About this Webinar
Dr. Bridget Taylor hosts Dr. Peter Gerhardt to discuss how behavior analysts can promote Quality of Life, a complex yet important measure in autism treatment, for their clients throughout their lifetime.
This webinar is eligible for 1 General CE.
Our Next Guest: A Conversation with Drs. Bridget Taylor & Peter Gerhardt
Promoting a positive quality of life is something that certainly falls within the parameters of behavior analytic intervention and socially significant outcomes. To make this happen, however, the development of meaningful instructional goals and the identification of relevant environmental modifications needs to start in elementary school and continue into transition, graduation and beyond. As with most, if not all of what competent behavior analysts do, this process is highly individualized and requires programming for both generalization and maintenance.
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to:
- Discuss the difficulty in identifying the parameters of quality of life on a case-by-case basis.
- Identify a minimum of 5 personal or ecological parameters associated with a more positive quality of life.
- Identify behaviorally-based strategies that may improve an individual’s quality of life.
About the Guest Speaker
Peter Gerhardt, Ed.D
Executive Director of the EPIC Programs
Dr. Gerhardt is the Executive Director of the EPIC Programs in Paramus, NJ. Dr. Gerhardt has over 40 years of experience utilizing the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis in support of adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders in educational, employment, residential and community-based settings. He co-edited “The Handbook of Quality of Life for Individuals with ASD” (Springer, 2022) and authored or co-author a number of articles and book chapters on the needs of adolescents and adults with ASD. He has presented nationally and internationally on this and related topics. Dr. Gerhardt serves as Co-Chairman of the Scientific Council for the Organization for Autism Research and is on numerous professional advisory boards including the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. He currently serves as adjunct faculty in the Institute for Behavioral Studies at Endicott College. Dr. Gerhardt received his doctorate from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey’s Graduate School of Education.
