“Are they ready for this? Experiences on implementing educational behavior-analytic interventions in Norwegian kindergartens”.

This dissertation examines the implementation of applied behavior analysis (ABA) in Norwegian kindergartens. ABA is a skills-training method used with children with autism. In this study, an early intervention targeted at, and treatment of, children with autism aimed at improving these children’s inclusion and participation in the everyday practices of the kindergartens.

The dissertation has three overall objectives. The first objective is to give examples of how ABA learning programmes are implemented and how this implementation can affect the child’s development. The second objective is to gain an overview of how ABA is implemented in kindergartens in general.

The third objective is to examine what factors are emphasised by staff who work with ABA as having an impact on whether ABA has actually been implemented according to plan.

With this dissertation, the researcher originally wanted to examine the impact of ABA learning programmes on children with autism. However, the researcher learned that the implementation of ABA was not progressing as planned, and therefore the objective became to examine what problems kindergartens face when implementing ABA programmes.

The results of the first sub-study show a marked difference between the planned and the actual intensity of the ABA-learning programmes in which the four children participated. This is seen in that for two of the four children there was no or only slight improvement of their joint-attention skills. The results are supported by the second sub-study, which, based on the interviews with the ABA supervisors, found that implementation of ABA in Norwegian kindergartens deviates from the recommended standards for the ABA programme in several areas. This was seen, among other things, with regard to the intensity of the efforts aimed at the child.

The results of the third sub-study show that the factors that either promote or inhibit implementation of the ABA programme in the Norwegian kindergartens especially relate to the relationship between the ABA teachers and the other pedagogical staff in the kindergarten. Especially conflicts between the ABA teachers and the other pedagogical staff are mentioned as a barrier for implementation. This could be conflicts due to disagreement about allocation of resources or the pedagogical methods used. It could also be conflicts that arise due to the spatial limitations of the kindergarten; there is simply not enough space to conduct the ABA training with the child. Finally, a barrier for implementation could be disagreement about whether ABA teachers should be requested to fill in for regular staff in the event of illness, etc. If the ABA teachers are expected to fill in for regular staff on days where the kindergarten is understaffed, there is less time for ABA training with the child.

The dissertation comprises three sub-studies that all apply different methods and have different objectives.

The first sub-study is a single-case study for which data was collected in the period 2008-2011. The participants comprise four children with an autism diagnosis, who were all given ABA training in the form of joint-attention training, for 10-20 hours per week in their kindergarten. Joint attention refers to a range of early developmental skills that overall are defined as the ability to share attention to an object or occurrence with another individual. The children attended four regular kindergartens and were aged between 4 and 5. The study’s design consisted of a pre-intervention phase, in which no joint-attention training was given, and a post-intervention phase after the joint-attention training had been given. The children’s ability to practice joint attention was tested in both phases. All test sessions were recorded on film, and staff were asked to rank and assess the children’s ability to practice joint attention in both phases.

The data material for the second sub-study comprises a questionnaire survey of 29 ABA supervisors carried out in 2011. The ABA supervisors are assigned to several kindergartens, where they monitor the implementation of ABA, as well as supervise and train the pedagogical staff in the kindergarten, including the ABA teachers who train the children on a regular basis.

The data material in the third sub-study consists of group interviews and individual interviews with a total of 10 ABA teachers, who all have at least six months of experience working with the ABA method, and who at the time of the interview were using the method with a child in their kindergarten. The researcher originally intended to interview all the ABA teachers individually. However, several of the ABA teachers asked to be interviewed together as a group.

Arnesen, T. (2014). “Are they ready for this? Experiences on implementing educational behavior-analytic interventions in Norwegian kindergartens”. Dissertation. Karlstad University Studies 2014:39. Karlstad: Universitetstryckeriet.