Annual Conference

Progress towards easily appreciated and generally applicable functional assessment and treatment procedures will require a slight shift towards different assumptions, aims, and procedures; these will be highlighted while outcomes are described from practical functional assessment and treatment processes in which the person with autism was always free to participate in, alter, or opt out of their therapeutic process. This enhanced choice model will be discussed, with considerations focusing on the safety of those participating and a progressive treatment process for developing the skills of communication, toleration, and contextually appropriate behavior.

Gregory P. Hanley, Ph.D., BCBA-D Bio

Dr. Hanley has been applying the principles of learning to improve socially important behaviors of children and adults with and without disabilities just under 30 years.  He worked and trained at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, was degreed at the University of Florida, was tenured at the University of Kansas, and directed the Behavior Analysis Doctoral Program and Life Skills Clinic at Western New England University (WNEU). Dr. Hanley has published over 100 book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals in areas such as the assessment and prevention of problem behavior, teaching tactics for young children, and evidence-based values.  Dr. Hanley is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Div. 25), past Associate Editor of The Behavior Analyst, and past Editor of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and of Behavior Analysis in Practice. He currently serves as a Research Professor at WNEU, an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and CEO of FTF Behavioral, an international training and consulting group based in Worcester Massachusetts.  This group of researcher-practitioners supports professionals attempting to create meaningful outcomes with practical functional assessment processes and skill-based treatments.