We were greatly saddened to learn of the passing of Tameika Meadows, a great BCBA, author of the I Love ABA blog, and advocate for the power of behavior analysis. Tameika was also one of our earliest supporters and it was a real treat when we finally had her join as our guest. In honor of her contributions to the field, we’re rebroadcasting that episode and donating all CE fees raised for it from now until June 2023 to Black Applied Behavior Analysts (BABA). Tameika was scheduled to talk at the BABA conference as one of their invited speakers. While a donation is a poor substitute to her presence, we know what is raised will go to promoting behavior analysts in the Black community as a part of the legacy she leaves behind.

Though many of us have probably spent much of our careers fretting over how we can help autistic children stop engaging in stereotypic or seemingly ritualistic behavior, have we spent enough time asking whether attending to these unique interests might actually be beneficial? This week we’re joined by Tameika Meadows from I Love ABA to flip the script on that old chestnut and see what research tells us about all of the benefits to appreciating a person’s preferences, no matter how different they may be.

This episode is available for 1.0 LEARNING CEU. All funds for this episode from December 2022-June 2023 will be donated to BABA. Click here to go to the store page.

Articles discussed this episode:

Baker, M.J. (2000). Incorporating the thematic ritualistic behaviors of children with autism into games: Increasing social play interactions with siblings. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 2, 66-84. doi: 10.1177/109830070000200201

Vismara, L.A. & Lyons, G.L. (2007). Using perseverative interests to elicit joint attention behaviors in young children with autism: Theoretical and clinical implications for understanding motivation. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 9, 214-228. doi: 10.1177/10983007070090040401

Boyd, B.A., Conroy, M.A., Mancil, G.R., Nakao, T., & Alter, P.J. (2007). Effects of circumscribed interests on the social behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 1550-1561. doi: 10.1007/s10803-006-0286-8

Davey, L. (2020). Using the special interests of autistic children to facilitate meaningful engagement and learning. Good Autism Practice, 21, 43-64.

Bannerman, D.J., Sheldon, J.B., Sherman, J.A., & Harchik, A.E. (1990). Balancing the right to habilitiation with the right to personal liberties: The rights of people with developmental disabilities to eat too many doughnuts and take a nap. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 23, 79-89. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1990.23-79

If you're interested in ordering CEs for listening to this episode, click here to go to the store page. You'll need to enter your name, BCBA #, and the two episode secret code words to complete the purchase. Email us at abainsidetrack@gmail.com for further assistance.