Dr. Holly Gover

Ph.D, BCBA-D, Vanderbilt University Medical Center - TRIAD

Dr. Holly Gover has been working with individuals with and without developmental disabilities in homes, schools, and clinics for the past decade. She received her M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis at California State University, Northridge, and her Ph.D. in Behavior Analysis at Western New England University under the advisement of Dr. Greg Hanley, where she conducted research on the assessment and treatment of challenging behaviour and food selectivity. Dr. Gover is passionate about evaluating treatments that promote client agency within therapeutic processes. She views most behavioural issues as skill deficits, and thus takes a skill-based approach when treating challenging behaviour. She continues to support practitioners and conduct research on treating food selectivity and associated mealtime behaviour safely and effectively.

SESSION

ASSESSING AND TREATING FOOD SELECTIVITY VIA SHAPING AND CHOICE

October 21, 2022 - 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Food selectivity is a pervasive problem among children with and without developmental disabilities. Effective treatments have been developed, but many are not amenable to settings such at homes and schools and can be associated with escalations in problem behaviour. In this presentation, I will describe a model for assessing and treating food selectivity without escape extinction. The process involves: (a) indirectly and directly measuring food preferences to identify foods to target and employ during treatment, (b) evaluating the sensitivity of mealtime problem behaviour to environmental variables through an interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA), and (c) incorporating the assessment results into a progressive treatment process consisting of choice making opportunities and differential reinforcement of successive approximations to eating. The treatment is largely child-led, allowing the child autonomy within a therapeutic process. Implications and suggestions for practitioners looking to address food selectivity in applied settings will be discussed.

1.5 BACB Learning CEUs

SPEAKER PREVIEW