Distant families can join intensive two-day clinic for severe behaviors

COLUMBIA, MO (Feb. 6, 2017) — In an effort to improve outcomes for children with severe behaviors who live in areas without specialized services, the Thompson Center’s Applied Behavior Intervention Services division offers those families the option to attend a two-day intensive Functional Analysis Clinic.

Functional analysis helps behavior analysts uncover motivations behind behaviors, including severe behavior like self-injury or aggression. By revealing what is causing those behaviors, the functional analysis serves as a roadmap for treatment.

“Many children and families are not close enough to Columbia to travel here several times per week for an extended period of time for the functional analysis we conduct in our Severe Behavior Clinic,” said ABIS Director Dr. SungWoo Kahng. “Our FA Clinic is a way for us to reach areas of the state and region that may not have access to this specialized level of care.”

Once the functional analysis is completed during clinic, the ABIS providers work with the child’s primary behavior analyst in his or her home community to implement the treatment recommendations based on that assessment.

The FA Clinic is typically available once per month. For more information or to schedule with the FA Clinic, please email Monica Mann.