PPM 140: Incorporating Methods of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) into Programs with Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

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PPM 140 Incorporating Methods of Applied
Behaviour Analysis (ABA) into Programs with
Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
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Essay Overview

• In May 2007, Policy and Program Memoranda 140
  (PPM 140) was introduced by the Ontario Ministry
  of Education
• What are ASD? How do ASD impact students?
• What are the requirements of PPM 140?
• What is ABA?
• How does PPM 140 impact educators?
• How has PPM 140 been implemented?

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Early Beliefs

• In 1943, Dr. Leo Kanner was the first to coin the
  term autistic, which he used to describe
  several children who displayed similar symptoms.
• Early Beliefs-Autism was an emotional
  disturbance, perhaps the result of
  refrigerator parenting and a lack of warm,
  supportive care.
• This theory reached its pinnacle with Bruno
  Bettelheims The Empty Fortress in 1967.

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Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

1. Autistic Disorder
2. (PDD-NOS) Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not
   Otherwise Specified
3. Aspergers Syndrome
4. (CDD) Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
5. Rhetts Disorder

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Facts about ASD

• 1 in 166 people are estimated to have an Autism
  Spectrum Disorder
• Occurs across all racial, ethnic and
  socio-economic groups
• 4-5 times more boys than girls are affected

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Facts about ASD

• Life-long developmental disorders
• The range and intensity of the disability
  varies
• widely
• Presentation of symptoms may change over time
• People with ASD have difficulties with
• communication, learning and social skills

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Causes of ASD

• Infections, problems prior to birth and
  chromosome abnormalities have been associated
  with ASD.
• Patterns of ASD in several families have been
  documented, suggesting that ASD may be an
  inherited genetic trait.
• Despite ongoing research, there are no conclusive
  answers about the cause, or perhaps causes
  pertaining to Autism Spectrum Disorders!

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Difficulty With Transitions

• 1)ASD students have very specific learning
  skills and behaviours.
• Relate a particular experience as being
  exclusively attached to one type of situation or
  setting.
• ASD students have problems adapting to what has
  previously been learned to their new learning
  environment.(Generalization of Learning)

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Difficulty With Transitions

• 2)ASD students have greater difficulty processing
  information.
• Can lead to frustrations when forced to process
  lots of new pieces of information in a very short
  period of time. (names, routines, settings).
• Important to expose ASD students to new
  environments well in advance.

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How PPM 140 Was Created

• Equality rights set out in the Charter have been
  invoked by parents to demand access to special
  education programs
• (2006) Minister of Education and the Minister of
  Children and Youth Services, created the Autism
  Spectrum Disorders Reference Group.
• The direct result of their work was the
  development of Program and Policy Memorandum
  (PPM) 140.

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Key Requirements of PPM 140

• School boards must offer students with ASD
  special education programs and services,
  including, where appropriate, special education
  programs using ABA methods. 
• 2. School board staff must plan for the
  transition between various activities and
  settings involving students with ASD.

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Requirement 1-Interpretation

• The use of must and where appropriate
• Laurie Pearce School boards are autonomous
  organizations, and there are limits on what the
  Ministry can require them to do. Interpreting and
  applying PPM 140, or any PPM, is very much the
  responsibility of the individual board.
• Is this a loophole for school boards?
• Intentions of the PPM 140 was that the ABA
  methods could be applied to any student if it met
  their needs.

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What is Applied Behaviour Analysis?

• The four principles of ABA are
• a. Individualized programming
• b. Positive reinforcement
• c. Data collection and analysis
• d. Generalization of skills

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Requirement 1-Individual Program

• (Old) Regulation 181/98, Ontario Education
  Act-Principals are responsible for developing and
  administering an IEP for all exceptional
  students.
• (New) Principals must now ensure that ABA methods
  are considered and that the collaborative
  development of an IEP includes community experts
  that work with the students with ASD.
• Time consuming, yet a valuable experience for
  teachers.

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Requirement 1-Positive Reinforcement

• Positive reinforcement may encourage on-task
  behaviour or positive social interactions between
  peers.
• No mention of negative reinforcement-(The
  removal of something from the environment.)
• PPM 140 fails to include a concise definition of
  the term behaviour.

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Requirement 1-Data Collection and Analysis

• Data collected on an ongoing basis, that includes
  language skills, social skills, motor skills and
  overall academic achievement.
• This makes for more paper work and added
  responsibility for educators.

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Requirement 1-Generalization of Skills

• This requires greater communication between
  schools, parents and outside agencies.
• Teachers must work better together to reinforce
  the necessary skills.

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Requirement 2

• Ministry of Education expects transition planning
  between schools, but also throughout the school
  day.
• Transitions will include entry to school
  transition between activities and settings or
  classrooms transitions between grades moving
  from school to school or from an outside agency
  to a school transition from elementary to
  secondary school transition from secondary
  school to postsecondary destinations and/or the
  workplace. (PPM 140)

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How has the Ministry implemented PPM 140?

• The Ministry has clearly shown their commitment
  to ASD.
• School teams were organized to participate in the
  Geneva Centre for Autisms 23rd Annual Autism
  Summer Training Institute (Aug. 20-23, 2007)
• One day regional training sessions for up to
  1,400 principals across the province (Aug. 13,
  2007) to discuss ABA methods and transition
  planning.

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• Three Ministry Documents
• Shared Solutions-A Guide to Preventing and
  Resolving Conflicts Regarding Programs and
  Services for Students With Special Education
  (2007)
• Effective Practices for Students with Autism
  Spectrum Disorders, A Resource Guide (2007) (Data
  collection techniques)
• Educational Practices for Students with Autism
  Spectrum Disorders, A Resource Guide
  (2007)(Transition plans/templates)

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How has the NNDSB implemented PPM 140?

• NNDSB has not developed a Board policy on
  implementing PPM 140, although some staff have
  been trained. Low level implementation began in
  the Fall of 2007.
• Phase 1Training of Resource Staff and
  Administrators
• -ABA Training Binders and video clips were
  distributed.
• Phase 2Training of teachers-A very simplistic
  overview of the requirements.

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What Does This Mean for Educators?

• Pros
• - Access to experts in the field of ASD and
  additional strategies in ABA.
• - ABA strategies can be applied to any student
  when appropriate.
• - A more collaborative approach to supporting
  students (transition plans, data gathering)
• - A consistent and clearly documented policy
  when working with ASD students.

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What Does This Mean for Educators?

• Cons
• More time spent meeting with parents, other
  teachers and outside agencies.
• More time spent developing IEPs, transition
  plans and gathering data.
• Parents may now insist that ABA strategies be
  included in their childs IEP, despite the fact
  that most teachers have limited knowledge and
  training with ABA techniques.
• Additional pressures, as PPM 140 will be
  monitored by the Ministers Advisory Council on
  Special Education.

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Final Thoughts

• PPM 140 requires most educators to continue
  supporting ASD students, in ways many were
  already doing-individualized programming,
  behaviour strategies, data collection.
• PPM 140 is in its infancy of implementation. Many
  educators have had very little training in ABA
  methods, yet many are already applying some of
  these strategies in their classrooms.
• Many teachers will be under the gun by strong
  parent advocates to provide supports in areas in
  which they have not been trained.

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• For the ASD community, PPM 140 is a monumental
  victory, but for many educators it is simply
  another policy pushed upon them by the Ministry
  of Education.
• Laurie Pearce-If we make the delivery of
  ABA-based education sound too clinical, teachers
  and administrators will resist it. If we make it
  sound just a common sense way of teaching,
  teachers and administrators will dismiss it, or
  claim to do it already.