Blended Interventions for Children with Autism – 11/16/18

Blended Interventions: Parents and practitioners are tired of being required to choose a highly structured early behavioral intervention, e.g. “Lovaas” or a more loosely organized approach (e.g. “Pivotal Response Training”).  Blended intervention combines structured and incidental naturalistic strategies to suit the needs of individual children based on an initial assessment.  They are both based on behavior analytic principles, which have been extensively researched.  In 2011 Travis Thompson and his colleagues published “Individualized Autism Intervention for Young Children: Blending Discrete Trial and Naturalistic Strategies”(Paul H. Brookes, Inc.) describing the approach and reporting findings from their application of these principles. This webinar describes intervention options and how to decide which children can benefit from which combination of approaches.

Learning Objectives:

After attending this event participants should be able to: 

• Define blended interventions and identify which combination of strategies are appropriate based on individual needs. 
• Describe the research supporting the use of blended interventions

Dr.​ ​Travis​ ​Thompson​ ​completed​ ​a​ ​doctorate​ ​in​ ​psychology​ ​with​ ​subspecialties​ ​in​ ​behavior analysis,​ ​neuroscience,​ ​child​ ​psychology​ ​and​ ​developmental​ ​disabilities.​ ​He​ ​has​ ​worked​ ​in medical​ ​settings​ ​as​ ​well​ ​as​ ​psychology​ ​departments​ ​and​ ​behavior​ ​analysis​ ​clinics​ ​most​ ​of
his​ ​career​ ​(at​ ​Univ​ ​of​ ​Minnesota,​ ​Vanderbilt​ ​Univ.​ ​and​ ​Univ​ ​of​ ​Kansas​ ​Medical​ ​Center).​ ​ ​As a​ ​doctoral​ ​student,​ ​he​ ​completed​ ​most​ ​of​ ​the​ ​first​ ​year​ ​of​ ​medical​ ​school​ ​course​ ​work​ ​and later​ ​directed​ ​a​ ​psychopharmacology​ ​training​ ​program​ ​at​ ​the​ ​Univ​ ​of​ ​Minnesota.​ ​ ​He co-directed​ ​a​ ​major​ ​multiple​ ​disability​ ​research​ ​program​ ​at​ ​Vanderbilt​ ​University​ ​dealing with​ ​genetic​ ​contributions​ ​to​ ​disabilities.​ ​ ​He​ ​worked​ ​in​ ​the​ ​Pediatric​ ​Clinical Neuroscience​ ​Autism​ ​Clinic​ ​at​ ​the​ ​University​ ​of​ ​Minnesota​ ​and​ ​directed​ ​a​ ​private community​ ​based​ ​early​ ​behavioral​ ​intervention​ ​program​ ​in​ ​Minneapolis,​ ​MN.​ ​ ​His expertise​ ​includes​ ​working​ ​with​ ​complex​ ​cases​ ​of​ ​multiply​ ​caused​ ​severe​ ​behavior challenges​ ​in​ ​autism​ ​and​ ​other​ ​developmental​ ​disabilities.​ ​ ​He​ ​is​ ​a​ ​licensed​ ​psychologist​ ​in
Minnesota.

Presenter Disclosure Statement

Dr.​ ​Thompson​ ​is​ ​author,​ ​co-author​ ​and/or​ ​editor​ ​of​ ​books​ that are ​mentioned​ ​during​ some of his ​ presentations for ABAC.​ ​He​ ​receives​ ​royalties​ ​from​ ​the​ ​sale​ ​of​ ​the​ ​books.​ ​He​ ​also​ ​receives​ ​speaker fees​ ​for​ ​presenting​ ​for​ ​ABAC.