you want?"= juice
(This response is still part "mand" because she is saying "juice" because she
wants it but you're getting the response under a different stim control) Later,
when she wants something else, ask "What's this?" and show her the juice then
allow her to mand for the item she wants.
To transfer from the intraverbal, let's say she has "bed" mastered as an
intraverbal fill-in:
Inst: We sleep in a ..R= bed
Inst: (shows picture of bed) What's this? R= bed
She is more likely to tact "bed" because she's just repeating the same behavior
under a new stim condition. Gradually separate the two trials by mixing in a
couple of "easy" responses.
I've found that many kids can tact in the NET but have more difficulty during
intensive teaching. First, in the NET, there may still be an element of "mand"
involvement because the child may want the item or at least find it paired with
reinforcement. Pictures, on the other hand, don't have this same pairing.
The other reason many have more difficulty is because they are not
discriminating the conditions of receptive and tact responses. They learned to
"touch" pictures and "label" objects in the NET but are not discriminating
between the verbal SD "Find/touch etc" requiring a receptive response and
"What's this?" requiring a tact response. Running transfers as described above
should help but I've sometimes found it necessary to make the two stimulus
conditions even more "different" for awhile. For example, I might hold the
pictures up for a tact response but lay them on the table for the receptive
trails until the child is able to discriminate the different conditions involved
in tact vs. receptive responding.
Hope this helps!
Tracy Vail

Hello Everyone!
I need some help with tact teaching procedures. My daughter does very well
with tacting in the natural environment, however she will not do it during
intensive teaching.
She does fine with Receptive ID (Touch the ____) as long as we sign the SD, and
motor im, and beginning intraverbals, but she won't tact. Any ideas? We have
the field of three pictures out, and we say and sign "What's this?" and point
to the picture. We also tried just holding up one picture and saying "What's
this?" Neither seem to work. Is it important procedure wise to do it one way
over the other?
Our VR schedule of reinforcement is 3 and we differentially reinforce tact
responses. We are using o sec prompt delay and a transfer trial fading the
prompt. But in NET she can do 10 tacts in a row without reinforcement or any
prompts. We know that she knows them, so it is just a matter of bringing her
responses under instructor control.
I'm hoping that there is just a procedural thing we can change that will get
better responses out of her, but I'm not seeing what that might be yet. How do
you guys do them?
Could it be that we need to have a wider variety of tacts to work on? We have
only introduced 15, and have hesitated to add more since she hasn't mastered
those. However we are bored with them, so maybe she is too. We have been
working on these targets for over two months with no progress. She has made
good progress with the other operants though.
We have a meeting to review the ABLLS and set goals for the rest of the school
year on Friday. I would love to have your insights to take to my meeting.
Thanks in advance!!
-Kim
Mom to Cady 8, Hayley 6, and Corey 4

Thanks to everyone for your interest, and I apologize for not responding
personally and in a more timely manner.

Hi everyone,
I am looking for activities for my son (6-year
old with autism) to do with a typical peer. He
is in an inclusion kindergarten class. The
regular teacher is very good about getting
everyone to accept my son. His classmates all
love him (though he does not respond actively to
their hugs and questions). He is very quiet and
very gentle. We are trying to increase his
responses at school. This is easier to do when
he is interacting with an adult, but not so easy
when he is interacting with peers. He has an
aide in the morning and an aide in the
afternoon, who function like shadows. They are
doing a good job prompting and reinforcing him.
But they don't really know how to
facilitate/increase his interaction with peers.
I asked the inclusion teach to design some
peer-play activities, and she is having a hard
time as well. We tried turn-taking during block
building, but it is hard to think of other
structured activities that he can do with a
peer.
We have been doing ABA/VB with my son at home
for about 3 years, and we are now working on
advanced manding and some intraverbal skills,
while trying to strengthening his more basic
skills. I know how to work with him one-on-one,
but I really don't know how to facilitate
peer-play. My son does not have a sibling. He
is just beginning to have friends after he
started kindergarten last fall. I have never
raised a typical child, and I don't even know
how a typical 6-year old play. Can someone help
me design some activities, or tell me where to
find the curriculum/materials? My son's class
has a "Learning Stations" time. Each station
would have about 3 kids around a table. He can
choose among: blocks, drawing, painting, some
sort of connecting toys, snack, etc. We are
targeting this time (as well as recess) to
increase peer-interaction. But I really have no
idea how one would facilitate interaction
during, say, drawing? Or, are there other
activities I can bring to school and ask the
teacher to make it a station? I would do
anything to help my son. I just don't know
how. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Julia

