1.0 Type II CE Credit
About the presentation:
Sleep problems are prevalent among children and adolescents diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These problems are unlikely to abate without treatment, resulting in adverse long-term effects on the daytime functioning and wellbeing of individuals with ASD, their siblings, parents, and others. Understanding and addressing sleep problems requires viewing behavior that facilitate and disrupt healthy sleep through the lens of a contingency. Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) is an iterative process designed to identify reinforcement contingencies that maintain falling asleep and those that maintain problem behavior that interfere with sleep onset. Through this process, caregivers and clinicians are more equipped to craft an individualized, function-based, and consumer-friendly treatment programs for individuals diagnosed with ASD whose sleep is chronically disturbed. The goal if this presentation is to (a) discuss the core behavioral model of sleep, (b) describe a functional behavior assessment process for sleep problems in children diagnosed with ASD, (c) identify current evidence-based interventions for sleep problems associated with ASD, and (d) discuss strategies for designing personalized, comprehensive, socially acceptable sleep interventions and prevention strategies.
Learning Objectives:
- Attendees will be able to describe common sleep problems of children diagnosed with ASD
- Attendees will be able to understand the reinforcement contingencies maintaining falling asleep and problem behavior that interferes with sleep onset
- Attendees will be able to describe evidence-based treatments for sleep problems in children with ASD and steps to designing a function-based, individualized, and consumer-friendly sleep interventions
About the presenter:
Chunying Jin PhD, BCBA-D currently serves as a lecturer at the department of psychology at California State University, Northridge and teaches for the M.S. ABA program at CSUN. Dr. Jin received her undergraduate training in behavioral psychology at the University of California, San Diego and received her doctoral degree in Behavior Analysis under the mentorship of Dr. Gregory Hanley at Western New England University. Prior to her current post at CSUN, Dr. Jin resided in New England and served as an assistant professor of psychology at Eastern Connecticut State University and a teaching fellow at Western New England University. She has been applying the principles of learning to improve the lives of individuals of typical development and individuals with developmental disabilities for over 10 years. Dr. Jin has published in areas such as the assessment and treatment of sleep problems in young children and function-based interventions for severe problem behavior associated with autism. Her research and clinical interests include assessment and treatment of sleep problems, behavioral pediatrics, child development and early life skills, pedagogical tactics in higher education, and function-based interventions.