sessions
Assent Con is a one day Conference with a full day Workshop following the con. Spend Friday learning from excellent speakers, and then return on Saturday to practice implementing this new content! Check out conference and workshop session information below!
Conference
Friday September 25, 2026
9am-10am CST
Defining and Measuring Is Only the Beginning: Assent and Assent Withdrawal As Program Feedback
Dr. Awab Abdel-Jalil, BCBA-D
1 BACB Learning CEU
There’s been a recent increased attention to assent within ABA, accompanied by important efforts to define, conceptualize, and measure assent and assent withdrawal. These developments have advanced the field by providing greater clarity and encouraging us to attend to learner behavior throughout instruction. However, defining and measuring assent is only the beginning. Although identifying assent or its withdrawal is essential, it has limited value if it does not ultimately improve the learner’s experience. This presentation will review contemporary and historical perspectives on assent, including the distinction between genuine and apparent assent, and argue that assent and assent withdrawal should function as ongoing program feedback rather than simply as outcomes to record. Specifically, assent withdrawal should not be viewed as an endpoint at which instruction stops indefinitely, but as information signaling the need to analyze the contingencies and ecological variables influencing learner behavior. By honoring assent in this way, practitioners can make adjustments to instructional arrangements that increase learner participation, improve the quality of teaching, and better align intervention with the learner's needs. When important skills are not yet teachable, assent withdrawal should guide the construction of prerequisite repertoires and environmental supports so that instruction can be reintroduced under more successful conditions. Ultimately, the most effective way to honor assent is not simply to recognize it, but to become better behavior analysts who use our science to interpret learner feedback, modify intervention, and construct conditions that maximize learning and long-term benefit for the individual.
By the end of this presentation, attendees will be able to:
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Describe contemporary and historical perspectives on assent, including the distinction between genuine and apparent assent.
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Explain how assent and assent withdrawal can function as ongoing program feedback to guide analysis of contingencies and ecological variables.
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Identify strategies for using assent and assent withdrawal to modify instructional arrangements, build prerequisite repertoires, and improve learner outcomes.
Friday September 25, 2026
10:30am-11:30am CST
What’s In a Name: Conceptual Analysis and Nuance in a Functional Definition of Assent
Dr. Malika Pritchett, Ph.D., BCBA, LBA-TX & More Presenters Coming Soon, Moderated by Worner Leland, MS, BCBA, LBA(MO)
1 BACB Ethics CEU
Abstract Coming Soon
By the end of this presentation, attendees will be able to:
1.) Learning Objectives Coming Soon
2.) Learning Objectives Coming Soon
3.) Learning Objectives Coming Soon
Friday September 25, 2026
12:00pm-1:00pm CST
Development and Evaluation of a Community-Informed Assent-Based ABA Approach
Dr. Noor Y. Syed, PhD, BCBA-D, LBA/ LBS (NY, CT, PA)
1 BACB Learning CEU
Abstract Coming Soon
By the end of this presentation, attendees will be able to:
1.) Learning Objectives Coming Soon
2.) Learning Objectives Coming Soon
3.) Learning Objectives Coming Soon
Friday September 25, 2026
1:30pm-2:30pm CST
Empowering Autonomy: Honoring Assent in Action
Alexandra Elfers MS, BCBA, COBA, LBA & Dr. Robin Arnall, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA
1 BACB Learning CEU
In behavior analytic services, assessment and skill building are necessary parts of the therapy process. However, assent is not typically built into the assessment protocols that behavior analysts use. In this presentation, the authors of the Empowering Autonomy: A Skills Assessment Protocol will review the process of using the EA: ASAP and connect each section of the assessment protocol to assent conceptually. Practical examples are included throughout the presentation to connect concepts to clinical and educational contexts to support attendees’ preparedness to implement assent within the assessment process.
By the end of this presentation, attendees will be able to:
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Describe what the EA:ASAP is and how it could be used to support learners
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Explain how different sections of the EA:ASAP relate to assent in clinical practice.