Therapists needed for model funded program in Five Towns Area [Long
Island, New York] Must be available for at least two, preferably
three mornings a week: 1 1/2 hours intensive teaching [1:1]; 1 1/2
hours facilitated play [2:1] [Greenspan-like model] [three hours each
morning 9am--12pm] All therapists will be contracted independently.
Please email offline for further information vze3sqpf@...

I am looking for some suggestions in how to teach the concept of
making a choice, "Do you want this OR this". Thanks
Terry

Thanks a lot everybody for your suggestions on my problems with IV.
Natalie

Thanks to everyone who sent me ideas for manding for actions. I really
appreciate the help!!
-Kim
Mom to Cady ASD, Hayley ASD, and Corey Asberger's

Cherish Richards and Holly Kibbe will be holding their three day workshop
'Teaching Verbal Behavior: Hands on Training for Tutors and Therapists' in
Brookhouse Mill, Denbigh, N.Wales, UK on 17th - 19th June 2003. The cost is
£395 and includes refreshments and lunch.
For more information on Workshop #4 see Dr. Carbone's website
www.drcarbone.net and to register e-mail Carole on
<A
HREF="mailto:carole.roxburgh@..."

I've added a couple of new lists to the survey. I wanted to get a nice mix of
behavioral, biomedical and sensory related lists. For the new lists, I am doing
an informal survey just to give parents an idea of what people are doing and
what has been successful for them. This is meant to be helpful and interesting
reading for all. You may post to me privately or on the list. I will not print
any names in the results. I will post the results to all the lists in a week.
SURVEY:
l. Current age of your child.
2. Child's diagnosis
3. Please list all the therapies/interventions you've ever done.
4. Rank the therapies in order of what you felt was the most effective.
5. How long have you done the therapy you believe to have worked the best for
you.
6. How old was your child when you began the most successful therapy.
7. If you do ABA or VB or some other form of behavioral intervention, how many
hours per week do you do it.
8. Do any of you still have SEX? Ok, just kidding. I slipped that in to see
if you were all paying attention.
Thanks for participating and bearing with me on this one. I look forward to
hearing from you all and sharing the responses.
Penny
Kenzie's mom

Dear listers,
My son is 4 years old and is doing a home program. He is doing ok with the odd
noncompliance here and there BUT his main reinforcementand only reinforcement
that he will work for is his stim toys. He has a few favourites like his rubber
snakeand pink plastic textured string which he holds and waves about and flicks
here and there but mostly just holds whilst doing some nonsensical babbling. We
have been advised to use this and interact with him except we get major tantrum
like screaming, headbanging etc He does not want us touching his stim toys.
BUT he is doing his drills PROVIDED he gets his stim toy bucket and he does it
pretty well except when he is offmood but usually a good 60% of himself is
there.I do not want to cold turkey his stims or all hell will breakloose but
then again sometimes I feel we expect so much from him in drill time that
perhaps we should give him some time to stim to help him to cope with our
demands on him and yet I am worried that this may prevent him from learning
appropriate play and enjoying appropriate play and the interaction that goes
with it . If he is stimming he gets very agitated if you get in his face and
prefers to stim alone.....should I give him a timed stim time??? or do the
interaction thing with him but then he gets quite self injurious when he is
disturbed ie headbanging, throwing himself to the floor and then session time
is gone as once he is set off he takes about an hour to calm own.......any
feedback and opinions would be much appreciated.
Shireen

hi
i heard there was a summer camp in the usa somewhere for asd kids and
their siblings. does anyone have any info about this?
thanks
chris mackintosh

I have a Talking Words CD that I paid $99 for and have barely used. I would
like to sell it for $50. Please email me privately if interested. Thank
you...Jane Maruca

Therapists needed for VBA programme, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Regards
Amanda Melville

Looking to hire one more therapist to complete our team. We have
twin boys (3 yrs old) who have a verbal behavior home program. We
live in Mt. Laurel, NJ (about 20 minutes from Philadelphia).
Starting salary is $15 per hour. Training provided. Please email me
for more information.

