The Conference Committee wishes to extend much gratitude and appreciation to the conference proposal reviewers for the 2011 conference. To that end, we would like to recognize the following people for their help in going through the many conference proposals:

The Call for Papers has Closed!

The APBS Conference Committee invites you to submit a presentation for the 8th International Conference on Positive Behavior Support, March 10 - 12, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center. The theme is "The Expanding World of PBS: Science, Values, and Vision".

APBS is committed to the use of person first language throughout all correspondence including the website, conference media, and any business emails. This means that presenters must use person first language when they submit their conference proposals including titles, abstracts, and session descriptions. Person first language puts the person before the disability or category. Examples of person first language include "she has autism" as opposed to "she is autistic," "he receives special education" versus "he is a special ed. kid." For more information go to: http://www.disabilityisnatural.com/images/PDF/pfl-sh09.pdf.

Notification of selection will be sent by email at the end of October. If you do not receive notification at that time please contact Ilene Page

Please remember that if you are selected as a presenter for this conference, you will need to register to attend. If you have co-presenters joining you, please be sure that they register as well. To learn more about the registration process, please visit the Registration page.

Dates to Remember

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Presentation Submission Process

Presentation Type
The APBS Conference Committee will be accepting submissions online for oral presentations and posters. Please indicate during the submission process whether your presentation is a Strategies/Tools, Conceptual, or Research-based presentation.

In order to provide attendees with a broad array of presenters and presentation topics, the Conference Committee will limit the number of oral or poster presentations given by any one presenter.

In addition, any presenter of multiple poster sessions is required to have a representative to station each of the posters submitted. One presenter will not be allowed to cover multiple posters, as participants want to discuss each of the posters with a presenter.

• Oral presentations are 75 minutes in length and will occur at various times during the conference on March 10th and 11th. You may present one topic the entire time or may choose to have multiple topics and presenters within your presentation. For example, you might have 3 presenters and a discussion all focused around a topic area (e.g., interventions for individuals diagnosed with autism). Oral presenters are not supplied with any audiovisual equipment. Those requiring audiovisual equipment are responsible for their own equipment or working with the hotel AV staff at their own cost.

• Posters will be presented in conjunction with the conference reception. Each presentation is provided with an 8’ x 30” table. A 36” x 48” presentation board on which to display a summary of the presentation will be furnished on request. Poster presenters are not supplied with any audiovisual equipment or electrical access. Those requiring audiovisual equipment are responsible for their own equipment or working with the hotel AV staff at their own cost. Additionally, electrical access can be obtained by the presenter directly through the hotel at their own cost.

• If the focus of your presentation is to showcase a product (materials, books, videos, or consultation services) for sale, the appropriate forum is our exhibitor section. You may not conduct a presentation with the purpose of marketing or selling your product. Exhibitors’ tables are available in a specific high traffic area of the conference on both Thursday and Friday (March 10 & 11). Information on becoming an APBS exhibitor is available here.
  Note- The APBS Conference Committee will respond to reports of presenters selling materials, books, videos, or consultation services by excluding such presenters from future conference presentations.

Presentation Topics
During the submission process you will be asked to select the topic area or areas that best represent your submission. You may select more than one topic area but will be asked to select the “primary area”—the one that is the best match. Topic areas include the following general areas: school-related, developmental disabilities/individuals at risk, and strands that cross multiple areas. Pick a topic within one or more of these general areas.

• School-Related

  • Academics - Presentations in this strand demonstrate how PBS affects the academic success of students and response to intervention, a systems approach for preventing academic failure and promoting student success. Particular emphasis is placed on integrating efforts focused on academic achievement within a comprehensive system of positive behavior support
  • Lead presenter – Presentations in this strand focus on how the principles and technology of PBS are implemented within classroom settings.
  • Individual Students - This strand emphasizes the use of PBS to support individual students within a school. The focus is on one or more specific students, rather than the school system.
  • Middle and High School – The Middle and High School strand provides conceptual and practical information about the unique challenges in application of positive behavior support in secondary settings.
  • School-wide Systems - Presentations in this strand highlight current work in school-wide positive behavior support. Emphasis is placed on efforts to “scale-up,” implement and sustain PBS across multiple schools in districts and states

• Developmental Disabilities/Individuals at Risk

  • Autism Spectrum Disorder and Aspergers Syndrome - Presentations in this strand highlight best practices in supporting individuals within Autism Spectrum Disorder/Aspergers Syndrome. Some presentations highlight empirical findings; others focus on technical assistance or model demonstrations
  • Community - Presentations in this strand will address the application of PBS in diverse community environments for individuals with and without disabilities. Particular emphasis may be placed on evaluating a complex community system and the impact of PBS
  • Early Intervention - The Early Intervention strand includes systems change efforts, research, and case study presentations related to young children and PBS implementation
  • Individual Supports - The Individual Supports strand includes presentations that focus on implementing PBS plans with children and adults in work, home and community settings
  • Positive Behavior Supports for Adults - Presentations designed to highlight positive behavior supports for adults to live, work, and be a member of their community

• Cross-Area

  • Multi-cultural – This strand describes the implementation of PBS in other countries. Also included are presentations that are related to cultural diversity and PBS implementation in the United States
  • Families – Family members interested in how PBS is implemented within home and community settings will find a variety of useful presentations in this strand
  • Mental Health – The presentations in this strand focus on physiological or neurological issues, health, and well-being. In addition, presentations are included that describe how PBS is implemented within mental health settings
  • Training – This strand focuses on strategies for supporting professionals, family, and community members effectively as they learn to implement PBS
  • Ethics, Policy and Best Practice in PBS – This strand has emerged based upon submissions from presenters. The topics covered in this strand include important issues related to best practice and fidelity of positive behavior support facilitation.
  • Research Topics and Grant Writing – This strand is specifically designed to share information about research efforts in PBS and how to write federal grants for PBS research

The APBS Conference Committee reserves the right to allocate your presentation to either oral presentation or poster session and to vary the chosen strand, depending on the number and type of submissions received.

Formatting Your Submission
Before submitting your presentation online, please review the following guidelines

• Title: Enter the FULL TITLE of your abstract EXACTLY as it appears in your proposal. This will be used for printing in the final program and on the website schedule. The title of your presentation should be no more than 12 words. Please capitalize the first letter of each word and do not put a period at the end of the title. Your title should be as descriptive as possible; it should give attendees a good idea about your topic.
• Abstract: Can be cut pasted into the submission site from a Word document – limit 450 words
• Summary: Please provide a 35-word summary. It will be included in the Conference Program and the website Agenda.
• APBS is committed to the use of person first language throughout all correspondence including the website, conference media, and any business emails. This means that presenters must use person first language when they submit their conference proposals including titles, abstracts, and session descriptions. Person first language puts the person before the disability or category. Examples of person first language include “she has autism” as opposed to “she is autistic,” “he receives special education” versus “he is a special ed. Kid (Snow, 2009).” For more information go to
  http://www.disabilityisnatural.com/images/PDF/pfl-sh09.pdf.

Presentation Submission Process
When you click on the link below to submit your presentation, you will first be asked to register your details with the submission system. The password that you choose and your email address will be used to log into the submission system when your presentation is completed and ready to send.

On completion of your presentation submission and having answered all the mandatory questions, your presentation will be assigned a reference number and you will be sent an email confirming receipt of your presentation. If you do not receive a confirmation email, please contact the Conference Coordinator, Ilene Page

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