Hopefully, Most BCBA’s Aren’t Still Making Mistakes Like This

I did an evaluation where the child had an ABLLS (The Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills) completed. I noticed all the sections on answering questions were all checked off as mastered (i.e., who, what, when, where, which, why, and how). But when I met the student, and I started to ask him some questions, the student seemed incapable of communicating anything that I could understand. I thought he might be nervous or feeling uncomfortable, but he sure didn’t look nervous or uncomfortable. He was laughing, seemed to want to socially engage, and generally seemed to be having a good time.

The parent was present and so I took her outside to ask if I was doing something wrong. Why doesn’t he seem to be able to respond to anything I’m asking? The ABLLS seemed to suggest that he has these types of language skills. The parent reported that I was asking questions that aren’t mastered. She then pulled out lists of all the mastered questions. Sure, enough, if you asked him questions from the “mastered list,” he was very successful at answering them.

The ABLLS has items on it like, Answers “Where” questions, which is evaluated on a scale of 1-4. You score a 1 if the child answers 5 questions, a two for 10 questions, a 3 for 25 questions, and a 4 for 50 or more questions. The parent took out a list of 50 questions that were completely “mastered.” The student had completed hundreds, maybe thousands of hours of therapy to learn all of this, yet clearly, a lot of it was not very useful.

I’ve sometimes used this story as an example of how easy it is to completely waste therapy time and still have the data look good. This program had pages and pages of graphs of many, many behaviors that had been taught. So, the evaluation using the ABLLS looked good, as many of the boxes were filled in at the highest level of mastery.

The typical response that I’ve heard is that this isn’t a generic problem, simply an example of bad programming from someone not very well trained. Sure, this particular example is extreme. But I’ve seen similar problems come up over and over again. Are you focused on things that will look good temporarily or things that will make a real difference for the client?

Behavior analytic services should only be delivered in the context of a professional relationship. Nothing written in this blog should be considered advice for any specific individual. The purpose of the blog is to share my experience, not to provide treatment. Please get advice from a professional before making changes to behavior analytic services being delivered. Nothing in this blog including comments or correspondence should be considered an agreement for Dr. Barry D. Morgenstern to provide services or establish a professional relationship outside of a formal agreement to do so. I attempt to write this blog in “plain English” and avoid technical jargon whenever possible. But all statements are meant to be consistent with behavior analytic literature, practice, and the professional code of ethics. If, for whatever reason, you think I’ve failed in the endeavor, let me know and I’ll consider your comments and make revisions, if appropriate. Feedback is always appreciated as I’m always trying to Poogi.