IN-PERSON OR LIVE STREAM THROUGH BEHAVIOR LIVE
The mission of the VBC is to highlight, support, and mentor practitioners and researchers who utilize the theoretical, practical and empirical information about verbal behavior in their professions. The conference is organized and hosted each year by the Central Texas Autism Center and its founder, Kelle Rich, BCBA, LBA.
Early Speech Learners: Assessment and Program Planning with the EESAPP
Echoic skills, the ability to repeat a speech model, play a major role in early speech development. One such role is to establish sound-making as a reinforcing activity. Another is to fast-track the learning of other important vocal language skills, beyond just repeating what is heard. These critical skills include asking for, commenting on, or having conversations about things, people, activities, and the like. No matter the age of the early speech learner, it is useful to assess and track echoic skills as the foundation of a set of complex behaviors that result in vocal-verbal language. In this presentation, Dr. Esch will discuss the role of the echoic verbal operant within overall vocal language learning, how echoic skills are analyzed in terms of syllable complexity and why this is prioritized over precise articulation for beginning speakers, and how to use echoic assessment information to build a beginning speech-language program. As the basis for this workshop, Dr. Esch will show and discuss materials from her newly published second edition of the EESAPP: Early Echoic Skills Assessment and Program Planner, Guide and Protocol. Attendees will complete worksheets and program planning tasks from the Work Packet contained in the EESA's Protocol manual, with the goal that, by the end of the workshop, attendees will have a sample beginning speech program for their unique learner.
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6 BACB LRN CE’s | March 26, 2025 at the Commons Learning Center |
$200 for virtual or in-person workshop only
register NowThe VBC reaches 100’s of professional from all over the world each year. We are looking for sponsors and exhibitors that want to be highlighted as supporters of this conference’s mission and who support the science of ABA, families with autism and other developmental disabilities and practitioners.
Interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at the Live Resource Fair? Contact us at ctac@ctac1.com.
Dr. Patrick McGreevy received B.S. and M.A. degrees in Psychology and Special Education, respectively, from the University of Iowa. He was a special education teacher for eight years, working with children and young adults with moderate-to-severe developmental disabilities. He received the Ph.D. degree in Education from Kansas University under the guidance of Ogden R. Lind ... Read More + sley. He has served on the faculties of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Louisiana State University, the University of Central Florida, and the Florida Institute of Technology. He is the author of Teaching and Learning in Plain English, an introduction to Precision Teaching, and the founder and first editor of the Journal of Precision Teaching and Standard Celeration Charting. He is the author of ten journal articles and a book chapter on teaching verbal behavior. He is the first author of Essential for Living, a functional skills curriculum, assessment, and professional practitioner’s handbook based on B. F. Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior for children and adults with moderate-to-severe disabilities. For the past 30 years, he has provided consultations for children and adults with developmental disabilities in school districts, residential programs, and hospitals, specializing in the simultaneous management of aggressive and self-injurious behavior and the teaching of communication and language skills to individuals with limited repertoires. He is board certified behavior analyst, has given hundreds of presentations and workshops around the world, and is the recipient of the Ogden R. Lindsley Lifetime Achievement Award of the Standard Celeration Society. He is the President and Director of Consultation and Training Services for Patrick McGreevy, Ph.D., P.A. and Associates. Download Abstract
Dr. Barbara Esch is a behavior analyst and speech pathologist with extensive experience in behavioral interventions for children and adults. Dr. Esch received her Ph.D. in Applied Behavior Analysis from Western Michigan University under the direction of Dr. Jack Michael and Dr. Jim Carr and her M.A. in Speech Pathology from Michigan State University. She has published rese ... Read More + arch on behavioral treatments for early speech acquisition and aphasia assessment in The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, and the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities. She has presented workshops, training symposia, and research in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia, focusing on the use of behavioral procedures to improve speech and language skills for individuals of all ages with a wide range of diagnoses. Dr. Esch is the founder of the Speech Pathology Special Interest Group (www.behavioralspeech.com) of the Association for Behavior Analysis International. She is the author of the original Early Echoic Skills Assessment, part of the Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP), published by Dr. Mark Sundberg (2008/2014) and the new Early Echoic Skills Assessment and Program Planner – Guide and Protocol. Download Abstract
Dr. Kodak is a Professor in the Behavior Analysis program at Marquette University. She is a licensed psychologist, licensed behavior analyst, and BCBA-D. She started working with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder more than 30 years ago while earning her bachelor’s degree in Southern California. Dr. Kodak obtained a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from ... Read More + North Dakota State University and her Ph.D. in School Psychology from Louisiana State University. She formerly served as the Editor in Chief for The Analysis of Verbal Behavior and as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and Learning and Motivation. She currently serves on several editorial boards including the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavior Analysis in Practice, and Learning and Motivation. Dr. Kodak has co-authored more than 100 articles and book chapters. Her research interests include increasing the efficacy and efficiency of skill acquisition, treatment integrity, assessment-based instruction, verbal behavior, conditional discriminations, and the development and training of professional skills for BCBAs.
