Promoting Desired Lifestyles Among Adults With Severe Autism and Intellectual Disabilities

Dennis H. Reid is the founder and director of the Carolina Behavior Analysis and Support Center. His company has more than 25 years of experience providing assisted employment to persons with severe disabilities. Dr. Dennis Reid has more than 45 years of experience working with individuals with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism, in educational, residential, vocational, and community support settings. He has provided advice to human services organizations in most US states, as well as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. He has written or co-written 15 books and more than 140 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on applied behavior analysis. He earned the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities International Research Award in 2006 and Fellowship membership in the Association for Behavior Analysis International in 2007. Mary Rosswurm is the mother of an adult son with autism and Chief Executive Officer of LittleStar ABA Therapy. She has 18 years of professional experience working with individuals with autism. She has held various leadership positions in the field of disabilities, including those with the Council of Autism Service Providers and the Association of Science in Autism Treatment. She has also held leadership positions on the Indiana Commission on Autism and the Indiana Providers of Effective Autism Treatment, both of which she founded. She has numerous professional articles, such as in Behavior Analysis in Practice and The Behavior Analyst Today, and she co-authored The Training Curriculum for Supervisors of ABA Technicians. Mary has made many presentations at professional conferences such as the Autism Speaks Law Summit and Conference of the Association for Behavior Analysis International. She is currently completing her doctoral work in Leadership and Organizational Development at Benedictine University.

"Whether one reads the whole book cover to cover, chapter by chapter, or starts out with browsing for a specific topic of interest, and then dive deeper, this guidebook is formatted beautifully to serve as a reference that incorporates detailed descriptions of recommended guidelines for implementation. It will serve as a teaching tool with careful consideration taken of, and described from all perspectives, first and foremost, the individuals who have severe disabilities. Paid direct support staff who provide the day-to-day care, as well as natural supports and family members, supervisors and other clinicians, are all considered and addressed as to how they might take important steps that can change lives while increasing their own joy and job satisfaction. The chapter summary with key points at the end of each chapter clearly summarizes content that is complex and detailed, as needed. Case illustrations incorporated depict examples of people receiving support; which improves readers’ understanding, demonstrates actual applications of guidelines, and shares meaningful outcomes for each person. I am beyond grateful to these authors, Dr. Reid and Ms. Rosswurm, for taking the time and making the effort to write this book. I am also appreciative for how thoughtfully and thoroughly each topic is covered and the extent to which content is compiled." --Diane Berth, Mom, LPA, BCBA"Rarely does a book come along that is both relevant to current issues few others are addressing and written in such a clear and straightforward manner to make it accessible to everyone. “Promoting Desired Lifestyles. . .” is such a book. Reid and Rosswurm have succeeded in showing that there are no real obstacles to blending and integrating person-centered approaches and behavior analysis.The book is structured in a way that makes the main ideas very easy to identify, implement, and retain. Throughout each chapter are bolded and boxed short summaries that convey the main ideas of the preceding section in a clear and understandable way. The concepts in each section are easily recognizable to the behavior analyst as evidence-based practices, yet the presentation is not complicated by excessively technical terms, descriptions, or detail.This book is designed to guard against such behaviors by stressing the need for conditions, practices, and procedures that foster self-direction and self-advocacy. In time, this perspective will hopefully become commonplace, and fostering the many other determinants of happiness that the person brings to the life experience, self-efficacy, optimism, hope, humor, or courage can become the focus of our work." --Springer, Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders Journal

• Section I: Introduction To Promoting Desired Lifestyles 1. Overview of Promoting Desired Lifestyles Among Adults with Severe Autism and Intellectual Disabilities2. The Critical Roles of Behavior Analysis and Person-Centeredness3. Laying the Foundation I: Evidence-Based Identification of Individual Desires4. Laying the Foundation II: Identifying Valid Indices of Happiness Section II: Promoting Day-to-Day Happiness5. Actively Promoting Good Relationships6. Providing Choice Opportunities7. Ensuring Access to Preferences8. Making Undesirable Situations More Desirable Section III: Special Considerations in Promoting Desired Lifestyles9. The Qualified Role of Teaching10. Person-Centeredness, Behavior Analysis, and Treating Challenging Behavior11. Training, Supervising, and Motivating Front-Line Staff12. Treating with Dignity Section IV: Selected Readings