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Identify methods of building assent with the assistance of the EA:ASAP
Friday September 25, 2026
3:00pm-4:00pm CST
Presentation Coming Soon
Presenters Coming Soon
1 BACB Learning CEU
Abstract Coming Soon
By the end of this presentation, attendees will be able to:
1.) Learning Objectives Coming Soon
2.) Learning Objectives Coming Soon
3.) Learning Objectives Coming Soon
workshop
Saturday September 25, 2026
9:00am-12:00pm CST
A Constructional Approach to Parent Training for Children with Severe Problem Behavior: Improving the Life of the Whole Family System
Katie Gibson, M.Ed., BCBA, COBA, LBA
3 BACB Learning CEU
Parent training in ABA therapy is an evidence-based approach to enhancing communication, developing adaptive living skills, and reducing unsafe behaviors in children with autism (Bearss et al., 2015; Nowak & Heinrichs, 2008; Shaefer & Andzik, 2021). Traditional methods include behavioral skills training (BST), which teaches specific skills to parents (Shaefer & Andzik, 2021), as well as manualized programs such as RUBI (Bearss et al., 2014) and Triple P (Sanders et al., 2008). More recently in literature, some training models integrate acceptance and commitment therapy targeting parent outcomes (Andrews et al., 2021; Corti et al., 2018; Hahs et al., 2019). An emerging application of the constructional approach (Goldiamond, 1974) offers a different framework for parent training, shifting the focus from directly treating problematic behaviors to analyzing contingencies within available alternatives. Unlike previously mentioned models, this approach emphasizes client-led interventions that promote meaningful, compassionate behavior change (Goldiamond, 1984; Layng et al., 2021; Scallen & Rosales-Ruiz, 2023; Abdel-Jail et al., 2023). Research supports its effectiveness in reducing parental stress by teaching parents to analyze their own contingencies (Liden et al., 2015) and improving children’s academic behaviors in the home setting previously entrenched with problem behaviors within these routines (Umphrey et al., 2020), this highlights its preliminary potential to enhance parent training outcomes when applied to the whole family system. This workshop will introduce clinicians to the foundational principles of the constructional approach and nonlinear contingency analysis. Participants will learn strategies to guide parents in constructing or reinstating functional alternatives to problem behaviors. Additionally, the workshop will review case studies of the constructional approach applied to families with children who exhibit severe problem behavior, providing practical insights into its implementation and effectiveness. By focusing on individualized, collaborative parent and child-driven solutions, clinicians can support families in achieving sustainable behavior change for children with severe behavior disorders.
By the end of this presentation, attendees will be able to:
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Explain the principles of the constructional approach and the basics of nonlinear contingency analysis.
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Use information from a constructional interview to develop a case conceptualization and treatment plan.
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Describe key indicators of progress in parent-collected constructional logs and identify areas for treatment adjustments to improve outcomes.
Saturday September 25, 2026
12:00pm-1:00pm CST
Meal Break
Saturday September 25, 2026
1:00pm-4:00pm CST
Getting Unstuck: Resourcing Skills for Honoring Assent Withdrawal
Worner Leland, MS, BCBA, LBA(MO)
3 BACB Learning CEU
The Ethics Code for Behavior Analysis (ECBA, BACB, 2020) notes alongside guidance for obtaining informed consent that behavior analysts “are responsible for obtaining assent from clients when applicable,” (ECBA, BACB, 2020, p. 11). In an effort to honor client assent, behavior analysts may find themselves feeling “stuck” when a client repeatedly withdraws assent or demonstrates dissent for certain skill building practices, or for services and supports across the board (McCormick, 2023). This may create a challenging context in which practitioners know they should not “do nothing,” but wherein they may find they do not know how to respond or what to do. In this workshop, participants will practice identifying areas of feeling “stuck” when assent is withdrawn or client dissent is present, and practice orienting back to the client’s autonomy, values, and self-selected goals. Participants will practice identifying assent withdrawal and dissent as meaningful feedback about skill building supports (Fabrizo, 2005). Participants will also identify and utilize various constructional approaches and instructional design approaches (Tiemann & Markle, 1990; Engelmann & Carnine, 1991, Merbitz, et al., 2004; Johnson & Bulla, 2021 Layng, Andronis, Codd, & Abdel-Jalil, 2021; Spencer, 2021; Smith, Milyko, Fuller & Halligan, 2024) that allow for meaningful, assent-centric, skill building progress.
By the end of this presentation, attendees will be able to:
1. Identify at least 3 instructional design issues to which assent withdrawal may point.
2. Build and practice at least 2 self-resourcing skills for use when feeling stuck as a practitioner.
3. Identify at least 2 potentiating and 2 depotentiating contributors to behaviors of concern through non-linear contingency analysis and identify at least 2 potential skills to build (Layng, Andronis, Codd, & Abdel-Jalil, 2021)
4. Generate at least 1 basic skill building program sequence with diverging instructional paths based on a client’s withdrawal of assent, using component-composite analysis, (Merbitz, et al., 2004; Johnson & Bulla, 2021).
5. Generate at least 1 basic skill building program sequence with diverging instructional paths based on a client’s withdrawal of assent, using a Discriminate, Operate, Generate, Demonstrate framework (Smith, Milyko, Fuller & Halligan, 2024).
6. Identify at least 3 further resources for building skill sets as an instructional designer and constructional behavior analyst.
In the evolution of the Professional Ethics and Compliance Code (BACB, 2014) to the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts (ECBA; BACB, 2020) it is noted that in addition to being responsible for obtaining informed consent before the provision of assessments, supports, or research participation, that Behavior Analysts are also responsible for obtaining client assent when it is applicable to do so. Obtaining client assent is a specified skill set, and one which may not be currently in a behavior analyst’s repertoire if it was not a focus of their educational, training, supervision, or consultation experiences or their broader learning history in behavior analysis.
The 2023 inaugural conference worked to equip behavior analysts and other helping professionals with the tools to conceptualize consent and assent as a set of fluid interlocking behavioral contingencies, to identify and measure client assent giving and withdrawing of assent in an ongoing manner, to graph assent data, to make data-based decisions utilizing assent data, to shape and expand assent giving and withdrawing repertoires with learners, to engage in generative and collaborative problem-solving, to equip themselves and staff to promote client assent, and to work toward understanding behavior change from the vantage point of love.
The 2026 Assent Conference is excited to expand on this initial work.