Thursday, Feb. 16 • 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.   (more info.)

Dr. Wacker is a Professor of Pediatrics and Special Education at University of Iowa. He directs two outpatient clinic services for children and adults with disabilities who engage in severe problem behavior. He is the Co-Principal Investigator on an NIMH-funded research project evaluating delivery of functional analysis and functional communication training via teleconsultation with young children with autism. He previously served as the Editor of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, as a standing panel reviewer for the National Institutes of Health, and as the President of the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. He received the 2000 Applied Research Award for Outstanding Contributions to Applied Behavioral Research from the American Psychological Association's Division 25, the 2002 Distinguished Research Award and 1987 National Educator of the Year Award from the Arc of the United States, the Association for Behavior Analysis Student Committee Outstanding Mentorship Award, 2008, and the University of Iowa College of Medicine Distinguished Mentor Award, 2011.

Treating Problem Behavior Remotely via Teleconsultation for Children with Autism
In this presentation, I will describe the procedures and results from a 3-year NIH-funded project that evaluated the use of teleconsultation with young children (6 years and younger) with autism who displayed problem behavior. All children initially received diagnostic evaluations at the Center for Disabilities and Development (CDD). They then attended weekly sessions at regional health care clinics in their communities and received consultation via teleconsultation from trained behavior therapists located at the CDD. All parents conducted functional analyses of the problem behavior and functional communication training. The results achieved were compared to previous projects that conducted the same procedures in the children's homes by trained behavior therapists. The specific procedures and teleconsultation system used in the current project will be described. Both the advantages (serving children in rural areas) and disadvantages (not having direct contact with the parents or children) will be discussed along with summary data. Future applications of teleconsultation for delivering behavioral services to children with disabilities will be described.


Glenda Vittimberga, PhD    (top)
1967 - 2004

Glenda Vittimberga was serving on the CalABA Board of Directors as Secretary when she died tragically on February 16, 2004 at age 36. She was a native of Rhode Island and received her bachelor's degree from the University of Rhode Island. Glenda received her master's and doctorate degrees in Clinical Psychology at West Virginia University, where she specialized in assessment and intervention for behavior problems in children with developmental disabilities. She completed a clinical internship at the Kennedy Krieger Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She then joined the outpatient faculty at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine as a faculty in the Child and Family Therapy Clinic and as co-director of the Communication and Behavior Development Clinic. In 1998, she became Associate Professor at the Charter College of Education at California State University, Los Angeles in the School Psychology Program of the Division of Administration and Counseling. Her responsibilities included teaching courses in applied behavior analysis, individual assessment, and interventions for severe behavior problems. Glenda's research interests focused on the systematic exploration of variables contributing to the efficacy of interdisciplinary communication-based interventions. She was published in many peer-reviewed journals and presented at various conferences, including ABAI and CalABA. Glenda's success as an academician was evidenced by how highly regarded she was by her students and colleagues and by her early promotion to Full Professor in 2003. She was an active participant in service to the university and the community, serving on several boards. Glenda was licensed by the Board of Psychology of the state of California.

Glenda was an esteemed board member, colleague, and friend. In the months following her passing, Drs. Bruno and Jacklyn Vittimberga, Glenda's parents, and the CalABA Board of Directors discussed various ways to honor Glenda's memory. In 2005, the CalABA Board of Directors voted to add a special lecture to its annual conference in Glenda's memory. The 2006 CalABA conference marked the first year for this very special memorial lecture. Each year, the lecture is presented by an invited speaker who either worked closely with Glenda in the field or who works in an area that was of special interest to Glenda.