Behavior Analysis & Autism - by Paul Coyne PhD

YouTube - Teaching Spelling Skills using Sound Stretching

via www.youtube.com

Language for Learning - Lesson 44, Exercise 4

via www.youtube.com

Direct Instruction Example

via www.youtube.com

This clip shows a teacher using signals to obtain unison responding.

News Report about Reading in Schools - Part 2

via www.youtube.com

News Report about Reading in Schools - Part 1

via www.youtube.com

What to Do if You Suspect a Learning Disability: A Critique

Paul Coyne PhD

The New York Times published an article, “What to Do if You Suspect Learning Disability by Lesley Alderman on February 19 2010.  The article provided advice about what to do if a parent suspects his or her child has a learning disability.  She describes how a parent might obtain services for their child with special needs through the local school district.  Ms. Alderman provided some good advice and some incorrect advice.  Since the issues raised are common among parents who have children with autism, I thought I’d comment on her article here. 

Ms. Alderman writes:

    “The first sign may be that your bright child is having trouble reading or organizing school assignments, or concentrating on homework.  Your child may be frustrated with school, and you may find yourself frustrated with what looks like a lack of effort.  And a teacher may also notice that something is amiss.” 

The description suggests that the child does not have the prerequisite skills to complete the academic assignments.  His or her language skills, reading skills or arithmetic skills may be below grade level.  The teaching techniques, the curriculum, the motivational system used, or a combination of all three were not effective teaching the child the skills s/he needs to be successful. 

Ms. Alderman suggests ‘your best recourse is to have the child tested’.  I agree.  An essential key to learning is to assess the child’s skills and place the child in the appropriate place in the curriculum.  However, be careful of labels. If a child is in fourth grade, but his reading level is at the second grade level, labeling the child, that is, identifying the child as having a learning disability does not explain why the child is two grade levels behind. A diagnostic label is not an explanation. As mentioned above, it could be the teaching techniques, the curriculum, some aspect of the environment that is responsible for his rate of learning, not necessarily a neurological problem. 

Nevertheless, an educational assessment and/or a behavioral assessment of your child’s performance at school is recommended.  Ms. Alderman points out that you may request a free assessment from your local school district. The results of the assessment will be discussed at an Individual Educational Program (IEP) meeting. The district will discuss if your child is eligible for special education services.  If your child was determined to be eligible previously, the IEP team will suggest relevant goals and objectives and discuss services your child may require to make progress towards the goals and objectives.   If you are dissatisfied with that assessment you may ask for a second opinion.  The district may offer another professional to provide the second opinion.  However, you may have an independent professional do an assessment.  

Once the independent assessment is completed request a new IEP by writing to the Director of Special Education.  You do not have to wait for your child’s annual review.  You can request an IEP anytime.  Ask the independent examiner (e.g., Behavior Analyst, Psychologist, Speech & Language Pathologist) to come to the IEP meeting to discuss his or her results and to suggest goals and objectives for the IEP.  The assessor may also recommend an intervention program.  S/he may recommend specific changes in the curriculum, or may recommend using particular reinforcers to improve motivation or recommend remedial instruction from a specially trained teacher.   

If goals and objectives to the IEP are added as a result of the independent assessment you can submit the cost of the assessment to the school district for reimbursement. If the school district denies your request, appeal the decision.  If the school district does not agree to the goals and objectives or to the services recommended by the independent examiner, do not request a hearing with the board of education as Ms. Alderman suggests. Instead, file for due process by writing to the Director of Special Education. Try to resolve your disagreement by scheduling a mediation conference.  You may not obtain all the services requested.  However, you may be able to work out an acceptable compromise. If not you can take your case to a fair hearing (sometimes called a due process hearing) where your case will be heard by a judge.  Whether you participate in a mediation conference or in a due process hearing it is wise to bring an attorney or someone knowledgeable about the special education code to represent you. 

False Profits of Autism / Cure Du Jour

FEBRUARY 2, 2010, 12:38 PM

The False Prophets of Autism

By LISA BELKIN

When Dr. Andrew Wakefield — the British doctor who linked vaccines to autism — was found to be “dishonest,” “irresponsible” and acting “contrary to the clinical interests” of a child by a medical-misconduct panel last week, and when the respected medical journal The Lancet officially retracted its publication of Wakefield’s 1998 study earlier today, those were but the most recent controversial moments in the medical mystery that is autism.

For more than a decade, parents who believed Wakefield’s claims have accused doubters of playing roulette with the health of their children. But those who questioned his views have charged that his results are not replicable, that he has financial conflicts of interest and that he is spreading fear for his own gain.

Liane Carter has read all the news reports out of Britain with their mix of predictions that this is the end of Wakefield’s career as a researcher (he now runs an autism clinic in Austin). But some parents promise to follow him anywhere. To Carter, it all sounds numbingly familiar. In a guest blog today, she describes her frustration with those who prey on the desperation of parents with unfounded promises of an answer. Time spent on false hope, she writes, is time wasted on finding an actual cure.

CURE DU JOUR
By LIANE KUPFERBERG CARTER

Two years ago, Jenny McCarthy, the actress turned activist, said she found the cure for her son’s autism. Since then, I’ve watched McCarthy and her autism advocacy group, Generation Rescue, lead an ideological, unscientific crusade against childhood vaccines.

Oprah has signed a deal to sponsor McCarthy in her very own talk show. I’ve listened to McCarthy’s announcements that her son Evan “is no longer in the world of autism.” He is, she says, “recovered.” It makes me cringe.

