Training for Parents

Training for parents, family members, and other care providers

Courses and options

The courses below are available to groups, organizations, and parents through contract. At times, I offer courses that are open to the public. You may see what I am currently offering on my Public Courses page.

Please note that these courses can be modified to meet your particular needs and that other courses will be developed at your request.

A parent's guide to functional behavior assessment

COURSE DESCRIPTION

A functional behavior assessment (FBA) is often needed to guide development of interventions for problem behavior. The participants in this course will learn:

What an FBA is
How to determine if a child should have an FBA
How to determine if an adequate FBA has been conducted
How to determine if the results of the FBA are being used appropriately to guide intervention

INTENDED AUDIENCES

Parents, foster-parents, childcare workers, professionals, paraprofessionals, and any other individuals wishing to learn the basics of the assessment of behavior.

PREREQUISITES

Participants should have had experience with individuals with problem behavior. The participants should be capable learners.

COURSE LENGTH

Approximately two hours

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Early intervention: How parents can make a dramatic, lifelong difference in the life of a child with a disability

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Considerable research has demonstrated that effective early intervention for individuals with disabilities yields very strong positive results throughout that individual's life. Parents are a child's first teachers, and, as such, they can have considerable impact on how the child will do throughout life. Effective instruction for individuals with disabilities must be very well designed. This course provides a thorough introduction to effective teaching techniques that parents can use at home and that professionals and paraprofessionals can use in their settings.

Topics in the course include:

Near errorless learning techniques
Data-based instruction
Teaching concepts
Considerations for teaching skills in each of the four stages of learning (i.e., acquisition, fluency, maintenance, and generalization)
Shaping behaviors
Teaching a socially appropriate skill to replace a problem behavior
Modeling
Prompting
Maximizing practice opportunities

INTENDED AUDIENCES

Parents, foster-parents, childcare workers, professionals (e.g., special educators, regular educators), pre-service professionals, paraprofessionals, and any other individuals working with children with disabilities.

PREREQUISITES

Participants should have had experience with children with disabilities. The participants should be capable learners; the training in this course is the equivalent of college course work.

COURSE LENGTH

Approximately thirteen hours

Note

It is recommended that this course be followed in four to six weeks by a problem-solving/troubleshooting session. In this follow-up session, I will lead the group in troubleshooting any problems or difficulties that the participants have encountered since the training. During this session, the participants will profit not only by learning solutions to their problems but will also profit by learning the solutions to problems that others have encountered.

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Functional communication training

COURSE DESCRIPTION

At times, individuals with developmental disabilities will use problem behavior (e.g., self-injury or physical aggression) to communicate their needs and wants. Often the problem behavior is quite effective in helping them to achieve their goals. Many people often are left wondering: (a) why is the individual engaging in this behavior; and (b) how can I help this individual keep from doing this?

In this course, the participants will learn how to determine answers to both of those questions. The participants will:

Target a behavior of concern in a specific individual
Collect direct observational data on that behavior
Analyze the data to help determine the function of the behavior
Design an intervention for the individual's targeted behavior

Although other types of interventions will be covered, the course will focus primarily on the development of interventions that teach an appropriate communicative behavior to replace the problem behavior. Topics in this course include:

The functions of behavior
The role of reinforcement in learning of behavior
Extinction
Direct observation of behavior
Analysis of behavior
Prompting
Setting event/antecedent interventions
Communicative replacement behavior interventions
Non-communicative replacement behavior interventions
Embedding
Choice-making
How to avoid and/or repair problems with maintenance of newly learned replacement behaviors
How to avoid and/or repair generalization problems of newly learned replacement behaviors

INTENDED AUDIENCES

Parents/care providers for individuals with developmental disabilities; professionals (e.g., special educators, regular educators, case managers); and all other individuals providing support to individuals with developmental disabilities.

PREREQUISITES

The participants should have provided support to individuals with developmental disabilities who have exhibited problem behavior. The participants should be capable learners. The training in this course will be equivalent to college coursework.

COURSE LENGTH

Approximately thirty-two hours. Due to homework that will be asked of the participants, the course should take place over a period of no less than five weeks.

Note

I recommend that I provide support to the participants while they implement the interventions they design as a part of this course.

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How can I get my child to do what I ask?

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In this course, the participants will learn several techniques to increase a child's compliance. During the course, the participants will be given opportunities to practice these techniques and will receive feedback so that they can master the techniques.

Participants will be taught how to avoid scenarios like the following:
Parent: “Sam, wouldn't you like to take out the trash?”
Sam acts as if he didn't hear the request.
Parent: “Please Sam, won't you take out the trash.”
Sam: “I'm in the middle of this video game. I'll get to it later.”
Parent raising his voice: “Sam, you'd better do it right now, or else.”
Sam: “Oh dad, if I do it now, I'll have to start the game over. Can't Barby do it?”
Parent yelling: “I'm fed up with you never doing anything around here!”
Sam throws a book against the wall and yells, “Nobody in this house understands me! Everyone is always picking on me!”
Parent yelling: “Alright, never mind!”
Sam calms down and returns to his game.
The parent leaves and takes out the trash himself.

INTENDED AUDIENCES

Parents; foster parents; childcare providers; and professionals/paraprofessionals and others who provide support to parents of individuals who exhibit problem behavior.

PREREQUISITES

Participants should have had experience with children.

