One in 91 children in West Virginia is diagnosed with autism, a developmental disorder that appears in the first three years of life and affects the brain’s normal development of social and communication skills.

Researchers and faculty at West Virginia University are performing videoed training sessions to help children with autism reach their full potential by teaching their families how to perform applied behavior analysis therapy. Applied behavior analysis is a sub discipline of psychology that focuses on how changes in the environment can affect behavior.

WVU psychology professor Dr. Claire St. Peter Pipkin is collaborating on this project with Dr. Mark Clingan and other staff from the Center for Excellence in Disabilities at WVU with funding provided from the Health Resources Services Administration.

According to St. Peter Pipkin, there is already substantial evidence supporting early, intensive intervention for autism based on applied behavior analysis.

“The research should provide an immediate benefit to families of children with autism in West Virginia because it will increase the availability of treatment resources,” she said. “Training parents to implement applied behavioral analysis therapy may also help reduce their stress levels.”

If using videoed training is effective, it could greatly increase the access of rural children with autism to empirically based intervention.

This grant supports a research project aimed at ways of teaching parents of children with autism to correctly implement an intervention for autism based on applied behavior analysis.

“This grant will allow people outside the immediate area to benefit from training and to develop skills that will enable them to play a key role in the development of their children’s essential skills,” Clingan said. “The Center for Excellence in Disabilities is proud to expand existing services to a greater portion of West Virginians.”

“There are currently some major barriers to rural children with autism receiving treatments based on applied behavior analysis,” St. Peter Pipkin said.

“First, there are not many people in the state who are well-trained on how to do the intervention. Second, parents who live near someone trained often can’t afford to pay for regular teaching sessions,” she said. “We are testing whether parents can be trained to implement the intervention through the use of written or videoed instructions.

“Although we are specifically targeting young children with autism who live in rural West Virginia, the use of this technology also has implications for the treatment of other populations that struggle to access resources, such as low-income parents in urban areas.”

The Center for Excellence in Disabilities provides services for children with autism in a clinic setting at its main office in Morgantown.

According to Clingan, this is not the first time the two departments have collaborated. Doctoral students from the psychology department have received graduate assistantships from the center for the past several years to help with research activities.

“The project also provides the opportunity for the Center for Excellence in Disabilities to continue in its initiative in training young professionals,” Clingan said. “In addition to psychology, students from various disciplines will have the opportunity to learn from their work with this project.”

-WVU-

jh 10/20/10

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