I don’t know what “recovered” looks like. I’ve heard people throw this term around, but I’ve yet to meet a child who is “cured” of autism. You could say that any child receiving therapy is “in recovery.” I’ve seen many kids who have made good progress in a therapeutic setting, my own 17-year-old son included. But most of these children still are and will always be autistic.

I’ve watched in anger as McCarthy plugs her books to Diane Sawyer, Larry King and People magazine, telling the world that the gluten/casein-free diet or biomedical treatments for yeast and metal toxicity have fixed her child. She draws the analogy that alternative biomedical treatments for autism are like chemotherapy for cancer: some patients benefit, many don’t.

True enough. But there are far more of us in the “don’t” category. Behavioral therapy still remains the gold standard in treating autism. When our son was not yet 2, we immersed him in all the mainstream treatments: applied behavioral analysis, speech therapy, occupational and physical therapy.

But for good measure, we also dipped our toes in the biomedical pool. Our only rule: whatever we tried must be safe, pain-free and noninvasive. We tried the gluten/casein-free diet and probiotics and spent our savings on cranial sacral therapy, auditory integration therapy, homeopathy and food-sensitivity testing.

Those were the years that the Autism Research Institute first launched DAN (Defeat Autism Now), a protocol of biomedical interventions, so we consulted the local DAN doctor too. He charged thousands of dollars, most of it not covered by insurance, yet his waiting room was packed. Over the course of a year, he offered one cure du jour after another, quick to take advantage of our desperation. Finally, he insisted our 4-year-old had stealth birus. He urged us to give him a cytotoxic drug called ganciclovir then being used for AIDS patients and other severely immuno-compromised people.

“How many children have you treated with this?” I asked.

“I’m treating one patient right now,” he said.

That’s when we fled. In the years since, we’ve watched so-called miracle cures come and go: secretin, a pancreatic enzyme; intravenous gamma globulin; the “metabolic enhancer” DMG; hyperbaric chamber therapy; mercury chelation; stem cells from China; the Lupron protocol, a form of chemical castration. All junk science.

There’s nothing wrong with reasonable hope. Parents need to cling to something. I still fervently believe that early intervention is critical. With therapy, 40 to 50 percent of the children who are diagnosed at age 3 gain enough skills to be mainstreamed by 6, though many continue to need special educational and social supports. A small but provocative study released at IMFAR (International Meeting for Autism Research) suggests that 10 percent of children with autism improve sufficiently by age 9 so that they no longer meet diagnostic criteria for the disorder. Significantly, most of these formerly autistic kids got intensive, long-term behavioral treatment soon after diagnosis.

It’s distressing and hurtful to hear McCarthy say her son is cured because she “was willing to do what it took.” McCarthy, who describes herself as one of a tribe of “warrior moms,” seems to imply that if our kids are unrecovered, it’s because we didn’t do the diet right, weren’t willing to let doctors inject our children with unproven drugs or somehow just didn’t love our children enough.

I’ve heard McCarthy say on national TV, “Evan is my science.” I’m sorry, one little boy is not “science.” Warm and fuzzy anecdotes don’t do it for me. Give me hard science any day, with its double blind studies and rigorous peer review.

I don’t doubt that McCarthy loves her son. But the vast majority of our kids are not going to be cured. It’s time for the media to stop giving airtime to celebrities with no medical credentials who peddle unrealistic hopes to families dealing with a devastating diagnosis.

Letter From A Parent

Dear Dr. Coyne,

This letter is long overdue, but I kept waiting for the ever-elusive “good time” to really sit down and express our feelings of thanks.  With two children and one with special needs, this time has finally presented itself, a little over a year after receiving services with Coyne and Associates.

Our first child, Clark, was born 3 months premature in 2005 for no apparent medical reason.  We anxiously watched as he grew from two pounds to five pounds and was released from the hospital to our care.  We were followed closely by Regional Center and UCI’s developmental clinic and it was there at his 18 month check up, the team presented their concerns about Clark.  Physically he grew quickly and without complication, but they suspected his behaviors indicated autism.  He was officially diagnosed a week later at ForOCKids and we began searching for speech, occupational, and behavioral therapists through Regional Center.  Needless to say, we were distraught, nervous, and overwhelmed parents with almost too much information and emotion.  Our speech therapist, Robin van Buren, recommended your services and Clark began his therapy with Coyne and Associates a few months later. 

Clark was nearly two at the time, and by now had many of the “classic” expressions of autism: still very few words, almost no eye contact or imitation skills, very few smiles or ways to communicate love, high physical energy, sensory issues, preoccupation with wheels and lights, fine motor coordination difficulties…though also a sweet personality that seemed to enjoy learning within a limited scope.   Over the course of a year of 22 hrs/week with Coyne, our little boy literally changed before our eyes and our worlds, quite concretely, changed forever for the better.  I remember being amazed as Stephanie  and Monica built rapport, pinpointed his motivations, and took him through the eye contact program quickly.   Suddenly, my son learned how to “look” and engage, and then moved quickly through imitation skills and many other programs.  We were so blessed and fortunate to later have Georgina as another regular ECI and to have Sally and Nicola as our supervisors.  Truly, it was a “dream team” for Clark and us; he was having newfound fun and learning every day.  But for a few difficult sessions at the very beginning due to separation anxiety, I can honestly report Clark enjoyed his sessions every single day, and it soon became visible.  The ECIs were hardworking, energetic, professional, and invested in Clark and his success.  I learned a lot listening to each session and, to this day, continue to use their phraseology and apply their techniques and assessment tips to help at home.  These therapists never hesitated to answer my questions, provide suggestions for in-home application, and encouraged us as parents and participants in his program. I took advantage of our monthly parent-supervisor meetings and always left feeling more informed and involved in Clark’s program development, but more importantly I felt confident of his capabilities and the significance of his progress.