I wrote to this group this summer looking for similar advice. My
son, who turned 4 in October, is in an intensive ABA home program.
Last school year we let him attend the preschool disabled program 2
mornings per week just to get socialized. The other kids in the
class were very near typical. This year we sent him to school 3
days per week at a typical preschool with a shadow. We have seen
excellent results. I have been repeatedly amazed as he has learned
how to draw, write his name, trace letters, etc. As the last post
stated, he also picks up very quickly academically. Socially he is
coming along, too. And "mixing it up" has really turned around his
desire to work. In the summer (mostly Lovaas type ABA only) he
really got stuck in a rut. But every since school started, and we
split his ABA hours between Lovaas and VB, he is accellerating. His
ABLLS looks great, and we are happy in our hearts!!
Marcy

I am very new to the group, but my husband and I faced the exact same issue
just about two months ago. I had heard that when a child is doing a home
program that it isn't good to send them to school at the same time. We
worried and debated for many weeks before finally agreeing to meet with
school officials. Everything's worked out well so far.
Jared is three and a half now, and he's been in preschool for two
months. The school has two behavior consultants who used the ABLLS to
develop goals for him. Jared is receiving two hours of ABA at school, and
then he gets an hour of "circle time" with the other kids. He also gets
speech and OT at school, too. Then we do ABA at night. It amounts to
about 20-30 hours a week.
I stayed with Jared at school the first three weeks, just to make
sure he was comfortable. At first he did not want to participate with the
kids, so the teachers just let him watch. Then all the sudden, he started
doing everything. He's even been the teacher's assistant for the day!! He
sits in circle time, he sings their songs, he's learned the days of the
week, etc. He's learned patience while waiting for the other kids to get
in line, and he's learning to share. We've always felt his IQ was high,
but we knew he lacked social skills. He's actually learning the "academic"
things quicker than the other children. We always had a problem with meal
time with Jared, too, but school has helped with that as well. He's seen
the other kids using spoons and forks, so he's using them, too. He's also
trying new foods, which we never thought we'd see happen.
Even though we still have work to do, we're experiencing new miracle
with Jared every day. I'm sure a lot of the success that a child has in
school depends a lot on the school, the teachers, etc. But I would
encourage you not to close any doors without looking into all the options
that you have. Good luck!!!
Kristi
kristi.payne@...

We need a Verbal Behavior/ABA therapist to help our 4 yo sweet boy in our home
in Clarksville, MD. Please e-mail ambolossy@...
<mailto:ambolossy@...

Hi list! I am asking for the opinions of people that have older children.
My son is 34 months and could start preschool in April. My son TJ is in an
ABA-VB home program for the past 6 months and progressing well. My question
to you is should I send him to preschool? The school district has offered a
class size that has 6 ASD children a teacher, aide, st and ot. They said the
class would compliment my home program. They work with sign and pecs and are
very reinforcing toward the children about learning. I really would like him
in an social environment with other children. My son doesn't talk but does
babble when prompted. Tj doesn't notice his peers at all and I was wondering
if this would help. Two of the mom's there had sent their (asd)
non-talking child there and in a few short months they are starting to say
words. However, they aren't doing a home program like I am. My consultant
says he isn't ready for school and my lead therapist says the same thing.
But in my heart I keep on wondering if he would enjoy this along side his
home program. What if this would promote speech and peer interaction? On
the other hand I don't want to mess up all of the progress he is making. I
know many of you Moms and Dads have a wealth of experiences out there. I
would like to hear you opinion one way or another.
I just guess I want to do anything in my power to help my sweet baby boy out.
Thanks for your help again!
Dawn (TJ- 34months)
Scissors0@...

