Gregory, Kimberly
(2024)
Promoting Compassionate Care in an Alternate Education Setting: An Application of the Teaching Interaction Procedure.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is widely used in special education to support academic learning and prosocial behavioral skill development. ABA grew rapidly from the development of Early Intensive Behavior Intervention in the 1970’s to become a modern ‘treatment’ for autism and other disabilities. ABA was founded and refined under the medical model of disability and has been marketed as a method to make autistic individuals ‘indistinguishable from their peers’. With this history, there is widespread controversy around ABA and advocacy against the practice. Autistic adults frequently report physical or emotional harm caused by ABA in their childhood, having been subjected to harsh and stringent practices. Practitioners of ABA are reforming practices and adopting a more compassionate approach. The ABA literature is beginning to operationally define compassionate care in behavior analytic terms and literature in this topic is steadily increasing.
This study attempted to provide training to paraprofessionals to build skills related to compassionate care. The teaching interaction procedure was used to teach the skills of building and repairing relationships, acknowledging assent and assent withdrawal, and setting and holding boundaries. In class performance feedback provided real-time coaching to reinforce the skills and promote generalization to students in the classroom.
Student interviews confirmed the value of the student-teacher relationship and provided social validity of the goals. Participants completed the Compassion Scale and the Beliefs About Behavior Scale to assess preexisting levels of compassion and underlying beliefs about factors that relate to student behavior. During each in-classroom observation, each discrete step of the skill was documented for a total percent accuracy score. Each participant demonstrated the ability to use these skills in the classroom with students. The paraprofessionals viewed the skills positively, believed they would have an impact on students, and would recommend them to other staff.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
9 July 2024 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
6 May 2024 |
| Approval Date: |
9 July 2024 |
| Submission Date: |
18 June 2024 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
120 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Education > Instruction and Learning |
| Degree: |
DMD - Doctor of Dental Medicine |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
applied behavior analysis, compassion, teaching interaction procedure, paraprofessional |
| Date Deposited: |
09 Jul 2024 14:55 |
| Last Modified: |
09 Jul 2024 14:55 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/46583 |
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