Clark is now what I would consider a “classic” example of how an intense early intervention plan can literally turn around a child’s course of development.  He stopped receiving all RCOC services at age 3, and immediately transitioned to a daily special education class at ****, and a typical preschool with no personal aide, three days a week.  After one more year with this schedule, Clark’s IEP team anticipates he will be fully integrated in a typical kindergarten, with supplemental speech and OT pull-out time. He is charming, well-behaved, fun, and definitely still high energy!  He has several good friends, and can express his thoughts and emotions with relative ease; he loves animals, jets, blocks, books, sports, the computer, and the variety goes on... Many of our new friends have no idea he is impacted and are even skeptical when I report how far he has come.  As Clark’s parents we understand the effects of his prematurity and autism will never be “cured” and new challenges are around every corner.  Notwithstanding this reality, we are proud to have conquered so many difficulties with the help of your professionals and are proud of his current abilities.

Despite our experience with our own families, college and post-graduate degrees, and lots of parenting classes and articles, we were completely unprepared and uneducated for how to best care for Clark.  I am a stay-at-home mom and tried to do what I thought was best for 18 months of his life—I read and sang and played and talked with him, and did all the things that made our friends’ children giggle and play, yet these same attempts elicited almost nothing from him.   It seemed like we lived in the same physical household, but in different worlds.  The nearly immediate and significant results from Coyne’s ECIs convinced me that Clark could learn to play and communicate; he just had to be taught in a completely different and sequential way.  These methodical table-top and natural environment techniques worked and these therapists knew them, and they enjoyed their job and my child.  I trusted these professionals with my son every day, and they respected and honored that trust with their tireless efforts and caring patience.  They nurtured our entire family, and we emphatically believe the progress he made in that year, along with supplemental speech and OT, prepared him to enter his preschool years with readiness and enthusiasm.  We feel so blessed to feel like we are finally living in the same world with our son, and though we still sometimes feel overwhelmed at the constant vigilance it takes to be parents, we also feel empowered to know our family can work and grow together with the basic skills in place.

So thank you, thank you, thank you, for everything, and again, please forgive us for being so late in this letter.  To us, it feels like just yesterday that we had you in our lives—we miss our ECIs and certainly will be grateful for them and your program every time we reflect on those early days 

***** and  *****

Parents of Clark

Letter From A Parent

 

BF Skinner Foundation - Pigeon & Red Block

via www.youtube.com

BF Skinner Foundation - Pigeon Turn

via www.youtube.com

The National Autism Center's Standards Report: What types of treatments are effective, promising and ineffective?

Download NACReport 2009

A large panel of experts from diverse fields of study and theoretical backgrounds collaboratively determined the strategies used to evaluate the literature on the treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders.  Treatments are discussed as follows: those that the research indicates are effective, those that the research indicates may be effective and those that indicate the treatment is not effective.  Each treatment is defined in the document.  May I suggest you download the document for complete information. 

The NAC identified 11 treatments as effective where well controlled studies demonstrated that the intervention produced beneficial effects:

The following interventions are Established Treatments:

Differential reinforcement strategies

Techniques that involve the manipulation of the antecedents of behavior

Functional Communication Training

Comprehensive Behavioral Treatment for Young Children

Joint Attention Intervention

Modeling

Discrete Trial Teaching

Naturalistic Teaching Strategies

Peer Training Package

Pivotal Response Teaching

Independent Activity Schedules (and other visual schedules)

Self-management (teaching a person to record and consequate his own behavior)

Story-based Intervention Packages

Generalization Training

Shaping

Non Contingent escape

Overcorrection

Teaching verbal operants such as: echoics, mands, tacts, intraverbals and so on. 

Behavioral toilet training

Contingency Contracting

Token Economies

The NAC identified 22 treatments as emerging, that is there were one or more studies that suggest the intervention may produce favorable outcomes, but additional research is needed before the NAC can identify them as effective.  

The following treatments have been identified as falling into the Emerging

level of evidence:

Augmentative and Alternative Communication Device {14 studies} 

Cognitive Behavioral Intervention Package {3 studies}

Developmental Relationship-based Treatment {7 studies}

Exercise {4 studies}

Exposure Package for Anxiety {4 studies}

Imitation-based Interaction {6 studies}

Initiation Training {7 studies} 

Language Training (Production) {13 studies}

Language Training (Production & Understanding) {7 studies}

Massage/Touch Therapy {2 studies}

Multi-component Package {10 studies}

Music Therapy {6 studies}

Peer-mediated Instructional Arrangement {11 studies}

Picture Exchange Communication System {13 studies}

Reductive Package {33 studies}

Scripting {6 studies}

Sign Instruction {11 studies}

Social Communication Intervention {5 studies}

Social Skills Package {16 studies}

Structured Teaching {4 studies}

Technology-based Treatment {19 studies}

Theory of Mind Training {4 studies}

The NAC listed interventions or treatment as not effective. Theses are treatments where there is little or no evidence in the scientific literature that allowed NAC to determine the treatment was effective. 

The following treatments (and others not listed) have been identified as falling into the Unestablished level of evidence:

Auditory Integration Training

Facilitated Communication

Gluten- and Casein-Free Diet

Sensory Integrative Package

Again, may I suggest that you download the entire document for complete information. 

The Misrepresentation of Applied Behavior Analysis in Autism

Download A Case Study in the Misreprensentation of Applied Behavior Analysis in Autim- The Gernsabacher Lectures by Edward K. Morris, University of Kansas.  This article was published in "The Behavior Analyst", 2009, volume 32 pages 205 to 240. Below is the abstract. 