Hello, I have a child that needs physical activities to be motor planned before
he catches on to knowing how to do them. He does well with social stories too
in regard to the steps, etc.
Currently, he does not understand how to track someone without physically
following him. It is like he does not understand he can turn his head and track
without moving his whole body.
I was hoping to hear what others have done in this situation. We are putting
together a program to help this mom out.
Here is what I have done with my own child:
1. Tracking objects.
2. Tracking people. Giving a specific spot (an X, a pillow to sit on, etc.)
teaching to track with head without moving off the spot.
Gym seems to be the time this child is having trouble. As the gym teacher gives
direction he walks in front of the class. All the kids sit or stand and watch
him give demonstrations of what they will be doing. This little boy follows the
teacher around during this time. We want to teach him to be able to look and
listen to the directions.
Therefore, I was thinking to incorporate a gym like experience. Give 1/2 step
directions, then have the child demonstrate his understanding. Maybe
demonstrating obstacle courses, etc.
What other ideas can you (wonderful resources!!) give me that I may not have
thought of?
Thanks in advance. Rhonda

I am posting for a family that is looking to begin an intensive ABA home program
for their 8 year old son in the West U area of Houston. I believe they are
looking for people to help out in the school setting as well. They are
wonderful people and very dedicated to helping their son. Contact me for more
information if you are interested and able to help them out.
Kelly
klbivens@...

One of our therapists just moved to Seattle area. Families looking
for a therapist may contact Michelle Moyer at 206-783-0980, or email
her at michellemoyer@....
Jing Zhou, M.S., BCBA
Director/Consultant
Interventions Unlimited, Inc.
http;//www.interventionsunlimited.com
jing@...

Hi Pam!!!
I know what you mean about not having a conference anywhere near you. I watched
Carbone's website for over a year waiting for him to come anywhere within a few
states of me. I would recommend moving heaven and earth to go to his first
conference (can't go to the rest of them without having first gone to #1).
I got the Sundberg and Partington books including the ABLLS last May. I read
them thoroughly many times and was ready to go. I had everyone working with my
kids read them too. Then we got started. After four months, Hayley could use
two words consistently. They were two words that she could use occasionally
prior to implementing our "program". Now we were presenting much more than the
two words to her in our program but none of it sunk in. We were all working
very hard towards her success, and kept going over the book repeatedly to find
some clue as to what to do to make the program work.
It wasn't until September when Dr. Carbone finally came close enough for me to
attend his conference, that we found out how to really run our program. Within
10 minutes of me walking in the house after the conference, I had Hayley asking
me for a horsie game over and over again. She was giggling with glee as I
bawled with joy. My husband just watched in disbelief. This was our 6 year old
non verbal daughter who was now signing and using verbal approximations to ask
for a game that up until that moment never had a name.
Now we had always used sign with her before, but didn't have the tools to teach
it properly before the conference. By the time I attended conference #2 in
November, Hayley could request 50 things using signs paired with verbal
approximations. She has many more now and we have moved on to teach her how to
label, receptively identify objects and do simple fill in the blanks. It is
such hard work but now I have the confidence that she is learning and that I
have the proper tools to teach her.
Carbone teaches you what to do when your child doesn't give you a textbook
response. He also gives you procedures on how to get on track if you screwed up
the procedures and the kid starts having a fit. (All stuff that is not in the
book.) He also gives you procedural improvements since the publication of the
Sundberg Partington book.
When you go to the conferences, be sure to bring an audio tape recorder. Dr.
Carbone covers things so fast that you won't have time to write. If you do try
to take notes, you'll miss half the info. The first conference is about 24
hours (over three days) so you need lots of tape. This is sooooo worth while as
you will need to refer to it again and again as you move through your program.
Do what you can to get to the first one. The results you see after that will be
enough to motivate you to get to the rest of them. These conferences are too
critical to wait around for. I only wish I had seen their value earlier and
done what was necessary to travel to them sooner.
In the meantime, get the Sundberg and Partington book. Read it, learn it like
the back of your hand. Get the ABLLS and fill it out for your child. Get
started with what you can right now. Ask whatever questions you have here on
this list and people will help all they can. The earlier you start, the better
your outcome will be.
-Kim Williamson

