Serving the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing + ASD Community: An Introduction for Behavior Analysts
The most current research indicates that 1 in 59 Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (D/HH) individuals are being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (Shield & Meier, 2012); however, access to critical treatment, therapies, support, and research is scarce for these individuals and their families/caregivers creating substantial barriers in overall treatment and progress.
Join Stephanie Dille-Huggins, MA, BCBA® who has been serving the D/HH + ASD community and their families for the past decade as she guides participants through an introductory course that provides training and insight into understanding the D/HH + ASD diagnosis to provide culturally responsive ABA-based services for this population. Participants will also be provided training on skill sets that must be developed among behavior analysts to ensure that they are practicing in their scope of competency and be provided guidance on considerations for practitioners prior to starting therapy and treatment with D/HH + ASD individuals. Participants will be guided through several case reviews of D/HH + ASD individuals that demonstrated substantial success in receiving ABA-based services rooted in cultural responsiveness before being guided through the importance of professionals developing advocacy skills within their own practice in order to effectively and ethically serve this population and their families.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will develop the ability to identify initial steps in serving the D/HH + ASD community.
- Participants will be able to list and describe at least 3 approaches to implementing culturally responsive treatment in serving the D/HH + ASD community.
- Participants will be able to list and describe at least 3 approaches to professional advocacy that behavior analysts can develop to increase ABA-based service outcomes for D/HH + ASD individuals.