APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS (ABA): (A)

• Applied behavior analysis is the science in which procedures derived from the principles of behavior are systematically applied to improve socially significant behavior to a meaningful degree and to demonstrate experimentally that the procedures employed were responsible for the improvement in behavior.
• Applied behavior analysis strives to understand and improve human behavior in socially significant ways. Social significance refers to the degree to which the behavior in question has benefit for the individual – and thereby increases the individual’s quality of life.

ASPERGER’S DISORDER: (Characteristics) (D)

• Asperger’s Disorder differs from Autistic Disorder in that impairment is primarily within the domain of social interactions. Development of other adaptive behavior, cognition, and language are not significantly delayed. Repetitive patterns of behavior or rituals must also be present. This disorder tends to be recognized and diagnosed later, usually after 3 years of age. Whether this is because the characteristics are less noticeable or the disorder has a later age of onset is not known.

ASSESSMENT OF BASIC LANGUAGE AND LEARNING SKILLS (ABLLS): (E)

• A criterion-referenced assessment of over 500 learning skills in 25 language and learning skill categories.

ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER (ADD) and ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (AD/HD): (F)

• AD/HD is a diagnosis applied to children and adults who consistently display certain characteristic behaviors over a period of time. The most common core features include:
• Distractibility (poor sustained attention to tasks)
• Impulsivity (impaired impulse control and delay of gratification)
• Hyperactivity (excessive activity and physical restlessness)
• In order to meet diagnostic criteria, these behaviors must be excessive, long-term, and pervasive. The behaviors must appear before age 7 and continue for at least 6 months. A crucial consideration is that the behaviors must create a real handicap in at least two areas of a person's life, such as school, home, work, or social settings. These criteria set AD/HD apart from the "normal" distractibility and impulsive behavior of childhood, or the effects of the hectic and overstressed lifestyle prevalent in our society.
• According to the DSM-IV (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition), some common symptoms of AD/HD include: often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes; often has difficulty sustaining attention to tasks; often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly; often fails to follow instructions carefully and completely; losing or forgetting important things; feeling restless, often fidgeting with hands or feet, or squirming; running or climbing excessively; often talks excessively; often blurts out answers before hearing the whole question; often has difficulty awaiting turn.
• Please keep in mind that the exact nature and severity of AD/HD symptoms varies from person to person. Approximately one-third of people with AD/HD do not have the hyperactive or overactive behavior component, for example.

AUTISTIC DISORDER: (Characteristics) (D)

• Significant difficulties with social interactions – does not pay attention to other people; does not play with other children; does not reciprocate.
• Significant difficulties in verbal and nonverbal communication – grabs what is wanted or leads to get what is wanted; copies or parrots words (echolalia); if individual possesses words, does not converse.
• Significant difficulties in the development of play – uses only parts of toys; lines up or stacks objects; no imaginative play.
• Highly restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior and interests. May talk continuously about one topic or repeat the same questions; may spin and stare at objects; may flap fingers or pieces of string; may mouth or hit self.
• Highly resistant to even slight changes in routines.

AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD): (G)

• Autism is an umbrella term for a wide range of disorders. Clinically, they may be referred to as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDDs) or Autism Spectrum Disorders.
• The term, spectrum, is crucial to understanding autism because of the wide range of intensity, symptoms and behaviors, types of disorders, and, as always, considerable individual variation. Children with autism spectrum disorders may be non-verbal and asocial, as in the case of many with classic autism, or Autistic Disorder. On the other end of the spectrum are children with a high-functioning form of autism characterized by idiosyncratic social skills and play, such as Asperger Syndrome. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV), these diagnostic categories are outlined under the heading, Pervasive Developmental Disorders(PDDs). In the DSM-IV, these disorders are defined by deficits in three core areas: social skills, communication, and behaviors and/or interests. Types of autism spectrum disorders, or PDDs, include:
• Autistic Disorder
• Asperger Syndrome
• Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
• Rett Syndrome
• Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS)

BEHAVIOR PROGRAM:

• A behavior program is designed to teach new skills or build upon the skills the learner already has. A behavior program can also reduce or eliminate problem behaviors. These behavior programs are referred to as "acquisition" and "reduction" programs. A behavior program for each behavior to be addressed is designed after careful assessment (functional assessment) has been performed by the behavior analyst . During the assessment, the behavior analyst attempts to determine the trigger for the behavior (what immediately precedes the behavior) and the consequence that maintains the behavior (the immediate result of the behavior). By learning the "motivation" or "purpose" the behavior serves for the learner, a behavior analyst can then create a behavior program that alters an existing behavior, teaches a new behavior, or builds existing behaviors that need to be increased. Each behavioral program is unique to the learner.

