Just got back from the ABAI conference in Phoenix and a trip to the Grand Canyon! Both were amazing experiences. I want to write a couple thoughts about the talks that I found interesting so that I don't forget them, and also so that people can share their ideas about the topics (haha, please share, otherwise I feel like I'm just writing to myself :). Here's a pic of the conference center in Phoenix. It was hot, dry, and all of the plants were succulents, which makes me want to grow a cactus garden immediately :)
Topic 1: ABA for Acquired Brain Injury Adults:
This talk discussed the behavioral aspects of treating someone with a seizure disorder. The researcher talked about determining the functional variables that trigger the seizures (e.g., emotional upset triggers, being active in sports, high or low temperatures, etc.), and then training the patient to either avoid those triggers, or to be aware of warning signs that a seizure was about to occur (e.g., dizziness, nausea, etc). When the patient becomes aware of the warning signs they should implement relaxation techniques, biofeedback, etc. to avoid the onset of the seizure. The researchers found that with these techniques in place, the patient was able to almost complete stop medication because they had behavioral control over their seizures. Yay.
Topic 2: Saving the World with ABA
Unfortunately, this guy didn't really talk about saving the world, but talked about his list of "maladaptive behavior phenomena" that prevent us from saving the world. Check out Chance (2007) for more info. Here are a few things that prevent us from making the changes we need to make:
1. immediate consequences outweigh delayed consequences
2. Susceptibility to social reinforcement can incline us to extreme views (He mentioned that with the introduction of the internet to society, we were supposed to become more diverse in our thinking. Instead people tend to find groups that reinforce them for having their extreme views and never branch out).
3. Consequences for the individual outweigh consequences for others.
4. Simple familiar ideas (that are wrong) are often preferred over complex, correct ideas.
ETC....
He then said that everything is politics, and in order to change anything we have to get involved politically. He also pointed us to a website:
Behaviorists for Social Responsibility (Not the prettiest website, but seems to have some interesting ideas).
Topic 3: Motivational Interviewing (with Bill Miller, the guy who introduced this idea)
I've always found the whole motivational interviewing idea a little hoaxy, but this guy changed my mind. His research basically shows (in several different studies) that for alcoholics, a brief, one time encounter with a professional (during which a therapist asks info about history of addiction, talks about goals, and listens) is equally as effective as several sessions of self-control training. During that one interview, the therapist should try to 1. Listen with empathy, 2. Minimize resistance, 3. Evoke person's own concerns and motivations (e.g., ask them what their life would be like without the addiction), 4. Nurture hope and optimism, 5. Let the person, rather than the therapist, make the arguments for change.
Motivational Interviewing is embedded in the Humanistic view that people have the wisdom for change within them, and therapists should bring that out versus telling them a lot of information.
Overall, there have been 200 clinical trials on a variety of problems (addiction, depression, etc.) and effect sizes of .3 to .5 have been found in all studies. Kind of cool. Here's the website:
(again, all of these people should hire a web designer)
Topic 4: Data-Based Decision Making
So, for those of you who know what a pain it is to find interventions on WhatWorksClearinghouse and InterventionCentral (mainly because you have to buy the whole program, etc.) a research group in Hawaii has put together a website that uses the "Common Elements Approach". They've basically gone through all of the intervention manuals that cost hundreds of dollars and pulled out the common elements of the interventions for a specific problem (e.g., anxiety). They call it the "build-your-own Evidence Based Practice kit". It's really an awesome idea, and would be even better if it were free, but a subscription costs the same as a subscription to PsycInfo (which I'm pretty sure is a ton). Sooo, no one can really use it, which puts us back where we started from. Here's the site:
PracticeWise
Topic 5: Autism and Observational Learning
This speaker suggested that instead of teaching autistic kids to do one task at a time, we should instead teach them to attend to social cues in the environment (e.g., look around and follow what their peers are doing). It's a good idea, but would definitely only work for high functioning students. Plus, seems a little like we would be taking away any individual personality that the child had, by telling them to go into a room and act exactly as their peers are.... I know that's usually the least of our worries when working with autistic children, though. This research was done at the
Alpine Learning Group.
That's pretty much it. John, Bomly, Bridget, and myself presented posters while we were there on various reading interventions, and John and I both gave a talk about our research. So, other than having to walk around in heels most of the time, the whole experience was awesome :)
Once we made it back to the top, we had a beer in the lodge to celebrate the fact that we didn't fall off the canyon, and then we drove back to Phoenix and flew out the next morning. 
