Promoting independence In Home and Employment Settings for Adults with Autism
Gregory S. MacDuff, Ph.D.
Independence may be defined as not being subject to the control of others or not relying on others. Prompt dependence has long been as issue for behavior analysts serving individuals with autism and because of the higher staff-to-learner ratios often found in programs serving adults, this issue is especially relevant in supported employment and life-skills training programs. This workshop will review individualized intervention programs designed for adults with autism in group homes, supervised apartments, and supported employment settings that use activity schedules and motivational systems to promote greater levels of independence. Prompt and prompt-fading procedures designed to bring behavior under the control of relevant environmental cues will also be discussed.
Gregory S. MacDuff, Ph.D. is Co-Executive Director of the Princeton Child Development Institute. He is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Applied Behavioral Sciences at the University of Kansas and the Department of Psychology at The College of New Jersey and he is a member of the Board of Directors for the New Jersey Association for Behavior Analysis. He has authored articles and book chapters on incidental teaching, photographic activity schedules, staff training strategies, prompt- and prompt-fading procedures, behavioral intervention for adults with autism and intervention models in residential settings. He has lectured nationally and internationally, and has provided consultation and training to a variety of public and private programs.