CEREBELLUM: (H)

• The cerebellum is involved in the coordination of voluntary motor movement, balance and equilibrium, and muscle tone. It is located just above the brain stem and toward the back of the brain. It is relatively well protected from trauma compared to the frontal and temporal lobes and brain stem.

CHAINING: (A)

• Chaining is a procedure that can be used to improve independent living skills and provide the means by which other behaviors are combined into more complex sequences. Chaining can be used in an overall behavior change program. There are several different chaining methods (forward chaining, total task presentation, backward chaining, and backward chaining with leap aheads). Chaining is a specific sequence of responses that must be performed in the presence of a particular stimulus condition. Each response in the chain acts as a stimulus for the next response and as a reinforcer for the response just completed.

CHILDHOOD DISINTEGRATIVE DISORDER: (Characteristics) (D)

• Childhood Disintegrative Disorder is diagnosed when a child shows significant losses in social behavior, language, play, and adaptive behavior after development was apparently normal for at least the first 2 years and before 10 years of age.
• Childhood Disintegrative Disorder appears to be very rare. Little behavioral research has been conducted with persons with this diagnosis.

DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES: (I)

• Developmental disabilities are birth defects related to a problem with how a body part or body system works. They may also be known as functional birth defects. Many of these conditions affect multiple body parts or systems.
  
  

Types of developmental disabilities include:

      Nervous System Disabilities:

• These are birth defects that affect the functioning of the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system - which can impact intelligence and learning. These conditions can also cause problems such as behavioral disorders, speech or language difficulties, convulsions, and movement disorders. Some of the common nervous system disabilities include:
• Mental retardation (Down Syndrome and Fragile X Syndrome)
• Autism Spectrum Disorders.
  
  

      Sensory-related Disabilities:

• Sensory-related problems are often a key part of complex birth defect patterns. For instance:
• Children with congenital rubella are likely to be deaf and to develop cataracts of the eyes.
• Children with Williams syndrome have trouble seeing spatial relationships between objects around them.
• Those with Fragile X syndrome are often very sensitive to loud noises; they may overreact or have outbursts in reaction to such sounds.
  
  

      Metabolic Disorders: This group of functional birth defects affects a person's
      metabolism - which is the way the body builds up, breaks down, and otherwise 
      processes the materials it needs to function.  For example, how your body breaks
      down sugar to create energy is a metabolic process.  Two commonly known
      metabolic disorders include:

      Phenylketonuria (PKU)- a condition in which a problem with a specific enzyme, a
      protein that speeds up certain chemical reactions, causes mental retardation.

      Hypothyroidism - a hormonal condition that, if left untreated in an infant, can cause
      mental retardation.

• Degenerative Disorders:
  Some infants born with degenerative disorders appear normal at birth, but then lose abilities or functions due to the condition. In these cases, the defect is usually not detected until an older age when the child or person starts to show signs of loss of function. Some degenerative disorders are the result of metabolic disorders.
• Degenerative disorders can cause physical, mental, and sensory problems, depending on the specific defect. Rett Syndrome is an example of a degenerative birth defect. This disorder, which usually affects girls, is most often caused by a specific genetic abnormality.

DISCREET TRIAL TRAINING: (J)

• An instructional method in which the behavior analyst presents an instruction and waits for the learner’s response (the behavior analyst may give a prompt or cue if the learner seems uncertain). The behavior analyst then gives a reinforcer/reward for a correct response or, if the learner made an incorrect response, tells/shows the learner what the correct response should be. There is then a pause to indicate the end of one instruction interval and the beginning of the next.

INCIDENTAL TEACHING: (K)

• In incidental teaching, the teacher or caregiver takes advantage of naturally occurring situations in which to provide language-learning opportunities for the child. The situation or activity is selected by the child, with the teacher or caregiver following the child's lead or interest.  Incidental teaching strategies are designed to maximize reinforcement and facilitate generalization.
• In other words, the child’s interests, moment-to-moment, are taken advantage of to provide teaching opportunities of needed skills. Reinforcement is abundant!

NEUROBIOLOGY: (L)

• The biological study of the nervous system, or any part of it.

