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season 3

The Hoot Chronicles XIX – The Checklist Manifesto

October 18, 2022 //  by ABA Owls//  Leave a Comment

Hello everyone,

This episode of The Hoot Chronicles came out on 17th October and you can listen to it on our podcast Chirping with ABA Owls. This should take you to our podcast page or you can listen on iTunes, Podbean and other podcasting apps. 

Every month, we discuss a book or article(s) that we find interesting – For this episode, we moved away from autism, went into the medical field and covered The Checklist Manifesto by Dr. Atul Gawande


About the author

Dr. Gawande is a surgeon, writer and public health leader. He is currently serving under the Biden-Harris administration as Assistant Administrator of Global Health Development at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

There is a quite vast list of accomplishments, which you are welcome to read about in Wikipedia or on his website: http://atulgawande.com/ (but just as a warning, when I opened this last website, it said the connection was not protected). 


Who should read this book?

Anyone. The way the book is written allows it to reach pretty much every reader in the world.


What is covered in the book?

Through his own experiences, Dr Gawande shows us how checklists are important in a variety of contexts and how he brought them into his own practice as a surgeon.
The book explores how situations as complex as flying a plane, building an edifice and performing surgery, can be aided by a checklist. This is not to say that checklists are perfect, as anything, they can be flawed. However, it is important to carry on perfecting them so they can support people. Even though the book delves into the use of checklists in a professional environment, they can be used by anyone in any setting.

Dr Gawade discusses how he worked on a project with WHO (World Health Organisation) on developing a surgery checklist that could be used on a global scale – I’m not sure if they had a behaviour analyst on this project, but from reading the book, probably not.
They tested the checklist in 8 different hospitals across the world in rich, poor and middle class environments. After 3 months of the pilot study starting, nearly all hospitals reported that the checklist helped them correct errors in procedures, prevent errors from occurring and deaths from surgeries decreased by 47% !
At the end of the trial period, they asked the people who used the checklist to fill out an anonymous survey. 80% of the people surveyed found the checklist easy to use, 20% didn’t. But when asked “if you were having this operation, would you want the checklist used?” and 93% said yes! Social Validity – super important in ABA!

The book highlights a few key features a checklist should have: Pause points (when the checks happen), Communication (aka teams talking to each other) and focusing on important and critical steps (as opposed to going through every single little one).

The book also explains how they perfected the checklist for the surgical setting – revising what was needed to stay, keeping it brief, quick and efficient, simulating situations and training staff.


Where can you get the book?

Physical book
Ebay: £ 4.43
Amazon: £8.18
Book Depository: £8.18
Blackwell: £8.18
AbeBooks: £3.74 (not including shipping)
World of Books: £4.19
Waterstones: £9.99

Online version
Apple Books: $10.99
Audible: £19.99
Not found in: Google books (only a sample).


Extra Resources and Links

https://www.who.int/news/item/11-12-2010-checklist-helps-reduce-surgical-complications-deaths

https://www.who.int/news/item/04-12-2015-who-checklist-targets-major-causes-of-maternal-and-newborn-deaths-in-health-facilities

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa0810119


We hope you’ve found this helpful, we will try our best to publish blog posts as the podcast episodes come out.

You can also follow us on Instagram (@ABA_owls), send us an email on aba.owls.uk@gmail.com or leave us a comment below.

Thank you for reading,

Carla and Lauren

Category: Recent Posts, season 3, The Hoot Chronicles

Season 3, Episode 2 – The Witching Hour

October 7, 2022 //  by ABA Owls//  Leave a Comment

Welcome!

On the ABA Owls podcast episode for October, we’re visiting the supernatural again! In case you’d like to listen, you can go to our podcast page or use your preferred podcast app and search “Chirping with ABA Owls” – we’re on iTunes, Podbean and other platforms.

If you prefer to read rather than listen, carry on with this post.


A Brief Summary

Witches have been a subject of fascination and fear for centuries, and we find it very interesting to discuss the behaviours of people around them. Our analysis or opinions are dependent on the information available – usually in behaviour analysis you have to observe the behaviour. This means that our comments and their accuracy have limitations due to the lack of first hand observation.


What is Witchcraft and Who were Witches?

Most people are probably aware of the prosecution of women in North America, labelling them witches.
Quite often it gets compared to what happened in Europe, but truth be told, in Europe it was more about the church and the inquisition obtaining power – even though women were more likely to be trialled and killed, a lot of men and children were also killed.
This was a way to obtain that family’s possessions – being labelled a witch was probably the fastest way to dispose of someone.