Liz,
Hi! Every once in a while I feel compelled to stand up and shout
"Homeschooling is a WONDERFUL option for children with autism!!" Thanks for
reminding me to say it! LOL My son has always been thriving in his home
program and that didn't change just because he turned 6. When it was "time"
to go to school --- we just said No. My son is an advanced learner, too,
but not truly conversational. He still gets 20 hours a week of one-on-one
with a therapist working on VB stuff as well as reading, writing and math.
Between his brother, his cousin and friends he has lots of opportunities for
socialization. I know homeschooling isn't for everyone-- sometimes it's not
an option financially and it's just not a lifestyle that works for every
family or every parent's temperament. But for our family, and especially my
son, it's a wonderful way to live.
---Laura
Mom to Patrick, 6 1/2, ASD
and Brian, 3, NT
In a message dated 1/30/2003 9:19:06 AM Eastern Standard Time,

In Today's Schafer Autism Report:
Sally Rogers on Intensive Autism Treatment the Denver Way
Excerpted Interview with Rogers of the M.I.N.D. Institute.
[By Martin Brynskov and Henning Just, who wrote in to alert us to
their interview with Dr. Sally Rogers. "We talked to Sally Rogers for half
an hour, just before she gave a talk at the International Autism Conference
in Skive, Denmark, November 9, 2002. Sally Rogers is a Ph.D. in
developmental psychology and professor of psychiatry and behavior science at
the M.I.N.D. Institute at the UC Davis Medical Center
http://mindinstitute.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/ . Martin Brynskov is co-editor of
ABA-forum.dk and Davids father. Henning Just is a journalist and has a
daughter with autism.]
The psychologist Sally Rogers is one of the worlds leading
researchers when it comes to autism treatment. Since the beginning of the
1980s, she and her team have been developing a successful treatment program
for children with autism called The Denver Model. In some respects it
overlaps with the traditional Lovaas UCLA Model but in others it has some
significant new features. We met Sally Rogers for a talk about early and
intensive behavioral treatment of autism both as seen from a practical
everyday perspective and from a research point of view.
Could you tell us, just briefly, about your background, your interests
and your work at the M.I.N.D. Institute? Sure. Im a developmental
psychologist. I did my Ph.D. with specialization in mental retardation and
developmental disabilities, so I have always done this kind of work, and I
have always enjoyed this kind of work.
I have also always worked with young children, as well as adults, so I
have always had this mixed background of very young children and people who
were more mature. So even though I didnt start off with a specific focus on
autism, I had always had interest in autism, I had always worked with some
children and adults with autism, and with lots of adults and children with
mental retardation and other developmental delays.
So, then in 1981 I received a grant to start a preschool program for
children with autism, and thats when I got very specialized into autism.
So you both have a theoretical and a practical background.
Yes. Ive been developing and using our approach since 1981. Our
approach is called the Denver model, and weve been publishing on the
Denver model and teaching it and trying to refine the method ever since
then.
Publications We published four outcome papers in the 80s (Rogers et
al., 1986; Rogers et al., 1987; Rogers and Lewis, 1989; Rogers and DiLalla,
1991). They talked about the childrens progress in the group model. We
currently have two studies going on the rest of the model one on the 1:1
teaching routines and one on the integrated preschool model. We need to
finish those studies, analyze the data, and write them up.
Other Research In addition to the clinical work, the treatment work, I
have several funded studies. Weve been looking at different aspects of
autism, and Im particularly interested early developmental processes and
how autism takes on its form across the first five years. So weve been
studying a very large group of two-year-olds in Denver with autism, Fragile
X, Down syndrome, mental retardation and then one-year-olds with typical
development. Weve been following those children now for the past five
years. Were looking at a wide variety of measures.
The Denver Model Could you briefly describe the elements of the Denver
model? Its a developmental approach which has two dual foci, one on
intensive teaching and the other on developing the social-communicative
skills that are so affected by autism. We believe that development in early
autism is somewhat plastic, and that much of what seems to be the overall
handicap in autism is kind of secondary to an initial, probably less
pervasive impairment. The initial impaired process, the disruption of social
communicative development creates a secondary set of processes, like the
exaggerated interest in objects and repetitive patterns, and that if we
begin very early to focus on the social communicative processes, we can
prevent some of the cascading effects of autism.
So, intensive teaching and intensive focus on social communicative
development and skill building are the main emphases of our treatment
approach. We understand that social communicative development develops from
emotional relatedness, and so, side by side with intensive teaching is this
emphasis on affective connection, relationship building and understanding
communication as involving an emotional exchange between people.
So these things are done side by side in the Denver model. They
alternate back and forth, literally.
Setting
How is this the Denver model carried out in practice? In what
settings? It can be done in many ways. We no longer have our center-based
program, because wed started to use more inclusive settings, and I found
that just so much more viable. Its such a richer environment for the
children that we eventually moved away from our center based teaching. So,
all of the children in the Denver model preschool program are in
interventions in typical preschools. Generally its a combination of typical
preschool group half a day, intensive teaching half a day.
Is it one-on-one or group based? Intensive teaching at home is
one-on-one. In the inclusive classroom the child is a part of group
activities, but his or her teaching is being carried out directly by an
adult inside the group activity. But the support of the child is embedded in
the group. The kids are learning, theyre being taught all the time, but
they are inside the group. The teaching is coming from the main teacher or
adult who is leading the activity. Theyre not separate. They dont have a
shadow that they are aware of there is somebody shadowing them. They are
in a normal preschool with age-typical peers.
So it is one child with autism? Hopefully. Thats the right way to do
it.
Is it common to have an inclusive setting in the USA? It depends on
what part of the country youre in. In the western part inclusive education
is very common. Along the eastern sea border its not so common. Theres a
history of special schools along the east coast.
Family in Focus
So thats kind of the underpinnings of the Denver model: the dual
approach, very family based. Families choose the objectives, they decide
whats important. We follow the familys lead. The familys part of the
team, every meeting. So its very family-focused. And its very
individualized. But we do have a curriculum. Theres a very specific
teaching approach, we have a treatment fidelity measure so we can measure
the quality of it.
Lovaas
What is your opinion about Ole Ivar Lovaas study and the replication
sites?
+ Interview with references continues:
http://www.abaforum.dk/artikler/2003/sally_rogers.php
Subscribe to the Schafer Autism Report for leading edge news of autism no
cost
http://www.freewebz.com/schafer/SARHome.htm

