Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a chronic neurodevelopmental condition of early childhood onset characterized by social communication deficits, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors. In addition to the defining features, as many as 50% of children with ASD exhibit behavioral problems, including tantrums, noncompliance, and aggression. These behaviors interfere with the performance of daily living skills, limit the child’s ability to benefit from educational services, and may increase social isolation. Uncertainty on how to manage these behavioral problems may also amplify caregiver stress. The recognized struggles parents face in raising a child with ASD have sparked increased interest in evidence-based parent training (PT) programs, as they empower parents to be the agent of change for their child. The Research Unit on Behavioral Interventions (RUBI) Autism Network developed a manualized parent training program that utilizes techniques grounded in Applied Behavior Analysis to teach families of children with ASD how to manage their child’s behavioral problems. We conducted a series of studies on the RUBI program and found that it is acceptable to parents, can be reliably delivered by trained therapists, and reduces children’s noncompliant and disruptive behavior.

Introductory Workshop 1 provides an overview of disruptive behaviors in ASD, followed by a review of the development and empirical investigation of the RUBI Parent Training program as a novel treatment for disruptive behavior in ASD. Introductory Workshop 2 provides an in-depth review of content for the 11 Core and 7 Supplemental RUBI sessions.

Target Audience: Professionals for whom the topic is within their scope of practice. We welcome students and others who are also interested in the topic to join us.

 

 

After attending this webinar participants should be able to:

• Identify the four key concepts that form the overarching framework of the RUBI program. 

• Identify the content and structure of the 11 Core and 7 Supplemental RUBI sessions

• Identify successful homework strategies corresponding to each RUBI session. 

• Identify core aspects of RUBI in action through case examples.

Karen Bearss is Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington. She earned her B.S. in Psychology as well as her M.S. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Florida. Prior to joining the UW community, she served as an Associate Research Scientist at the School of Nursing and Child Study Center at Yale University and Assistant Professor at Emory University where her work focused on parenting interventions for children with disruptive behaviors, as well as the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based treatments into community mental health centers. At UW, her research continues to focus on developing, evaluating and implementing evidence-based parenting interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Dr. Bearss also directs the RUBI Clinic at the Seattle Children’s Autism Center.

Disclosure Statement:

Dr. Bearss receives residual payments from Oxford University Press through their sales of the RUBI Clinician Manual and accompanying Parent Workbook. Dr. Bearss also receives speaker fees for presenting this and all other webinars in the RUBI Parent Training Instructional Series.

10:30 am: Introduction
10:35 am: Webinar begins
12:30 pm: 15 minute break
12:45 pm: First Q&A session
12:55 pm Webinar resumes
2:30 pm: Second Q&A session
2:45 pm: Evaluation, post-test and attendance code submission forms