Ep25 Non-Compliance Doesn’t Mean Defiance- Assent, Consent Follow-Up (Ethics)

Atypical Behavior Analyst

There was a lot of discussion in the chat during our previous LIVE Assent and Consent talk so we wanted to take some time to address those comments and questions. In this follow-up, we meet again with Nyetta, Jennifer, Sarah, Summer, and introducing Treichae, to talk more in depth about specific aspects of consent, token economies, and generalized compliance issues. Again, disclaimer, some of the topics addressed may cause some discomfort and that’s okay! Take some time to sit in that uncomfortable state and learn more about yourself and how you interact with your client and their world.

Learning Objectives:

1. Discriminate between will versus skill versus communication abilities in regard to instruction following and “compliance”.
2. Discuss interoceptive experiences and how these should be considered when creating and implementing programs and recommendations.
3. Describe ethical considerations when teaching a variety of skills from safety to instruction following.
4. Examine how one’s own culture and the culture of clients should be handled in order to promote success.
5. Discuss the ethical considerations when implementing escape extinction and token boards.

Take Aways- your bite-sized educational noms

- While people may be inclined to see refusal to complete a task as just that, refusal. How often do we explore the “why?”. When analyzing “behavior”, behavior analysts should look beyond the ABC diagram to ensure that all variables and potential competing contingencies are taken into account before recommending interventions. Sometimes, people don’t do things because they don’t understand, they don’t have the repertoire to say “all done” or “it’s too hard”. The assumption that “non-compliance = defiance” is inappropriate without further exploration.

- Humans are complex, from child to adult. Each person should be viewed as an individual without the assumption that “most” recommendations will work regardless of further analysis. The individuals we work with come with their own histories of learning, reinforcement, and punishment. We aren’t always made aware of a person’s internal processings but that doesn’t mean they should be ignored.

- There are moments in life that BCBAs may need to break bodily autonomy and act “more aggressively” to ensure the safety of clients. BUT, BCBAs should proactive and have these uncomfortable conversations before the potential scenario unfolds to ensure teaching and learning rather than fear and potential long-term discomfort.

Worth 1.5 Learning, 1.5 Ethics CEUs

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