As the world evolves gradually, technology becomes more essential in our daily lives. However, with technology comes negativity, seen in the emergence of chronic disease, significantly influencing how one thinks, talks, eats, and behaves. At the same time, one is alone and surrounded by other individual. The change in human characterization has made the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) profession highly essential due to its aid in enhancing individual well-being in any given context. ABA is a field that utilizes behavioral principles to offer comprehension and enhance human behavior. While working in a team as part of the ABA profession, our primary objective was to work together to evaluate our system’s current state through systematic analysis of behaviors, interactions, and processes (Wright, 2019). Through the assessment, the team will fully comprehend the existing system dynamic, identify its strengths and shortcomings, and establish areas for improvement.
In establishing the assessment of the system, our team will develop a target training intervention. The intervention designed will significantly enhance the performance of the staff within our system. The training strategy for the staff will involve shaping, reinforcement, and behavior-changing techniques to promote the attainment of the staff’s desired behavior and skills. The overarching goal is to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of the individual within the system. The emphasis on the assessment will ensure that intervention is tailored to the staff’s specific needs through training to ensure positive and meaningful behavior change, significantly improving and optimizing our system. Our team will use a case study of a home program for a 4-year-old girl named Chloe, who was diagnosed with a developmental disability that impairs her socialization and communication skills.
Case Study of Chloe Home Program
Chloe is a four-year-old child girl diagnosed with a developmental disability that significantly affects her socialization and communication skills; the diagnosis suggests that she may face challenges in interacting with others and expressing herself verbally. Chloe has been allowed to be part of the home program, implying that the targeted intervention to aid her well-being will occur in the home environment. Home programs are common in ABA due to the intervention for a given child taking place in their natural setting, where they spent a considerable amount of time influencing the effectiveness and efficiency of the intervention. Chloe’s home program will involve an incidental teaching program and a discrete trial, which are evidence-based ABA techniques. The discrete trial training will entail breaking down skills into small, manageable steps, while incidental teaching will capitalize on naturally occurring learning opportunities (Dart et al., 2023).
The program will also involve Chloe’s parents; parent training will ensure that Chloe’s intervention strategies are consistently applied to promote the generalization of skills beyond the therapy sessions. Chloe’s target goal is to socialize and communicate. Utilizing functional communication training using a verbal behavior approach will ensure Chloe is involved in practices that will aid her in expressing herself openly through verbal behavior. As BCBA oversees the program, our team supervises the two Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs) to ensure the effectiveness and quality of Chloe’s intervention. In addition to supervising the RBTs, we will extend our role to supporting the training of Chloe’s parents and her grandmother to establish a collaborative approach to ensure Chloe receives the best care around the clock in her selected area of interest.
Hypothetical Diagnostic Assessment
The primary objective of the hypothetic diagnostic assessment is to identify and analyze the skills needed by staff to enhance their performance with the system. Essential stakeholders will be involved, including staff members from numerous levels, such as team leaders, supervisors, and human resources personnel, to offer insight into different perspectives on the staff’s essential skills for effective job performance. A comprehensive job analysis will be conducted to understand the roles, responsibilities, and competence of the position to be held by the staff. The act will be aided by a competency framework outlining the critical skills and behavior expected from the staff. Surveys will be administered frequently to gather insight into the staff’s perceived skills gaps. The staff performance will be compared to industrial benchmarks and best practices to identify areas of improvement.
Training plans will be implemented systematically to ensure the staff have the required experience and resources for improvement. Continuous assessment of the training intervention effectiveness will be conducted to ensure staff become effective in the obligation. In determining the need for staff skills within a specific environment, the assessment will comprehensively analyze organizational and cultural values, where the objective will be to comprehend the prevailing culture and values within our organization. The method will involve a survey to gauge the staff’s perception of the organization’s culture, emphasizing crucial aspects such as collaboration, communication, norms, and adherence to shared values. Workflow and processes will also be evaluated for efficiency and effectiveness. The act will be performed through detailed workflow analysis, involving consultation and observation with staff to identify their observed bottlenecks, opportunities for improvement, and redundancies.
In the hypothetical assessment to determine the needs of the staff on their level of skills, the result would yield valuable insight that would significantly aid in pinpointing behaviors for the desired staff performance. The assessment result showcased the staff’s need for clear communication channels and timely information sharing in organizational communication. The desired behavior performance will be met Through frequent team meetings, establishing a centralized communication platform, and offering training on effective communication. The workflow analysis revealed bottlenecks and delays in certain processes. Through implementing the process optimization strategies, offering training on efficient task execution, and encouraging proactive problem-solving, the desired staff performance behavior was met efficiently for the staff.
