ABA Services in Schools - Medical home

ABA Services in Schools Dr. Vanessa Tucker, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA Pacific Lutheran University Tucker Consulting, LLC Who are the players? Parents School Faculty ABA Clinical Providers

School Administrator s Legal Advocates ABA in Schools: Historical Hesitation Historical hesitation on the part of school districts ABA clinics still are seen as outsiders-this is a two way street What is clinical vs. what is educational Matters of FAPE, IEP teams purview to decide on

methodology Parents: Want ABA in school for a variety of reasons: 1. They view it as more valuable than school services, 2. They want it during the day to avoid night hours, 3. They want it more-more hours, more time Clash of Ideals ABA clinics see children in home or contrived clinical settings, which are not an approximation of the school setting (the childs natural setting for 6 hours a day), ABA clinics and clinicians are often (not always) very skeptical of schools-they feel they are using the best EBP (but lack understanding of school) Schools are just as skeptical! They feel that they have the

know-how and are using EBP Administrators worry that having ABA in means a de facto admission that this is FAPE Unclear what an ABA therapist would do in a school setting (and often they become like a para) School Progress School districts are increasingly hiring their own BCBAs and support staff (e.g. RBTs) Local Models: Clover Park School Districts BAT (Behavior Assistance Team) Led by a BCBA, monitored by a BCBA-D (me) Behavior techs (some of whom are about to sit for exam) Paraprofessionals (some getting RBT)

Behavior support across district, school by school Schools want their own BCBAs in-house, as behavior specialists Schools utilize their BCBAs to assist with contentious situations with parents Schools are not only servicing children with ASD through ABA services Benefits of School ABA Services More function-based assessments Better data collection More trust at the outset of intervention Opportunity to build capacity Function-based programming rather than business as usual

Assisting to get out of the mental mindset of STAR is ABA What is the next level of work? Better co-planning and treatment between ABA providers (home) and school teams, Increase understanding of ABA and overall school culture among clinical staff (non-school)

Increase understanding of ABA and overall clinical culture/approaches among school staff (non-clinical) Education and support for parents to understand the value and goals of each