TUCCI & ELEARNING STORE REPRESENTED AT ABAI

During this past Memorial long weekend, Yvonne Su, Christina Lovaas and Vicci Tucci represented our company and the eLearning Store (which is a division of TUCCi) at the ABA International conference in Boston, MA. All three spent time at our newly designed professional booth.

Thank you Yvonne, Christina and Vicci for spending the weekend at the booth and spreading the word about how the CLM and eLearning Store can support learners.

Vicci presented the topic “Developing Competent Learners and Practitioners in the Absence of Coercive Practices” as part of the presentation titled “If You Have To Rely on Coercive Practices, You are not a Behavior Analyst.” Vicci presented with Adam Peal, Gladys Williams, Kendra Newsome and the discussant was Janet Twymann.

Abstract:

Coercive practices can be damaging for the individuals who behavior analysts serve, inflict harm on the reputation of and trust in the scientific and applied endeavors of the field, and negatively impact desired clinical and education outcomes. Despite the growing awareness among practitioners, scientists, community members, and clients to classify coercive practices as harmful and undesirable, these practices persist all too frequently in the application of behavior analysis. The persistence of coercive practices can be examined and understood from a behavior analysis perspective, and thus may be used to help practitioners develop and strengthen new skills for treatment and instruction. Basic and applied behavior analysts can offer clinical and instructional techniques based in positive reinforcement to bypass the use of coercion and instead provide methods for teaching and shaping new behavior.This symposium will discuss historical, theoretical and scientific accounts for coercion rooted in behavior analysis, methods for constructing positive alternatives to coercive parenting, the integration of Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) to increase learner engagement in academic settings, and a description of a model that builds the skills of learners and practitioners in the absence of coercive practices.