AAC, Science-Based Treatment, Clinical Judgement, and More: The 2023 Verbal Behavior Conference Panel Discussion

The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

Session 252 is the recording from the 2023 Verbal Behavior Conference Panel discussion. The participants were Troy Fry, Drs. Lina Slim, Sam Bergmann, Sarah Frampton, Einar Ingvarsson, Pat McGreevy, and Andresa de Sousa; and the voice at the beginning and end of the panel is Kelle Rich, who founded and currently leads these great conferences. In this Q and A segment, the panel addressed the following topics:

• Considerations moving from vocal-verbal speech to AAC.
• Focusing one's clinical resources given limited therapy times.
• The high abandonment rate of AAC devices.
• The role of clinical judgement.
• Adapting clinical strategies to varying cultural contexts.
• The nuances associated with encouraging caregivers to adopt research-based treatments.
• The role of singing versus speaking... that was a fascinating part of the panel that comes towards the end.

As you'll hear in this podcast, when you attend the Verbal Behavior Conference, you'll have numerous opportunities to ask the speakers questions. And not just in the panel itself. If you're there in person in Austin, Texas, you'll very likely have the opportunity to have direct interactions with the speakers between talks, while grabbing coffee, and so on.

What strikes me as unique about these events is that they are purposely small and intimate so that one can have these types of experiences.

What's in store for the 2024 VBC? First, the conference itself takes place on February 29th and March 1st, and it's preceded by a full day workshop from the incomparable Dr. Lina Slim on February 28th.

This year's conference speakers include Drs. Barbara Esch, Eb Blakely, Mirela Cengher, fan-favorite Patrick McGreevy, Alice Shillingsburg, and Hank Schlinger, whom we heard from a few episodes ago.

If you can't make it in person, don't worry. BehaviorLive has you covered. Nobody does virtual events like BehaviorLive, and they will broadcast the entire conference with best-in-class audio and video.

Papers, resources, etc...

• The event list for the 2024 VBC.
• How to register for the VBC.
• Valentino et al. (2018). Using a Prerequisite Skills Assessment to Identify Optimal Modalities for Mand Training.
• Thompson et al. (2013). Enhancing Early Communication Through Infant Sign Training.
• Sigafoos et al. (2000). Identifying Potential Communicative Acts in Children with Developmental and Physical Disabilities.
• Essential for Living.
• "Big Mac" buttons.
• Allen and Warzak (2013). The problem of parental nonadherence in clinical behavior analysis: Effective treatment is not enough.
• Grow et al. (2017). An Evaluation of Instructive Feedback to Teach Play Behavior to a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Before we get to this episode, I want to let you know that we’re brought to you today by the University of Cincinnati’s Masters in ABA program. This program is 100% online and asynchronous, so that means you log on when it works for you. Want to learn more? Go to online.uc.edu and click the “request info” button.

Also, if you want to earn BACB Approved Continuing Education Units while listening to your favorite Behavioral Observations episodes, go to behavioralobservations.com/get-ceus to see the shows that are available for continuing education. Whether its supervision, ethics, functional assessment, or other topics, there’s something there for just about everyone.