It is fair to say that throughout the centuries and millennia we’ve seen humans demonstrating a certain pattern when it comes to the unknown – they destroy it. When people fear what they don’t know, they are more likely to destroy it rather than understand it.

Many women labelled witches were people with more understanding of plants, ointments, and remedies. They were able to help others by using science (or, the closest they had at the time). When the people who were supposed to be the healers were outdone by people who were not the “official” or the “proper” healers, it certainly created tension. Probably the fear of losing their power made them act out to destroy the ones who could take their power and control.


Why

Why were witches persecuted? A lot of historians and experts will say there was mass hysteria, that people were reading all sorts of information about witches and would act on it. If you ever read any of the witch trials testimonies, you will notice the complete ABSENCE of evidence. Even the circumstantial evidence was a joke – for today’s standards.
The first woman recorded to die due to a witchcraft trial was Bridget Bishop – some of the statements from her trial are: “several people testified against Bishop, stating that the shape of Bishop would pinch, choke or bite them […] during the trial, any time Bishop would look upon one of her accusers, they would be immediately struck down and only her touch would revive them” (from the wikipedia page).

We laugh now, but the same behaviour is seen on social media. The witch hunt, not just on women now, it feels as if everyone is always on trial. Evidence seems to be useless for the general public, and a clickbait video is enough to convince them they have learned everything about the situation, and that they are well informed. 

Luckily, trial and law proceedings have evolved quite a lot since, and even though it’s not perfect it’s much better than it was in the past. 
We have the resources and ability to research and make smart, evidence based decisions – but this seems irrelevant in many situations. Whether it is how they judge others via social media, or how they teach children.


How

How do witches relate to ABA?

It’s all about behaviour! We are well aware that there are other factors involved, such as the brain’s reaction to fear, how we react to protect ourselves, etc.  There are many behaviours to unpick, so we will discuss people’s fear of witches.

Why and how did the fear of witches develop? The why of it all, in our opinion, was because there were people who wanted to maintain their power and their status. Having women who could be their competition would take away that power, and it was not acceptable to them. Turning the general population against these “witches” was the fastest way to get people to avoid them, and by executing them it serves as an example of the consequences of defying their power and authority.

What behaviours were involved in this? Quite a lot. From mouth to mouth inaccurate information spreading, to publishing books about witches, to creating false witness accounts, etc.
If we look back at the quote mentioned earlier, regarding Bridget Bishop’s trial, “any time Bishop would look upon one of her accusers, they would be immediately struck down and only her touch would revive them” – essentially, all that was needed was to make eye contact with her, throw themselves onto the floor, and when they felt her touch them (she was probably physically forced to) all they had to do was open their eyes and get up. This is all behaviour – all of it are actions people choose to have. Why the “witnesses” choose to act this way, we don’t know. They could’ve been coerced into false accounts to prevent being punished themselves? We have no way of knowing. 

But this fear of witches is not just the fight or flight response in action – it’s active behaviour with the purpose of shaping other people’s behaviour into making other people believe in something. It’s actively taking action against something or someone.

We are aware that some people believe in witchcraft, the same way some people believe in catholicism, buddhism, etc, we are not saying it doesn’t exist. What we are saying is that a lot of work (and actions) were taken into having the fear of witches spread across the world.


End Thoughts

We love a witch and are fascinated by the topic – if you’d like to hear more comments from us, you are welcome to listen to the podcast episode.


Resources and Links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft_Suppression_Act,_1957

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridget_Bishop

Witches, Midwives and Nurses by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

The Crucible (1996)


We hope you’ve enjoyed this post (and the podcast episode, if you’ve listened to it). 

You can also follow us on Instagram (@ABA_owls), send us an email on aba.owls.uk@gmail.com or leave us a comment below.

Thank you for reading,

Carla and Lauren

Category: Recent Posts, season 3

The Hoot Chronicles XVIII – ABA and Dementia

September 19, 2022 //  by ABA Owls//  Leave a Comment

Hello everyone,

This episode of The Hoot Chronicles came out on 19th September and you can listen to it on our podcast Chirping with ABA Owls. This should take you to our podcast page or you can listen on iTunes, Podbean and other podcasting apps. 

Every month, we discuss a book or article(s) that we find interesting – For this episode, we delve into a study done on needle phobia. Most specifically: Increasing activity attendance and engagement in individuals with dementia using descriptive prompts.

This study was published in 2008 and we will add the links for it at the end of this post. 


About the authors

There are 4 authors, all from Saint Cloud State University. We will give you a bit of information on the first author, Shasta Breske.