Anyone have ideas? My daughter gets absurdities, but I'm wondering how I would
teach her about jokes, humor, etc. How does one address that? FWIW, she's six,
w/basically age-appropriate language, somewhat conversational.
Emily

Where to Find Important Autism Stuff
The Autism Calendar is the most complete, widely read listing of
autism meetings, workshops and conferences, both local and (inter)national.
. . Easy to scan, read, completely non-commercial. It's free and you don't
need to log-in:
(You can promote your event for free, too by listing it!)
http://www.freewebz.com/schafer/1Cal3fin.htm
BETTER YET, SUBSCRIBE
To The Schafer Autism Report
The Autism Calendar is a regular monthly feature of the Schafer
Autism Report. This is a daily online news clipping service for the entire
autism community. We collect the very latest news and research about autism
every day for you in one emailed edition. All reports are from credible
sources. If there are any controversies, we present all views.
This is a completely non-commercial, non-partisan, all-volunteer,
parent-run project. (It is also one of the first daily news publications of
any kind on the internet, publishing since 1997.)
Here's the Schafer Autism Report's news list from our last
Friday edition to give you and idea of the range of material we cover.
EDUCATION
Fighting for Education: Parents Of Kids With Autism Face Daily
Challenge
EVENTS
Genetic Research and Vaccine Safety: NAAR on NPR Friday Noon PST
WAFF WALK 2003 in Colorado
RESEARCH
Child Neurology in the 20th Century
PUBLIC HEALTH
Vaccines Seen a $10 Billion Market by '06
Parents Weigh Choice Of Risks
CARE
Poor, Elderly Face Aid Crisis, Kentucky Legislators Told
Autism Program Possible With NJ State Grant
LETTERS
More On Facilitated Communication
Some Aren't That Lucky
Do the Math: We Can't Afford Autism
SUBSCRIBE: http://www.freewebz.com/schafer/SARHome.htm
No Cost - Tell a Friend - Forward this Page Now!