This article presents a case study in the misrepresentation of applied behavior analysis for autism based on Morton Ann Gernsbacher’s presentation of a lecture titled ‘‘The Science of Autism: Beyond the Myths and Misconceptions.’’ Her misrepresentations involve the characterization of applied behavior analysis, descriptions of practice guidelines, reviews of the treatment literature, presentations of the clinical trials research, and conclusions about those trials (e.g., children’s improvements are due to development, not applied behavior analysis). The article also reviews applied behavior analysis’ professional endorsements and research support, and addresses issues in professional conduct. It ends by noting the deleterious effects that misrepresenting any research on autism (e.g., biological, developmental, behavioral) have on our understanding and treating it in a transdisciplinary context.

Key words: autism, applied behavior analysis, misrepresentation, research methodology, ethics

Matt Savage plays "Someday My Prince Will Come"

via www.youtube.com

Matt Savage is a young man diagnosed with autism. He plays a great jazz piano. Someday my prince will come

Stephen Wiltshire: The Human Camera

via www.youtube.com

Stephen was diagnosed with autism. An extraordinary story.

Baby Boom

The other day someone told me how many babies were born to Coyne employees.  I was shocked.  Tiffany had twins a couple of years ago, and since then 25 more babies were born.  If you would like to see pictures of some of them, please see our photo album -  right - Coyne Photos.   Paul Coyne PhD

Program Supervisor Positions Available in our Early Intervention Program - Orange County, & Riverside County, CA.

 

Program Supervisor Positions Still Available 

Coyne & Associates has an ABA based in-home early intervention program for children with autism.  We are looking for someone with extensive training and experience in Applied Behavior Analysis who has worked with children with autism to join our group. The person must be trained in discrete trial teaching, pivotal response teaching, errorless teaching and other commonly used ABA teaching techniques. 

We are looking for a person with a Master’s degree who has obtained their BCBA or is eligible to take the BCBA test.  The applicant must have a minimum of 1 year’s supervisory experience designing and implementing behavior analytic programs of instruction for children with autism.

One position is located in Orange County, CA.; 

One position is located in Riverside County, CA

Please email us a copy of your resume and your salary requirements to:  pdcoyne@mac.com

Questions, please visit our website:  www.coyneandassociates.com

And this Blog 

or contact Paul Coyne PhD at 760 213 1776.

Evidence-Based Strategies to Address Deficient Repertoires in Young Children with Autism

What follows are the abstracts of the presentations Coyne & Associates employees made at the 2009 meeting of the Association of Applied Behavior Analysis International held in Phoenix on May 26th.   Our presenters include: Melissa Evans, Sally Moore, Tiffany Bauer, Len Levin, Kara Lee, and Jessica Korneder.

Evidence-Based Strategies to Address Deficient Repertoires in Young Children with Autism 

Chair: Len Levin PhD (Coyne & Associates, Inc.) 

Abstract: ABA-based, early intervention services for children with autism, sometimes referred to as Early 

Intensive Behavior Intervention (EIBI), typically adhere to a scope and sequence of curriculum objectives to 

promote repertoires in the domains of attention/social pragmatics, functional communication, imitation, 

language comprehension, and play.  These repertoires become the basis for the performance of progressively 

more sophisticated responses.  Most young learners with autism require systematic implementation of 

teaching techniques that utilize prompting, prompt-fading, and differential reinforcement strategies to 

promote skill acquisition in these key areas.  A percentage of learners, however, do not acquire skills in critical 

areas such as attending, imitation, and language comprehension even when systematic instruction as described 

above is used.  This symposium will present data on the implementation of innovative techniques with young 

learners with autism, learners who were not acquiring initial target objectives in some of these critical 

behavioral domains prior to the implementation of these strategies. 

Acquisition of Spontaneous Eye Contact During Teaching Interactions: The Implementation of 

Shaping Techniques without Prompts. Len Levin PhD (Coyne & Associates, Inc.), KARA LEE MA BCBA (Coyne and Associates), Tiffany Bauer MA BCBA (Coyne and Associates), Jessica Ann Korneder MA BCBA (Coyne and Associates), Melissa L. Evans MA (Coyne and Associates) 

 

Abstract: Attention to relevant stimuli, especially socially-mediated stimuli, is a common deficit 

associated Autism Spectrum Disorder.  While discrete-trial teaching is designed to facilitate attention to 

relevant discriminative stimuli, the development of that attending repertoire in children with autism may 

not always occur.  Systematically teaching the learner to establish eye contact with the instructor at critical 

intervals of the teaching interaction should facilitate optimal attention to discriminative stimuli and 

promote more efficient skill acquisition in the long-term.  Prompting and prompt-fading techniques are 

often not implemented in a way that facilitates the development of spontaneous eye contact, the learner 

establishing eye contact with the instructor in the absence of vocal or gestural cues (e.g., Look at me).  

Consequently, the authors have utilized a shaping procedure without using prompts to promote an 

attending repertoire during discrete-trial teaching interactions.  Data will be presented that demonstrates 

the efficacy of this technique across a variety of young learners with autism. 

 

Establishing a Beginner Listener Repertoire via Non-traditional Discrimination Techniques. 