Breske’s experience ranges from implementing early intervention ABA services at the Croyden Avenue School to being a leader of multidisciplinary patient care teams, and acting as state director of a national network of health and human services providers. 
In 2017 she established Bright Behaviour, Inc. which serves and supports children ages 2-7 diagnosed with Autism, Down syndrome., and developmental delays.
You can find out more on their website: https://brightbehaviorinc.com 


What is the topic?

It is a journal article to demonstrate the research conducted to assess whether people with dementia  will increase their attendance and engagement in activities if these activities are described to them.


Who should read this article?

A wide range of people and professionals could benefit from reading this article – anyone who supports people with dementia (carers, nurses, family members, etc.).

The article does have some ABA jargon but it’s still understandable for people who are not in the ABA field.


Where can you get the article?

There are various online platforms, such as google scholar, wiley library, research gate, etc. You can find this article on the National Library of Medicine and Research Gate.


We hope you’ve found this helpful, we will try our best to publish blog posts as the podcast episodes come out.

You can also follow us on Instagram (@ABA_owls), send us an email on aba.owls.uk@gmail.com or leave us a comment below.

Thank you for reading,

Carla and Lauren

Category: Chirping with ABA Owls, Recent Posts, season 3, The Hoot Chronicles

Season 3, Episode 1 – PECS II

September 5, 2022 //  by ABA Owls//  Leave a Comment

Welcome!

On the ABA Owls podcast episode for September, we’ve decided to return to the topic of PECS. In case you’d like to listen, you can go to our podcast page or use your preferred podcast app and search “Chirping with ABA Owls” – we’re on iTunes, Podbean and other platforms.

If you prefer to read rather than listen, carry on with this post.


A brief summary

PECS was developed in the U.S.A. in 1985 by Andy Bondy and Lori Frost. Dr. Bondy is an innovative leader in the field of autism and applied behaviour analysis and has directed a statewide public school system for students with autism for fourteen years. 

Lori Frost is vice-president and co-founder of Pyramid Educational Consultants. Ms Frost has a wealth of background in functional communication training and applied behaviour analysis and has assisted in the development of a number of training packages designed to teach language and academic skills.

If you would like to hear more about the history of PECS, and the whys and hows, feel free to listen to our episode from November 2020.


PECS and ABA

The more we learn about PECS, the more we notice how much ABA is ingrained into it. 

PECS looks into:

  1. Functional objectives – teaches learners the skills they need for when they leave school, and emphasise the importance of independence.
  2. Powerful reinforcement systems – what is rewarding for learners and to be aware of the changes over time. As we say in the ABA field, motivation is fluid, it evolves and changes over time. Being mindful of this and being able to adapt, allows us to effectively reinforce our clients with stimuli they actually like.
  3. Communication and social skills – this section of the training manual is based on the work of B.F. Skinner in his book Verbal Behavior from 1957.
  4. Preventing and reducing inappropriate behaviours – they have a different way of describing it, but it is essentially looking at the function of the behaviour. Gain access to reinforcement or items (tangible), escape or avoid activities or tasks (avoidance or escape).
  5. Generalisation – is paramount and throughout the course it focused a lot on where the skill is going and how it is going to benefit the learner in their growth towards independence. Generalisation is planned early on, just like it is done in ABA (or how it should be done).
  6. Prompting – PECS uses four levels of prompting: verbal, gestural, modelling and physical prompts. As any ABA practitioner will tell you, they use the same type of prompting.
  7. 4-step error correction procedure – similar to ABA error correction and they use it when teaching communication, requests and other skills. PECS is not just about asking for things, it’s also about other forms of communication across the verbal operants.
  8. Collecting and analysing data – they collect data on their learner’s progress and use it to make necessary changes.
  9. Verbal Operants – written by Andy Bondy, it goes through pre-requisite skills and how PECS and verbal operants work together.

If you’d like to hear some of the examples we discuss within each area, feel free to listen to our episode.


End Thoughts

We find PECS to be a well set up system, organised in a way that teaches people to communicate effectively and in a functional manner.

We highly recommend doing the PECS courses, which you can access online – have a look at their website https://pecs.com/ and select your region.


We hope you’ve enjoyed this post (and the podcast episode, if you’ve listened to it). 

You can also follow us on Instagram (@ABA_owls), send us an email on aba.owls.uk@gmail.com or leave us a comment below.

Thank you for reading,

Carla and Lauren

Category: Chirping with ABA Owls, Recent Posts, season 3

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