Hi all. I have not been able to read my lists lately so don't know if this has
been discussed much. I bought the "Speech Teach" Software that was advertised
around Christmastime. I just sent an e-mail to the comany with my "review" of
their product. Thought you all might be interested. My son is 8 years old,
ASD and severly apraxic. He has been in an ABA to VB program for 5 years. If
you are interested in the software, go to their website at www.7GT.com. I have
no financial interest in this company. Here's my feedback to them:
Hi there-
Now that we've had time to use the software, I'd like to share some feedback
with you:
1. My son LOVES the program. He asks for it spontaneously all the time! You
have really got the reinforcement part down (except I think you could lose the
strange noises sometimes; it makes the intertrial interval too long....Sundberg
should tell you that, too.)
2. You need to make some corrections for plurals. Sometimes a word will be
introduced in the singular and then you will show a picture of several items
and my son will say it properly as a plural. The software comes back and
repeats it as a singular. I'm sure that you will be correcting that. It's
very confusing to the child.
3. As I mentioned to someone, this is of course, a very elementary version.
My son knows 90% of the labels already. However, he has severe articulation
issues (apraxia) so this HAS helped us shape his responses to more
understandable ones.
4. My suggestions for the next CDs are:
A. "Wh-Question Discrimination" (Have child answer questions beginning with
who, what, where, when etc in response to pictures shown.) and
B. "2 word labels" (adjective/noun)
Practice with both of the above would be SO increadibly helpful for my son.
Please let me know when you will have these out. I'll be first in line to buy
them!
Thanks,
Mary

A reminder about the verbal behavior workshops in Baltimore on
January 31st and February 1st. Dr. Partington will present Teaching
Language to Children with Autism or Other Developmental Disabilities
on day one and The ABLLS on day two. For more information visit
www.behavioranalysts.com.

I am usually a lurker on all of these list serves, but
this time I have a question regarding summer programs
and inclusion opportunities. Does anyone have any
suggestions or know about any inclusion programs for
extended school year? My school system has a fairly
good extended school year program, but there are no
inclusionary opportunities as there are during the
school year. The school system also seems not to have
any ideas how to provide such opportunities. Any help
would be appreciated. You can e-mail me privately if
you would like. Thank you.

Hi all,
Just a quick reminder that we still have space
available in our Workshop #1 being held in Bermuda on
February 11-13, 2003. The cost is $90 and includes
lunch and breaks every day. There is a seat sale on
right now from the east coast to Bermuda, so take
advantage of it and come spend some time in the sun!
You can contact me at basebda@...,
bdagirl2@..., or trishcrow@... for any
further information.
Trish

great stuff!!! pass it on www.artsforautism.org

List,
Dummy me missed the segment on autism on last night's 60 Min. II.
From reading posts in other lists, I'm hearing alot of comments like
"How does this differ from what we're doing now?", and similar
comments. Acording to CBS website the "method" this woman uses is
called the "Rapid Prompting Method". How does this differ from
either "traditional" dtt, or the mixed, quick pace that Dr. Carbon
and others decribe? Or does it?
Again, from what I m reading (and the trnscript), the show discussed
how the boy's mother taught him 1:1 throughout the day, but I'm not
seeing any description of this Rapid Prompting Method.
Thanks,
Eileen L., Florida

