Turning Point 4 - A Call for Research on Quality Assurance in ABA Autism Service Settings: A Five-Part Series. Part 4 of 5
- Bryant Silbaugh
- Jan 13
- 11 min read
Turning Point Continued...The Third Step is to Validate and Publish Models of Behavioral Processes that Impact ASDQ
Thousands of experiments have validated behavior change procedures and assessments that can be applied to addresses delays and deficits associated with autism. Moreover, research on systems and process variables required to establish and maintain the best of these practices is relatively nonexistent.
For example, despite extensive research on functional analysis as a practice for identifying functions of behavior and developing function-based behavioral interventions that reduce challenging behavior, research is lacking which addresses the organizational systems and processes needed to ensure behavior analysts use this practice routinely.
Addressing the dearth of behavior analytic research on quality assurance and managing for quality may require a shift in ABA research from first-generation research validating behavioral interventions in labs, homes, and schools, to second-generation research focused on developing and validating systems and processes in practice settings that ensure providers will use those behavioral interventions.
In other words, ABA researchers may need to spend considerably more time away from their university offices, working embedded in practice settings (i.e., university research labs physically embedded in ABA autism service organizations) doing process engineering and improvement research critically needed to close the research-to-practice gap.
