# Smart Technology to Empower Collaborative Partnerships Among Behavior Practitioners and Caregivers to Deliver Quality ABA

> **NIH NIH R43** · GUIDING TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION · 2022 · $297,785

## Abstract

This project addresses a key NIH mission to ameliorate intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) by
developing and applying smart technologies for the treatment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
(ASD). Care for ASD will cost U.S. citizens $461 billion annually by 2025, exceeding yearly care costs for
diabetes, ADHD, and stroke. Increasing availability to high-quality Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), the most
effective and scientifically-validated approach to remediate impairments associated with ASD, could reduce
these costs. Best practices call for at least 25 hours per week of high-quality ABA, however, most children
receive less than 10 hours per week due to provider shortage and costs. This project leverages smart
technology (GAINS) to empower caregivers of children with ASD to become active, collaborative partners with
behavior practitioners in their children’s ABA therapy, bridging gaps left by insufficient access to therapy and
limited availability of behavior practitioners, which especially affects marginalized communities. GAINS is a
smart technology platform that uniquely incorporates knowledge of ABA theory and practice personalized for
the individual with developmental challenges. In a similar way to navigation systems for drivers, GAINS is a
unique navigation system for instructors and caregivers implementing ABA therapy programs that help learners
acquire skills and improve prosocial behaviors. Innovations to GAINS will further enhance collaborative
partnerships by empowering caregivers to be more effective eyes and ears of behavior practitioners and
providing caregiver-appropriate reporting so caregivers can more easily understand the progress and needs of
their children to achieve a mutual understanding with behavior practitioners. Clinical evaluation of the efficacy
of smart technology to empower caregivers to teach their children with ASD and related disorders life skills will
be evaluated: 1) Does GAINS improve child independent life skill performance when used by a caregiver? 2) Is
GAINS guidance sufficient for caregivers to teach life skills to children? 3) Is GAINS useful and usable for
teaching life skills? Research design. Single Case Research Designs (SCRDs) using changing criterion (CC).
This allows rigorous experimental evaluation of intervention effects and provides a strong basis for establishing
causal inferences. Power analysis using pilot data requires a minimum of 8 dyads, but 12 will be recruited.
Participants: Dyads (child with ASD and a caregiver) recruited from clinical sites in three U.S. states (2 of 3
rural, underserved populations). Setting: family homes. Independent Variable: GAINS expert guiding
technology to support teaching life skills using task analysis, chaining, and prompting. Primary Outcome: child
independent life skill performance percentage (at least 8 of 12 children reach at least 90% independent
performance with GAINS). Secondary Outcomes: Procedural fidelity; perceived usabil...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10482136
- **Project number:** 1R43MH130298-01
- **Recipient organization:** GUIDING TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
- **Principal Investigator:** John Teofil Nosek
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $297,785
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-06-01 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10482136

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10482136, Smart Technology to Empower Collaborative Partnerships Among Behavior Practitioners and Caregivers to Deliver Quality ABA (1R43MH130298-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10482136. Licensed CC0.

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