Melmark Expert Speaker Series - Trevor Stokes - No CEUs

Adventures in Generalization, Dissemination and Telehealth across Hallways, Cities, Counties, Countries and Continents

Applied Behavior Analysis has long been interested in meaningful outcomes of treatments that spread across circumstances and time, i.e., generalization. Some treatments can be successfully concluded directly within the clinic, school or home where services are provided. Nevertheless, some changes need to occur across relevant different environments that are not so conveniently available. There are three approaches to ensuring generalization. First, a consultant can plan intervention procedures strategically to maximize generalization of the effects of treatment. Second, a consultant can go to distant places to work directly with children and families. Third, in order to provide services to difficult-to-access remote and underserved areas, or when personal contact during pandemic precludes personal contact, a consultant can incorporate telecommunication technologies into services, i.e., telehealth. Examples of telehealth described will include casework across rooms in a clinic, across the city to a school, across the county to a home, across the state and country for parenting and family support, and across continents to homes and schools in Tbilisi, Georgia, in Eastern Europe. Case examples will include enhancing effects across settings of classrooms, homes, hospitals and community clinics where services have been provided to families and children with autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, traumatic brain injury, anxiety disorder and oppositional defiant disorder.