COURSE LENGTH

Approximately three hours

Note

It is recommended that this course be followed in about two weeks by a problem-solving/troubleshooting session. In this follow-up session, I will lead the group in troubleshooting any problems or difficulties that the participants have encountered since the training. During this session, the participants will profit not only by learning solutions to their problems but will also profit by learning the solutions to problems that others have encountered.

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How to get your children to behave better at home and in public.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This is an interactive course in which the participants will learn how to motivate children to behave more appropriately in the home and community. Topics covered will include:

How to increase compliance
How to use praise effectively
How to provide “structure” in the home
How to use rewards appropriately and effectively
How to use punishment while strengthening the relationship with the child rather than damaging the relationship

Participants will leave the course having practiced many of the skills and with a clear plan for how to use them.

INTENDED AUDIENCES

Parents; foster parents; childcare providers; and professionals/paraprofessionals and others who provide support to parents of individuals who exhibit problem behavior.

PREREQUISITES

Participants should have had experience with children.

COURSE LENGTH

Twelve hours

Note

It is recommended that this course be followed in about a month by a problem-solving/troubleshooting session. In this follow-up session, I will lead the group in troubleshooting any problems or difficulties that the participants have encountered since the training. During this session, the participants will profit not only by learning solutions to their problems but will also profit by learning the solutions to problems that others have encountered.

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How to understand the behavior of your child with a disability

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Understanding why an individual with a disability uses problem behavior is essential information for changing the behavior. This course is designed for parents of children with mild to severe disabilities; however, others (e.g., care providers and relatives) will also profit from this course and are welcome to attend. Topics included in the course are:

How to understand what your child is trying to accomplish through problem behavior; and
How you can respond to the problem behavior to decrease the likelihood that it will reoccur.

INTENDED AUDIENCES

Parents, foster-parents, childcare workers, and any other individuals working with individuals with disabilities.

PREREQUISITES

Participants should have had experience with individuals with disabilities. The participants should be capable learners.

COURSE LENGTH

Approximately six hours

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Structure and compliance

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This is an interactive course designed to teach parents how to design a behavior management system for the home. In addition, parents will learn how to increase the compliance rates of their children. In this course, the participants will be given opportunities to practice these techniques and will receive feedback so that they can master the techniques.

INTENDED AUDIENCES

Parents, foster parents, childcare providers, and those who provide support to parents of individuals who exhibit problem behavior.

PREREQUISITES

Participants should be capable learners and have had experience with children/students.

COURSE LENGTH

Approximately six hours.

Note

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COURSE DESCRIPTION

Individuals who frequently exhibit problem behaviors typically have a deficit in social skills. This often leaves these individuals with only problem behavior(s) to accomplish many goals in life. This course is designed to teach the participants how to teach social skills and how to teach others (e.g., parents) how to teach social skills.

INTENDED AUDIENCES

Parents; foster parents; childcare providers; and professionals/paraprofessionals and others who provide support to parents of individuals who exhibit problem behavior.

PREREQUISITES

The participants should be capable learners. This course is the equivalent of college coursework.

COURSE LENGTH

Approximately 12 hours

Note

It is recommended that this course be followed in two to four weeks by a problem-solving/troubleshooting session. In this follow-up session, I will lead the group in troubleshooting any problems or difficulties that the participants have encountered since the training. During this session, the participants will profit not only by learning solutions to their problems but will also profit by learning the solutions to problems that others have encountered.

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Understanding a child's behavior

COURSE DESCRIPTION

What motivates a child’s behavior can be puzzling at times. This course is designed to teach the participants why children do what they do, and it includes some handy hints on how parents can change their child’s behavior by changing some of their own behavior.

INTENDED AUDIENCES

Parents; foster parents; childcare providers; and professionals/paraprofessionals and others who provide support to parents of individuals who exhibit problem behavior.

PREREQUISITES

The participants should have experience with individuals who exhibit problem behavior. The participants should be capable learners. The training in this course will be the equivalent of college course work.

COURSE LENGTH

Three hours.

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Understanding behavior

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Why an individual engages in problem behavior often is essential information needed for changing that person's behavior. This course is an introduction to analytic procedures that can be used to determine why a behavior occurs. The participants will learn:

The role of reinforcement in learning behavior
How environmental conditions affect behavior
How to collect direct observational data on a targeted behavior
How to analyze the collected data to help determine the function of the behavior

INTENDED AUDIENCES

Parents; foster parents; childcare providers; and professionals/paraprofessionals and others who provide support to parents of individuals who exhibit problem behavior.

PREREQUISITES

The participants should be capable learners. The training in this course will be the equivalent of college course work.

COURSE LENGTH

Approximately twelve hours

Note

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What can I do when my child is too old for timeout?

COURSE DESCRIPTION

As children become older, timeout as a disciplinary measure becomes less and less appropriate. In this interactive course, the participants will learn alternative techniques for disciplining children in their pre-teen and teen years. This course focuses on systematic methods for providing or withdrawing privileges (for example, playing video games, having friends over, and driving the car) dependent upon the child’s behavior.

INTENDED AUDIENCES

Parents; foster parents; childcare providers; and professionals/paraprofessionals and others who provide support to parents of individuals who exhibit problem behavior.

PREREQUISITES

Participants should be capable learners and should have had experience with children.

COURSE LENGTH

Approximately six hours.

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Training for Parents