genArete: Beyond Goal Setting!

Self-determination, self-management, self-advocacy, and the general idea that learners should be the driver of their experience has been a fundamental aspect of behavioral technologies since the 1970’s although it often has been approached as a nice to have versus a fundamental part of ANY change effort (Echard, et Al., 2022). As the field has begun to mature into a human service first approach, issues such as learner identity, learner autonomy, and learner rights have seen continued momentum (Mathur, Renz, and Tarbox, 2024). Off this momentum it is time that practitioners grow their skills in areas of empowering learners through sustained collaboration across all elements of service. The current workshop aims to walk through an approach of collaborative conversations- a guidepost of treatment packages developed from the work of Acceptance and Commitment Training, Constructive Behavior Analysis, self-management and collaborative problem solving. Participants will be guided to identify how this approach can be tailored across learner profiles and discuss relevant starting places for learner selection and program planning! Together, with our learners, we can create an experience that brings genuine joy to practitioners, learners, family, and society.

Erhard, P., Wong, T., Barnett, M., Falcomata, T.S., Lang, R. (2022). Self-Management Skills and Applied Behavior Analysis. In: Matson, J.L., Sturmey, P. (eds) Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder. Autism and Child Psychopathology Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88538-0_41

Mathur, S. K., Renz, E., & Tarbox, J. (2024). Affirming neurodiversity within applied behavior analysis. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 1-15.

Learning Objectives:

• The Participant will explain the benefits of collaborative program design versus authoritative clinical decision making.
• The Participant will identify elements of collaborative conversations that can be adjusted based on learner needs.
• The learner will be able to use the collaborative conversations design guide to create initial approaches to session planning.

Presenter:

Mark O Malady is an autistic behavior analyst who has spent the last 15 years working with learners with various abilities from 2 to 90 years old. Mark loves to leverage the most fringe aspects of the science of behavior to assist learners in chasing down the path to their vision. He has designed, developed, implemented, and maintained multiple programs for learners with a plethora of diagnosis and presenting concerns. Currently he is continuing to work with a team of behavior analyst to develop a skill-based assessment that aims to aid learners across the life span in clarifying their identity in a way that empowers them to achieve what they want.