Dr. Judah Axe received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Applied Behavior Analysis and Special Education from The Ohio State University. For the last 16 years, he has taught Behavior Analysis at Simmons University in the on-ground and online master’s and Ph.D. programs. He authored the 10th edition of Applied Behavior Analysis for Teachers and over 40 articles and book chapters, mostl ... Read More + y on teaching verbal behavior and social skills to children with autism. Dr. Axe serves on the editorial boards of several research journals and has served in leadership roles for the Association for Behavior Analysis International, the Verbal Behavior Special Interest Group (VB SIG), the BF Skinner Foundation, the Organization for Autism Research, and the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. He was overjoyed to receive the 2021 VB SIG Excellence in Teaching Verbal Behavior Award.
Dr. Kisamore has been active in the field of applied behavior analysis over 20 years. During this time, she has worked with neurotypical children, and individuals across the lifespan with autism spectrum disorder and/or intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. Dr. Kisamore worked and trained at the Marcus Institute, received her M.A. in Behavior Anal ... Read More + ysis from Western Michigan University, and completed her Ph.D. in Behavior Analysis at WesternNew England University. She is currently Chair of the Department of Special Education, an Associate Professor, and the Director of Programs in Applied Behavior Analysis at Hunter College, City University of New York. Dr. Kisamore is also a co-owner and Director at >span class="s2">, a center designed to provide services to school-age individuals with autism spectrum disorder and/or intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. Dr. Kisamore has published in areas such as verbal behavior, problem solving, social skills, functional analysis, and parent training in books and several peer-reviewed journals and presented her work at local, national, and international conferences. She has served as an Associate Editor for The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, as a guest associate editor for Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, on the editorial board of Journal of Behavioral Education andJournal of Applied Behavior Analysis, and currently serves as a guest reviewer for several journals including Behavioral Interventions, Behavior Analysis in Practice, The Psychological Record, Education and Treatment of Children, and Learning and Behavior.
Dr. Caio Miguel is a Professor of Psychology at California State University, Sacramento. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, a former Associate Editor for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, and a former editor for The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Dr. Miguel's research focuses on the study of verbal behavior and emergen ... Read More + t stimulus relations. He has given hundreds of professional presentations around the world, and has had over 100 manuscripts published in English, Portuguese, and Spanish. He is the recipient of the 2013 award for outstanding scholarly work by the College of Social Sciences at Sacramento State, the 2014 Outstanding Mentor Award by ABAI, the 2019 Award for Excellence in Teaching Verbal Behavior by the VBSIG, the 2019 Alumni Achievement Award from the Department of Psychology at Western Michigan University, and the 2020 Jack Michael Award for Outstanding Contributions to Verbal Behavior.
TBA
We will be hosting a Poster Session at this year’s conference.
Poster presenters receive 50% off the full price of the conference ($175)
For poster submission information, please click here.
