A Practical Guide for Finding Interventions That Work for Autistic People

Dr. Susan Wilczynski is the Plassman Family Distinguished Professor at Ball State University, a licensed psychologist, and a board-certified behavior analyst. She holds a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion certificate from Cornell University. Susan conducts research on training practitioners to use the diversity affirming evidence-based practice decision-making model, which strongly emphasizes social validity, quality of life, and person-centered care. She serves on the nursing division of Wolters-Kluwer Publishing House’s diversity advisory board. Susan is the former Coordinator for ABAI’s Practice Board, served on their Task Force for the Promotion of Quality and Values-Based ABA, and on their Licensing Committee. As the former Executive Director of the National Autism Center, she chaired the first National Standards Project, the most comprehensive systematic review of behavioral and educational interventions supporting Autistic people of its time. She developed the first center-based intervention program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Susan has edited and/or written multiple books, including Postsecondary Transition for College- or Career-Bound Autistic Students. She has published in numerous journals such as Behavior Analysis in Practice, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, and Psychology in the Schools.

Section I: Evidence-based practice as a treatment selection model.
1. A brief overview
2. Ethics and evidence-based practice

Section II: Sources and strength of evidence
3. Evidence: Critically evaluating outcomes of single-subject research design studies
4. Systematic reviews
5. Alternate sources of evidence
6. Overestimating or underestimating evidence in behavior analysis

Section III: Social Validity and Initial Intervention Selection
7. Three dimensions of social validity
8. Social validity and your client
9. Social validity and interested parties

Section IV: Professional Judgment
10. Research alone is not the answer
11. Consensus-building without marginalizing Autistic clients
12. Initial intervention selection
13. Progress monitoring
14. What next?

Section V: Conclusions
15. Putting it all together for ethical service delivery