MELISSA L. EVANS MA (Coyne and Associates), Shireen Kalantar MA BCBA (Coyne and Associates), Megan Lewis MA(Coyne and Associates), Len Levin PhD (Coyne & Associates), Paul D. Coyne PhD (Coyne & Associates) 

 

Abstract: Deficits in the development of speech and language are ubiquitous in children with Autism 

Spectrum Disorder.  Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention typically addresses prerequisites to language, 

such as imitation and visual discrimination (e.g., match-to-sample) before working directly on expressive 

language (e.g., echoics, mands, tacts) and language comprehension (e.g., conditional auditory-to-visual 

discriminations).  For non-vocal learners (e.g., learners without a strong echoic repertoire), language 

comprehension objectives (e.g., identifying objects when presented with a vocal discriminative stimulus, 

performing a motor movement when presented with a vocal discriminative stimulus) are typically 

addressed before expressive language objectives.  For some learners, however, acquisition of those initial 

language comprehension objectives is challenging.  Some researchers and practitioners have suggested 

that the development of an auditory discrimination or auditory matching repertoire may require direct 

attention for such learners.  The current authors will present data to support the efficacy of a technique 

that utilizes auditory sound discrimination tasks in combination with initial auditory-visual discrimination 

targets to induce language comprehension. 

Facilitation of an Echoic Repertoire via Oral Motor Imitation. Christine Essex SLP (Coyne and 

Associates), SALLY D MOORE MA BCBA (Coyne & Associates), Nicola Bogie (Coyne and Associates), Celia 

Newkirk MA (Coyne and Associates) 

 

Abstract: Newly diagnosed children with autism enter treatment and education programs with a range of 

skill deficits.  One of the most challenging deficits to address is the absence of an echoic repertoire.  The 

procedure described in this presentation was developed by behavior analysts working in collaboration 

with a speech-language pathologist to instruct learners with limited oral-motor imitation and vocal  

imitation skills.  Various oral-tactile stimulation techniques combined with instructional techniques based 

on the principles of behavior analysis were utilized to facilitate the imitation of oral-motor movements.  

Specific oral-motor targets were chosen based on their applicability to the production of early-developing 

phonemes.  Once the specific oral-motor targets were mastered, phonemic targets were required in 

combination with the mastered oral-motor targets.  Eventually, phoneme production was required in 

imitation independent of oral-motor targets, and without oral-tactile stimulation.  In behavior analytic 

terms, this was the initial development of an echoic repertoire.  The benefits of a strong collaboration 

between two disciplines, speech pathology and applied behavior analysis, will also be discussed. 

 

Establishing a Beginner Listener Repertoire via Visual Match-to-Sample Discrimination 

Training. Len Levin PhD (Coyne & Associates), Sally D Moore MA BCBA (Coyne & Associates), TIFFANY BAUER MA BCBA (Coyne and Associates) 

 

Abstract: There is some evidence that it is easier for young children with autism to learn tasks that 

incorporate a visual discriminative stimulus (e.g., a match-to-sample task with identical items or pictures) 

than it is for them to learn language comprehension tasks that do not incorporate visual cues (e.g., 

pointing to a specific object in response to a vocal discriminative stimulus).  Motivational issues, deficits 

in auditory discrimination skills, and the relative salience of the discriminative stimuli may all contribute 

to this phenomenon.  Greer and Ross (2008) describe a procedure to induce language comprehension or 

specifically, a listener component of naming repertoire.  The procedure incorporates the simultaneous 

presentation of a vocal sample (i.e., a tact) and visual sample as part of the discriminative stimulus in a 

visual, match-to-sample task.  The current authors have adapted that procedure to promote acquisition of 

initial language comprehension targets (e.g., pointing to pictures of familiar people, colors, shapes).  Data 

will be presented to support the efficacy of this approach with learners who were having difficulty 

acquiring initial language comprehension targets via traditional discrimination training. 

Download ABA(SDM)

Download Beginner Listening Repertoires

Download Spont Eye Contact kl[2LL]

Download MatchingwithNaming

Welcome April Worsdell PhD BCBA-D to Coyne & Associates Ed. Corp.

April Worsdell PhD BCBAD joined Coyne & Associates in April of 2009.  Her title is Clinical Director.  April obtained her PhD from the University of Florida under the direction of Brian Iwata PhD.  She has 18 publications from peer reviewed journals such as: The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Exceptionality, and Research in Developmental Disabilities. Plus, 50 paper presentations at various meetings of the Association for Behavior Analysis since 1996.  Before joining Coyne & Associates she was the Director of Clinical Services and Applied Research for the May Institute in Atlanta, Georgia. From 2004-2007 she was an Assistant Professor in the Behavior Analysis and Therapy program, Rehabilitation Institute at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. Her early work in the field of autism and behavior analysis began in 1996 at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is a doctorate level board certified behavior analyst.  We are more than pleased to have April join our group. 

Outcome Data From ABA Early Intervention Program, 2009

Coyne & Associates Education Corporation

Progress Report

April 2009

Paul Coyne 

Mary Alice Coyne

Len Levin

Christina Cavallaro

Coyne & Associates provides an infant development program serving children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Most of the children referred to Coyne & Associates are on the autism spectrum.  Other children are on the autism spectrum and also have some measure of mental retardation. Coyne & Associates sends teachers into each child’s home to  provide a program of instruction designed to influence the child’s development such that he or she acquires the skills found in typical children of the same age.  Each week a supervisor observes the teacher work with the child in the home, monitors the child’s progress, makes changes to the program when necessary, meets with the parent and provides parent training. The program of instruction is designed to improve a child’s areas of deficit and areas of strength.  Instruction is provided across a variety of skill areas which include: gross motor skills, fine motor skills, self help skills, speech and language skills, general knowledge and comprehension, social and emotional development, plus cognitive skills.  The teachers use teaching techniques based on applied behavior analysis.  Some of the teaching is structured (discrete trial teaching, independent activity schedules), some of the teaching is naturalistic (pivotal response teaching, incidental teaching).  It is common for children to receive 10 hours of 1:1 instruction each week with and additional 2 hours of  supervision.  As the child progresses the number of hours of instruction generally increases.  Some children receive less..  Each program is individualized according to the child’s needs, the parent’s consents, and the input from the interdisciplinary team.  This past year we were fortunate to have the consultative services of a speech pathologist.  This year (2009) we added the services of an occupational therapist.