The desired performance outcome for the staff was to enhance organizational communication; the target behavior entailed proactively sharing relevant information with the team members, actively listening during established meetings and discussions, utilizing designated communication channels effectively, and providing constructive feedback to improve communication quality. On the other hand, to enhance workflow efficiency and the desired performance outcome, the targeted behavior entailed identifying and solving bottlenecks in the assigned processes, collaborating with the team members to streamline workflows, adhering to developing timelines for task completion, and continuously seeking opportunities for process optimization. The hypothetical desired performance outcome and associated target behavior aim to develop a comprehensive framework for staff enhancement, solving specific areas identified through the diagnostic assessment. Implementing the given behavior envisions contributing to an overall enhancement of staff performance aligned with the organization’s goals.
Chloe Defined Performance Outcomes
The staff’s performance outcome will entail increasing independence, and the defined performance outcome will involve achieving an 80% increase in Chloe’s independent manding; the measurement will involve evaluating the frequency and effectiveness of Chloe’s requests for desired items and activities. The benchmark will involve comparing the current level of Chloe’s independent manding to the baseline to obtain an 80% enhancement over a specified period. The expected effect will improve Chloe’s ability to express her needs and desires independently, enhancing her communication and socialization skills.
The second performance outcome will involve a reduction in prompts, the defined performance being the reduction of Chloe’s dependency on prompts during manding by 50%. The measurement will assess the frequency of prompts needed for Chloe’s manding behavior. The benchmark will entail a comparison of the baseline level of prompt dependency to attain a 50% reduction, showcasing increased independence in communication. The expected impact will involve gradually fading prompts, fostering Chloe’s self-initiation in manding, and promoting great autonomy in her communication skills.
Target Behaviors for Staff Performance
The first target behavior entailed facilitating independent manding opportunities, and the act will be done by ensuring the provision of a minimum of ten opportunities for spontaneous independent manding by Chloe during each 30-minute Natural Environment Training (NET) session. By actively developing and encouraging moments for Chloe to engage in Independent manding, staff members will contribute to the accomplishment of the desired outcome. This will be seen in an 80% increase in Chloe’s independent manding. The second target behavior will entail accurate data collection with data sheets, where through data collection sheets, data collection for Chloe’s manding attempts and responses during a given session will be recorded accurately. The targeted behavior is essential for maintaining Chloe’s fidelity in data collection sessions.
Accurate data collection will ensure the reliability and validity of the assessment, leading to a meaningful insight into Chloe’s progress. The third target behavior will entail proximity management for manding awareness, where by staying five feet away from Chloe during her session, her awareness and attention will be increased significantly on her manding attempts. Staff members will improve their awareness of her communication attempts by maintaining proximity to Chloe and fostering a supportive environment for spontaneous manding. The target behavior will align with the outcome of minimizing prompt dependency and enhancing Chloe’s independent mandating. Establishing proximity will enable timely and appropriate responses to Chloe’s communicative efforts, promoting her independence.
In conclusion, the staff aims to improve Chloe’s independent manding by 80% over a specified period through evaluating her requests and effectiveness. This improvement will enhance her communication and socialization skills, enabling her to express her needs independently. The performance outcome, on the other hand, aims to reduce Chloe’s dependency on prompts by 50%, promoting her independence in communication. The act will be measured by assessing prompt frequency and fading gradually, fostering self-initiation in manding. The target behavior entails facilitating independent manding opportunities for Chloe during each 30-minute Natural Environment Training session, aiming for an 80% increase in her independent manding. Accurate data collection with data sheets is also crucial for maintaining Chloe’s fidelity in the session. Accurate data collection ensures assessment reliability and validity. The target behavior will involve proximity management for manding awareness, staying five feet away to increase Chloe’s attention, fostering a supportive environment, minimizing her dependency, and enhancing Chloe’s independence, allowing timely responses to her communication.
Reference
Wright, P. I. (2019). Cultural humility in the practice of applied behavior analysis. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 12(4), 805–809. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-019-00343-8
Dart, E. H., Martin, J., McGirt, C., Shuman, T., Hodnett, J., Reynolds, F., … & Mennes, H. (2023). Discrete Trial Instruction. In Handbook of Applied Behavior Analysis: Integrating Research into Practice (pp. 611–624). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-19964-6_32
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