Severe problem behavior is not inevitable for children or adolescents with autism or with an intellectual disability, but the probability of a repertoire of problem behavior developing is much higher for these children and adolescents. When severe problem behavior becomes routine, highly restrictive and sometimes joyless lifestyles develop for families.
FTF Consultants are expert in assessing and treating severe problem behavior. They are skilled in building capacity and confidence in others to safely and quickly assess and effectively treat severe problem behavior. FTF Consultants are equipped with a proven effective and generally applicable assessment and treatment process that puts safety and dignity before all else. Despite our assumption that extraordinary forms of problem behavior are usually learned from ordinary interactions, we take the universal precaution that all children have experienced trauma in situations like those in which people report problem behavior to be prevalent. The result is our commitment to open-door therapy models in which clients choose to participate and conversely may withdraw assent at any time. We also train others in the shared assumption that problem behavior is occasioned by an interaction of contextual factors and strengthened by personally unique combinations of events experienced following episodes of severe problem behavior or their precursors.
We build capacity in others to implement an efficient model of assessment and treatment within a three-step process.
- Training
- Synchronous Assessment Design and Implementation Support
- Asynchronous Treatment Design and Implementation Support
The first step is training and is usually completed via 10 hour on-demand course.
The second step is process design and implementation support. FTF Consultants guide the process of designing both the analysis and treatment process for three children or clients served by the organization. FTF consultants then provide synchronous consultation while professionals implement the analysis. A period of reflection is then scheduled to discuss that which was learned and to plan the treatment from the analysis results. The treatment process is then outlined for each client and treatment is often initiated on this day.
The third step involves weekly consultative support via Zoom videoconferencing. Through evaluation of uploaded videos, data sheets, and graphs, an FTF Consultant supports the host organization’s personnel in progressing the treatment until critical social skills are developed under the conditions that used to occasion severe problem behavior. Support often continues until treatment is extended to relevant people and contexts and a socially meaningful impact is achieved.