Hi Everyone,
Apparently I neglected to mention in my previous post WHERE the VB handouts
were.
If you go to our website www.MariposaSchool.org and click on "Special Programs"
you will find them there. They are in WORD, or Adobe Acrobat format.
Sorry about that!
Cindy (Cary, NC)
persistentC@...
President, The Mariposa School for Children with Autism
www.MariposaSchool.org
919-461-0600

Hi All,
I just wanted to mention that last fall, Tracy Vail and Denise Freeman did a
series of training sessions on Wednesday nights on the principles of Verbal
Behavior.
We have now posted all of the handouts from these sessions on our website. There
is a lot of good, practical information available. We have compiled these
handouts into one large file, or you can download any of the 30 individual
handouts. (The large file is about 140 pages long.)
Cindy Peters (Cary, NC)
persistentC@...
President, The Mariposa School for Children with Autism
www.MariposaSchool.org
919-461-0600

Date: Wednesday,January 29th 2003
The CSE & Your Child's Rights
Effective Instructional Strategies & Tactics to Incorporate into Your Child's
IEP and Classroom
Presented by Dr Thomas M. Kelly,Ph.D
Time: 8:30 AM pre registration 9 - 5 workshop
Cost:$10.00 Non Members * $6.00 Members(includes Coffee & Bagels ~ Lunch on your
own) Walk In $15.00
Location:Marriott Residence Inn, Plainview New York
9 Gerhard Road
Plainview, NY 11803
Phone to Residence Inn: 1 516-433-6200
http://elija.org/Kelly.html
This workshop is geared twords parents and educational custodians of children
receiveing special services from their districts. This workshop will prepare you
and educate you on your child's rights in the formation of your IEP process.
School teachers, administrators and superintendents are encouraged to attend as
well.
Topics include and are not limited to:
Essential Skills for Student and Adult Success
Competent Learner Repitiores
Measurably Superior Istruction & the importance of close continual contact with
relevant Outcome data
Characteristics of EFFECTIVE schools
Systems for Increased Learning
Ethincal Use of ABA and the Key Components
Skills that EVERY teacher should have and be able to demonstrate
Applying Learner Principles (strategies & tactics thatwork for all students)
Question and Answer period on the IEP process and your child's rights
CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION FORM ~ DUE January 10th 2003
http://elija.org/Kelly.html
Thomas M.Kelly is The Superintendent of Schools for Valhalla UFSD
Adjunct Associate Professor of Education & Pshycology Department of Health &
Behavior Studies at Coulumbia University, Teachers College.
He has been in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis for the past 17 years.

Hi!
We are a family in the Sudbury/Concord area with a 4 year old boy with
PDD. We are following a Verbal Behavior model and have a 30 hour a
week program. We are looking to expand the program to 40+ hours. We
are looking for a therapist to work apprx. 10-14 hours a week.
Possible opportunity to aid the child at school. Experience with a
verbal behavior model not necessary. Support and training will be
provided. Interested parties should email me directly at:
KarShepp@

I'm looking for an ABA/ABV tutor to work with my 8 year old son. I'm interested
in social skills- We live in Oceanside, CA. If interested, please e-mail me
privately.

Sorry, I misstated NYS law. Here it is:
(3) The class size for such students shall be determined in accordance with
section 200.6 (f) and (g) of
this Part, provided that the class size of special classrooms composed
entirely of students with autism
shall be in accordance with section 200.6 (g)(4)(ii)(a) of this Part.
You can access teh whole thing here:
http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/specialed/publications/lawsandregs/part200.htm#200.13
My apologies,
Emily

Hi everyone,
I am new to this list. My autistic son just had his fourth
birthday. We are preparing to start a home ABA program. We have
chosen our consultant and advertised for therapists. Many people
have responded to our ads. What should we do now?
Should I pay for attendance at the initial workshop? I really don't
think so because all the potential therapists are very interested in
learning this method anyway. I live in a rural area and I am
acquainted with almost all of the potential therapists. I am
planning to invite everyone who has expressed an interest to attend
the initial workshop, then see how many are still interested after
learning what they will actually be doing. How do I determine
appropriate pay? Should I create and sign a contract with the
therapists that we hire?
Thanks for all advice and comments.
Benita Davis

In