Behavior Modification

As a result of prowling around the Internet for a while, I’ve been assembling resources about applications of behavioral principles to problems relevant to the content of this blog. Of course, one of the foremost areas of application is improving the lives of individuals with autism. Indeed, applied behavior analysis (ABA) is sometimes misunderstood as a synonym for the discrete trial training procedures associated most closely with the work Ivar Lovaas and his colleagues. Although they shouldn’t be considered synonymous, there is a great deal of communality.

But, that’s a topic for another post. This post is just an opportunity to list a few of the blogs that one can follow and learn about the application of behavior analysis to autism.

1. ABA4AUTISM or Other Neuropsychological Disorders is the blog of Gary Brown, Ph.D. Professor Brown offers many insights predicated on his extensive experience in both clinical and academic fora. Here’s a link to the blog and here are links to the companion Web sites at ABA4Autism.com and Children’s Treatment Center of Martin (TN, US)
2. The Lovaas Institute Blog, which has been going for a year as of this November, is a group blog that focuses on applications of behavior analysis in schools, homes, and communities. The posts are chocked full of sensible suggestions, with sufficient detail to permit knowledgeable people to understand what’s to be done and how to do it. See the Lovaas Institute Blog and the main site for the Lovaas Institute.
3. Chris Whalen, Ph.D. & BCBA, who founded TeachTown maintains Dr. Chris’ Autism Journal. She posts not only about developments at TT but also about other topics (news, research, other resources about autism, etc.). Catch the blog at http://drchris.teachtown.com/ and the affiliated Web site at http://web.teachtown.com/.
4. Angela Mouzakitis, BCBA, who is a professor at CUNY Hunter College whos is concerned with early childhood special education and is certified as a school psychologist, special education teacher, and behavior analyst, maintains Applied Behavior Analysis: Current Topics. Autism is one of the many topics she covers; see the autism-tagged entries from her blog.
5. Elizabeth Wells, BCBA, has been maintaining a blog since September 2006. She also has a site about behavior analysis that she calls Ask the Behavior Analyst. She’s offering consulting about problems associated with disabilities; coaching for individuals and parents about applying principles of behavior analysis; consultations, for school, day care, and senior care; and a host of other services. The site is at AskTheBehaviorAnalyst.com and the blog’s at thebehavioranalyst.wordpress.com

This is surely not an exhaustive list. Please feel free to identify others by dropping a comment. In the long run, I’m hoping to assemble a list of these sorts of resources, organized around different areas of application, so readers can even drop references to sources that focus on applying behavior analysis procedures to other areas related to behavior modification.