PERVASIVE DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDER – NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED (PDD-NOS): (Characteristics) (D)

• This label is used when severe impairments in reciprocal social interaction or communication skills are present or when stereotyped and restricted activities and interests are exhibited, but the criteria listed for the other disorders in the spectrum are not met completely. It is a borderline category and is sometimes referred to as "atypical autism."

PERVASIVE DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS (PDD):

• See "Autism Spectrum Disorder."

PICTURE EXCHANGE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM (PECS):

• The Picture Exchange Communication System is an augmentative tool to teach the nonverbal learner to use pictures to request desired items or activities.
• The child is taught the relationship between the real item and the picture of the item. When the learner desires an activity or item, he/she presents the behavior analyst (or another person) with the picture that corresponds with the item or activity desired. This can often be used as a pivotal skill to teach verbal communication.

PIVOTAL RESPONSE TRAINING (PRT): (M)

• Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) is a naturalistic intervention model derived from the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis. Rather than target individual behaviors one at a time, PRT targets pivotal areas of a child's development, such as motivation, responsivity to multiple cues, self-management, and social initiations. By targeting these critical areas, PRT results in widespread, collateral improvements in other social, communicative, and behavioral areas that are not specifically targeted. The underlying motivational strategies of PRT are incorporated throughout intervention as often as possible, and they include child choice, task variation, interspersing maintenance tasks, rewarding attempts, and the use of direct and natural reinforcers. The child plays a crucial role in determining the activities and objects that will be used in the PRT exchange. Intended attempts at the target behavior are rewarded with a natural reinforcer (e.g., If a child attempts a request for a stuffed animal, the child receives the animal, not a piece of candy or other unrelated reinforcer). Pivotal Response Treatment is used to teach language, decrease disruptive/self-stimulatory behaviors, and increase social, communication, and academic skills. The two primary pivotal areas of pivotal response therapy involve motivation and self-initiated activities. Three others are self-management, empathy, and the ability to respond to multiple signals, or cues. Play environments are used to teach pivotal skills, such as turn-taking, communication, and language. This training is child-directed: the child makes choices that direct the therapy. Emphasis is also placed upon the role of parents as primary intervention agents.

PURKINJE CELLS: (C)

• Any of numerous neurons of the cerebral cortex having large flask-shaped cell bodies with massive dendrites and one slender axon. Also called Purkinje corpuscle. 
• In humans, Purkinje cells are affected in a variety of diseases ranging from toxic exposure (alcohol, lithium), to autoimmune diseases and to genetic mutations (spinocerebellar ataxias, autism) and neurodegenerative diseases that are not thought to have a known genetic basis (cerebellar type of multiple system atrophy, sporadic ataxias).

RETT’S SYNDROME: (Characteristics) (D)

• Rett’s Syndrome differs from autism primarily in that it is associated with loss of previously acquired hand skills between ages 5 months and 30 months and onset of severe or profound mental retardation. Motor skills are replaced with repetitive movements of the hands. Rett’s Syndrome appears to be very rare. Little behavioral research has been conducted with persons with this diagnosis.

SHAPING: (A)

• Behavioral shaping is the differential reinforcement of successive approximations to a desired behavior.

TASK ANALYSIS: (A)

• A task analysis is a method in which a complex behavior is broken down into a series of smaller, teachable components.

REFERENCES

A. Cooper, John O., Heron, Timothy E., and Heward, William L. Applied Behavior Analysis. 1987.

B. Medical Dictionary. The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary. Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. As found on http://www.answers.com/topic/purkinje-cell.

C. Answers.com. http://www.answers.com/topic/purkinje-cell.

D. The Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. http://www.behavior.org/autism/.

E. Behavior Analyst, Inc. http://www.behavioranalysts.com/.

F. Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA). http://www.add.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=92488&orgId=atdda

G. First Signs. http://www.firstsigns.org/index.html.

H. Centre for Neuro Skills. http://www.neuroskills.com/tbi/bcerebel.shtml.

I. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/developmental_disabilities.cfm.

J. Special Education Service Agency (SESA). http://www.sesa.org/.

K. Article by Hart and Risley. http://www.educ.ttu.edu/edsp/burkhartproject/ModuleOne/Interventions/incidental_teaching.htm#.

L. Answers.com. http://www.answers.com/topic/neurobiology.

M. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pivotal_response_therapy. (Note: The article appearing on Wikipedia gives a good description of Pivotal Response Treatment and is derived from many source articles, including: Simpson, Koegel, Egel, Schreibman, Charlop, Camarata, Valdez-Menchaca, Dyer, Bell, Dunlap, O'Dell, and Williams.)