1.0 Type II CE Credit
About the presentation:
Past research has shown that individuals with autism and other diagnoses could benefit from ABA intervention. Although ABA services are often provided in the individual’s home, individuals with profound autism and other diagnoses might require more than traditional in-home ABA intervention. Profound autism is a relatively new term not yet adopted by most clinicians and researchers nor defined by diagnostic manuals or tools; however, it is a term that is being used to describe individuals with autism who require 24-hour support throughout their lives. The current presentation includes three participants with various referral concerns, such as, self-injurious behavior, property destruction, aggression, and encopresis. Prior to starting treatment, an intensive case management team collaborated with other professionals to address barriers to access ABA treatment (e.g., housing, transportation, legal matters, and access to other health professionals). These results highlight the importance of intensive case management as a vessel to address environmental and ecological barriers for ABA treatment.
Learning Objectives:
- Attendees will define “multidisciplinary” approach
- Attendees will identify at least three social determinants of health (SDOH) on autism treatment outcomes
- Attendees will be identify at least three different ways on intensive case management for individuals with profound autism
About the presenter:
Dr. Joyce C. Tu is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst with a doctorate in educational psychology from West Virginia University, specializing in applied behavior analysis (ABA). She has over twenty years’ experience as both a behavior analysis professor and a practitioner — teaching behavior analysis in universities and providing ABA services, training, workshops and supervision for parents and professionals working with individuals with developmental disabilities in the U.S. and abroad.
Dr. Tu’s specialization and research interests are chiefly in verbal behavior, specifically, joint control and its role in listeners’ behavior. She has authored several peer-reviewed publications and serves as a behavior analysis journal reviewer. Additionally, in 2011, Dr. Tu co-authored a Chinese-language textbook published by Peking University Press, including chapters on topics such as shaping, prompting/fading, chaining and generalization.
Over the past 20 years, Dr. Tu has held workshops and speaking engagements for national and international professional organizations such as the Ai You Foundation, ABA International (ABAI) and the California Association for Behavior Analysis (CalABA). Dr. Tu has served on CalABA’s Board of Directors, including as its President, and she currently serves as President of the B.F. Skinner Foundation.
In the private sector, Dr. Tu was founder and director of Center for Behavioral Sciences, Inc. for 16 years. CBS was an ABA provider with over 100 employees throughout California. The company was acquired by Easterseals Southern California (ESSC) in 2019, and Dr. Tu became ESSC’s Vice President of Clinical Transformations, Autism Services.
Dr. Tu is also the founder and director of ABA Unlimited, Inc. (ABAU), a behavior analysis consulting and continuing education provider. In 2021, ABAU entered a contract with Peking University School of Medical Education in Beijing to develop a new verified ABA course sequence, with Dr. Tu designing and teaching the courses.
In 2003, Dr. Tu co-founded Applied Behavior Consultants-China, which trained approximately 200 administrators, teachers, parents and behavior interventionists to provide behavioral services to children with autism. Through this organization, ABA classrooms in China were established for children with autism aged three to 12, an underserved population otherwise assigned to general education