The current report reflects data obtained from 1/1/06 to 12/31/08. Three years of data were used to ensure enough children in each category so conclusions about outcomes could be made.  Each child was tested using the Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early Development II, by Albert Brigance (2004).  The data are grouped in two ways.  The first is by the number of months that the clients were enrolled in the program and the second is by the total number of hours of services that the clients received while enrolled in the program.  In previous years our progress reports displayed the results of children with and without profound or severe mental retardation separately.  This report reflects the data obtained from all children combined with one exception noted below. 

 

 Generally, within each skill area, more improvement was seen as the amount of time in the program increased.  Also, the greater the number of hours of instruction a child received the more progress the child made. 

The following tables show the number of clients within each month or hour bracket.

Time In Program	3 Months	6 Months	9 Months	12 Months	15 Months	15+ Months
Number of Clients	44	91	98	52	35	12

Total Hours Received	375 Hours	750 Hours	1125 Hours	1125+Hours	1125+ Hours **
Number of Clients	187	115	24	6	3

**In the bracket of 1125+ hours there were nine children (light blue). Six children had a level of functioning that placed them in the category of severe, profound, or moderate mental retardation. Three children had mild mental retardation or borderline intellectual functioning . Their Brigance scores were presented separately only in the speech and language skill area. 

The more instructional hours provided, the greater the gains received.  The overall category averages the gains obtained across all skill areas.  Children tended to make more than 10 months of developmental gain when they received 1124 hours of instruction or more.  The greatest gains were obtained when children received more than 1125 hours of instruction.  Close to 20 months of gains were obtained in general knowledge and comprehension, and 16.5 months of gains overall were obtained when more than 1125 hours of instruction were provided.  The majority of the children in the Coyne program received 750 hours of instruction or less. They tended to make 6-8 months of developmental gains.  They tended to make more improvement in social and emotional development and language development. That is their behavior problems improved and they were more able to make their wants and needs known to others. 

Similar results were seen when progress was viewed as a function of  the amount of time a child spent in the program. After 3 months in the program children made approximately 6 months of progress or more in fine motor, speech and language, knowledge/comprehension and social emotional development.  That is, 2 months of progress developmentally were obtained for every month in the program. That rate of progress decreased from 3 to 9 months.  After 9 months in the program the average child made slightly more than 1 month of developmental progress for every month in the program. 

Children made almost 12 months of developmental progress after participating more than 15 months.  Social Emotional development increased by 10 months after 12 months in the program. Knowledge / comprehension increased by 14.5 months when a child was enrolled for more than 15 months.  

All children exit the program on their third birthday. The earlier a child entered the program and the more instructional hours received the more progress a child attained.  Children had the fastest rate of learning when they were 32-36 months old.  Then the rate of learning was two months developmentally for every month in the program.  

This fast rate of learning during the first three months of the program may be more of a reflection of the measurement instrument and the initial goals addressed rather than an actual ‘rate of learning’ measurement.  Some basic skills were acquired relatively quickly: better eye contact; following routine instructions; making simple requests by pointing; functional play and task completion skills.  Those skills were acquired in the first three months and had a significant impact on the child’s Brigance levels.  Subsequently, the more intermediate programs were introduced. The intermediate programs developed visual and auditory discrimination / listner repitoires, more sophisticated imitation, social play, conversation skills and so on.  It may take longer for progress to occur in those areas where the prerequisite skills are being mastered, which would make it look like the ‘rate of learning’ slows.  However, that may be the result of the scope and sequence of the curriculum.  Once a certain level of prerequisite skills were mastered other skills were learned at a faster rate.  That may be why our program saw more significant benefit early in training, a plateau and then another spurt of skill building. ¹  In our view,  there is an advantage to introducing programs sequentially versus hitting the children with many programs at once. 

To obtain a rate of progress such that a child’s developmental level increased near or faster than their chronological age, children received approximately a cumulative total of  750-1124 or more  hours of instruction or they participated in the program longer than 9 months. Most children who participated in the program longer than 9 months received 54 hours a month at the beginning of their program.  They may have gradually moved up to 18 or 20 hours a month by the time 9 months had passed.  If  we say the average child received 18 hours a week over 9 months, that is only 702 total hours.  The data graphed hourly indicates that 750-1124 hours are needed to obtain learning rate that approximates or exceeds 1 month of developmental increase for 1 month in the program.  This would suggest that time in the program is a more important factor than hours recieved, that is, it is better to receive 1124 hours of instruction over a longer period of time than a shorter period.  However, since these results do not meet the true rigor of science, we are unable to answer what is more important, the number of hours received or the amount of time in the program. 

