Institutional Review Board to Advance Autism Treatment

INDIANAPOLIS, April 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This past fall, Bierman Autism Centers launched its Institutional Review Board (IRB) to further its commitment to pursuing excellence within the field. It ensures that the care the clinical team at Bierman provides is evidence-based, ethically sound, fair, and non-experimental. The IRB enables the team to provide the highest quality of care through the latest developments within the field. The research will also provide insight on how to train Bierman clinicians and others within the field. Bierman also offers continuing education units for providers.

Fumi Horner, PhD, BCBA-D, Bierman's VP of Clinical Quality, Outcomes & Research and the chair of Bierman's IRB says, "One of the core values at Bierman Autism Centers is to "never sit still." I believe this value is driven by our scientific curiosity of challenging ourselves to answer the question "How can we do better?" This mindset is important not only to improve the clinical quality, but also to advance autism treatment in general. The IRB committee ensures that we are engaging in ethical practices to protect the participants. As most of our research topics involve children with ASD, the most vulnerable population, it is crucial to establish an extra layer to oversee every detail of research activities."

Recently two applications were approved by Biermans' IRB committee. The first one is conducted by a group of clinicians in Berkeley Heights, NJ. Hillary Genovese, Aubrey Byrne, Tiffani Swanda, Christina Barosky, and Lauren Kryzak are investigating the use of self-monitoring strategies to increase rates of instruction during ABA therapy. This study is going to be one of the few assent-based interventions out there as they closely monitor the rate of assent withdrawal as a secondary measure during the data collection. The second study is conducted by Bayleigh Britton in Needham, MA. Her study is titled "Evaluation and Component Analysis of Staff Training for Naturalistic Teaching."

If you are interested in participating in Bierman's IRB you can learn more and submit your application here.

ABOUT BIERMAN www.biermanautism.com

Bierman Autism Centers is a place where kids as young as 18 months to 9 years of age engage in play to learn foundational skills they can build on such as self-advocacy and communication. For more about Bierman Autism Centers visit www.biermanautism.com or contact Alexis Ducharme at [email protected].

Media Contact:
Alexis Ducharme
[email protected]

SOURCE Bierman Autism Centers