__________________

[Footnote 1. This ‘S’ curve model of learning was seen also when we analysed our data from 2004 – 2006 ( Coyne, P., Probst, J., Levin, L, and Coyne, M. Outcome data from an early intervention program. Paper presented at the 34^th Annual Convention of the Association for Behavior Analysis International 2008)]

The results of our Parent Satisfaction Survey taken in 2009 were as follows:

Coyne & Associates Education Corporation

Parent Satisfaction Survey

 February 2009

San Diego County

Supervisors Early Childhood Interventionist (ECI)

Work Habits       3.80 Work Habits 3.71

Professionalism       3.82 Professionalism  3.75

Program Goals           3.05   Program Goals   3.77   

Parent Training       3.45 Parent Training 3.60

Scheduling       3.36 Scheduling 3.66

Assessment of child         3.75

Transition to school          3.80 

Child’s overall progress  3.65 

Orange County

Supervisors Early Childhood Interventionist

Work Habits                  3.82 Work Habits         3.82

Professionalism       3.95 Professionalism 3.77       Program Goals             3.25 Program Goals        3.70

Parent Training         3.49 Parent Training   3.50

Scheduling         3.50 Scheduling 3.60

Assessment of child         3.70

Transition to school          3.90 

Child’s overall progress  3.50 

Inland County

Supervisors Early Childhood Interventionist

Work Habits       3.92 Work Habits         3.91 

Professionalism       3.95 Professionalism         3.88

Program Goals            3.57  Program Goals         3.83 

Parent Training       3.46 Parent Training         3.56

Scheduling       3.48 Scheduling         3.79

Assessment of child       3.75

Transition to School       4.00

Child’s overall progress  3.76

Scale: 1 = Poor    2 = Fair   3 = Good   4 = Excellent  

Total Responses = 49  Mean time in the Program = 12.3 months

Supervisor’s program goals represents eight different categories.  Since the mean was masking the variability of the data, I summarized the individual scores per category since I thought the information looked interesting.  

For all three counties:

Does the program meet your child’s needs: 3.66

How would your rate your child’s progress in:

Social Skills:  2.97

Language: 3.15

Play Skills: 3.21

Cognitive Skills: 3.23

Following Instructions: 3.25

Imitation:  3.32

Parents were asked to complete a questionnaire rating the Supervisors and Teachers (ECIs) on a variety of work related behaviors.  A score of less than 2 was poor, a score greater than 3 was good to excellent. Almost all the scores were greater than 3.5. Parents rated their child’s transition to public school the greatest at 4.0. Program goals, parent training and scheduling, obtained good scores whereas work related areas received good to excellent scores.  Parents were good at rating their child’s success.  Their ratings matched the outcome scores on the Brigance reasonably well. Overall, parents were pleased with the progress their children made and pleased with the staff of Coyne & Associates. 

Another letter from a parent.

December 2, 2008 

Paul Coyne, Ph.D

Coyne & Associates

741 Garden View Court, Suite 104

Encinitas, CA 92024 

 

Dear Dr. Coyne, 

I am writing this letter because the ABA services provided by your company have really made a tremendous, positive impact on my twin boys.  My twins were diagnosed with PDD-NOS in Feb of 2008 at the age of 26 months.  Services with Coyne began on April 21, 2008.  Daniel had regressed; he had lost all speech and had less than five words in his vocabulary, was not able to point, was lining toys up, carried odd objects obsessively, was losing eye contact and had meltdowns that lasted over 2 hours.  In just a little over 7 months he has caught up in speech and the above traits have greatly decreased (some we hardly even see).  He has improved so much that he will be attending a general education, private preschool funded by the school district.  He will be attending speech therapy but only for improvement of articulation.  David had not regressed but had many behavioral issues.  He is hyper, impulsive, aggressive, and seems to have problems socializing and showing a full range of emotions.  Since he has been receiving ABA services, he is now able to sit in session and has done very well in academics.  Although David continues to have a lot of behavioral issues, thanks to Tina C. he has also shown improvement, and the negative behaviors have diminished in frequency and duration.  He will be attending a special education preschool, but we have high hopes that he will mainstream by Kindergarten. 

Although all of your interventionists are great, I have to say that Tina C. and Jessika M. go above and beyond their job.  They are patient, educated and take the time to learn about the kids.  I attribute my twins’ great improvement to them.  David is not a child that gives his trust or attention readily to many people so I was thankful that Tina was assigned to him.  Although the first couple of weeks were difficult, ahe was able to connect with him and he learned to sit through session.  In fact, the other day we were asking him if he loved his brother, mom, grandma, etc and he answered “I love Tina!”  Tina is a wonderful person and is a great asset to your company, she is definitely in the right field.  Daniel was quickly regressing and shutting down, and had to be taught a lot.  Jessika M. was the best choice for Daniel.  She was patient but also strict.  She had high expectations and knew when Daniel could do better and expected it of him.  His improvement in such a short period of time is amazing.  She is also loved by both twins, they fought to have her be their interventionist on a Saturday session 2 weeks ago.  They each were saying “Jessika for me.”  She was also strict with us for parent training and I appreciate her efforts to involve us in his sessions.  I cannot thank them enough for all of their help and support. 

Jason O. and Diana M. are excellent supervisors, I could not have asked for a better team.  Having twins with special needs is a lot of work and they helped by communicating not only with us but with each other in order to provide the best care for my family as a whole.  They were always there for me and provided excellent support and advice.  They also go above and beyond their job.  Their dedication and work ethic is admirable.  I always felt they were just a phone call away, even on the weekends and after hours.  Their knowledge of this disorder and behavioral therapy was impressive.  I am extremely grateful for their support during the IEP process.  They helped me prepare for the IEP meetings beforehand and were there for me during the meetings.  Just to see them there when I arrived for the IEP’s was a great relief and I felt stronger and more confident knowing I had support.  Without their supervision and individualized programs my twins would not have improved so much in so many different areas.

I also wanted to thank Molly for her patience in scheduling, especially in the beginning when I was frustrated with the system (not Coyne) and very demanding.  She is always professional and courteous.  

I want to thank Coyne and Associates for providing my sons with such excellent early intervention services.  Your company is responsible for turning my kids around and changing their futures.  I appreciate the entire team that helped my children.  Although I named just a few, everyone is awesome and has played an integral part in the improvement of my children and I am grateful.

 

Sincerely,

 

 YS

 

 

A parent praises Allison Wardrip, Program Supervisor

Date: June 24, 2008

From : Ron and Celeste M.

To: Coyne & Associates
Paul Coyne, Executive Director
Melissa Evans, Inland Regional Director

Subj: Commendation for Allison Wardrip

We have had the privilege of working with Alison Wardrip as our son Alex's Early Intervention Program Supervisor, for the past year. In this time Allison has touched our family in a way we could only have imagined. We cannot fully express the impact she has had on our family life. Our hope in writing this letter of appreciation is that Allison Wardrip be recognized for her excellence as a Program Supervisor.

During this past year Allison has given of herself above and beyond the call of duty spending additional hours helping us as parents of a child with autism. She has arranged to have monthly meetings with us to review Alex's program and address concerns that we have. In these meetings she has spent many hours explaining program details and rationale behind these programs. In the month of April we had concerns as to Alex's progress. Allison immediately addressed our concerns and made changes to Alex's programs in order to incorporate goals we had for him. These monthly meetings have been instrumental in educating us and helping us to better understand our son's needs. She had made it a point to include us in Alex's education.

A crucial part of Allison's excellence as a Program Supervisor has been her ability to teach parents. She is able to breakdown complex information in a detailed yet easy to understand format. Her parent training techniques has been invaluable. Without a doubt our sone would not have made the amount of progress he has made this last year, if it were not for Allison taking the time to teach us how to work with him. We as parents have desperately tired to understand our son. Allison has used her expertise to help us understand our precious boy.

With an art all her own Allison has combined her warm, caring demeanor with a solid professionalism that has won our deep respect. A wonderful example of this is our experience in potty training Alex. Allison beautifully explained the intensive potty training procedure. She gave us a great handout giving further detail for reference and offered her personal help. However, we decided to take a more laid back approach. After four days of our approach proving ineffective we decided to immediately implement the intensive training. Allison jumped right in and offered a tremendous amount of help. At the last minuete, she rearranged her afternoon schedule to offer her full support, in addition to her regularly scheduled supervision hours. throughout the week she continued to offer much needed telphone support. I don't believe that just any supervisor would have offered us this support. The result was Alex using the restroom independently less than a week later.

Research has shown that early intervention is crucial in successfully helping children afflicted with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Without qualified staff to both educate prents and work with our children early intervention connot be as successful. Allison Wardrip is a genuine individual who is caring and motivated to help chidlren with ASD and their families. While our time is not up in working with her, it is important that she receive the commendation she deserves. It has been our honor to work with her.

Sincerely,

Ron M

Celeste L. M.

Len Levin PhD will speak at the 6th Annual Applied Autism Research Intervention Conference - 10/24/08

Len's talk is entitled 'Training and Evaluating the Critical Treatment Skills of Interventionists in Home Based Intensive Behavioral Programs for Young Children with Autism. Long title. Friday, 10/24/08. The conference will be at the Westin Arlington Gateway in Arlington ,VA. Go to the link: www.researchautism.org for more information. Download conference_brochure_2008_spread_final.pdf

Download the Vaccination and Autism Study from the New England Journal of Medicine

Download vaccination_and_autism.pdf

The level of mercury in children with autism and their typically developing siblings.

In the January/March 2008 edition of 'Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders' an article was published that compared the levels of mercury in the hair of children with autism versus the levels of mercury found in the hair of their brothers and sisters. Fifteen children with autism were compared to 16 control children. No differences were found. The same amount of mercury was found in the hair of both groups. The results raise questions about whether mercury exposure leads to autism. The authors of the article were Gail Williams, Joseph Hersh, AnnaMary Allard and Lonnie Sears, University of Louisville. P. Coyne

B.F. Skinner Video

">Applied Behavior Analysis is based on the work of B.F. Skinner. Here he is talking about why people behave the way they do.

Jazz pianists with autism

Autistic Savant is a blog that has articles about people with Autism and Asperger's Disorder who have great talents. Click on this link to obtain background information on Jazz pianists Derek Paravicini and of Matt Savage, plus see videos of them performing.

Piano lessons for children with autism/asperger's

A parent writes:

Dr. Coyne-
I wanted to take a moment to express to you our satisfaction with the
services we have received from your company. Upon my son Max's diagnosis of
PDDNOS (he has recently been diagnosed with Autism) when he was 19 months
old, we were set up by Regional Center to receive services from your
company. I honestly thank God that we were connected to your company.

I have the utmost respect and genuine affection for our supervisor Lauren.
Max's life has been forever changed because of her dedication to his
progress and her ongoing desire to connect with and understand him. She has
respected my every question, comment, or concern and has always been willing
to spend extra time helping me understand his progress or difficulties with
specific programs.

In addition, we have just undergone the IEP process with our local school
district and Lauren was absolutely integral to our achieving appropriate
goals and placement for our son. Her final report and the goals she
developed for Max to pursue in a school program were comprehensive and her
attention to detail and consideration of Max's strengths and weaknesses was
without fault. Her conduct at our IEP meetings was supportive of our family
and professional at all times.

In addition to Lauren, Len Levin also met with our family at our home, and
attended two of our IEP meetings. We are so thankful to Len for his guidance
and input regarding our son's program and for his presence at the IEP
meetings he attended. In our opinion, Len went above and beyond the call of
duty and we are forever grateful.

Lastly, as the mother of an autistic child whose future is largely ahead of
him and certainly a great unknown, it has given me peace of mind to have
Coyne and Associates provide Max's ABA Therapy in these crucial years. He
has made amazing progress and as I said will be forever changed as a result
of the dedication and commitment of your staff.

Sincerely,
A. R.

Max's Mom

Chika, Mary, Alison, Jennifer help autism walk.