PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Concerned father, statistician develops software to improve skills therapy

Mark Ramos, assistant research professor of health policy and administration at Penn State, created a software tool for use in therapy for autism spectrum disorder and other developmental delays

2025-06-23
(Press-News.org) UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Mabel Ramos’s favorite song is “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Junior. From morning until night, if Mabel is awake, she is listening and dancing to — or asking to listen to — the number one Billboard hit from 1984. Though some parents might be annoyed by listening to a single song repeatedly, her father, Mark Ramos, said he is delighted by his daughter’s ability to dance, communicate and express her enthusiasm.

Mabel, who is five years old, has autism spectrum disorder. Mark, assistant research professor of health policy and administration at Penn State, said that she is reaching developmental milestones that are typical for a two- or three-year-old child. When she was two years old, her development was almost stagnant — she could not speak or sit up by herself. According to Mark, Mabel’s increased development is largely due to the therapies she receives.

When his daughter was in therapy, Mark discovered that — for a specific type of treatment — statistical methods could be used to help measure whether children were meeting developmental milestones. Mark wrote software code that therapists can use to choose thresholds for verifying that children with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities are mastering skills. The free software and its application were described in a recent article in Behavior Analysis in Practice.

Therapies for autism spectrum disorder

“When you take your child to their two-year pediatric appointment, the doctor hands you a checklist where you indicate the milestones they are reaching,” Mark explained. “When my wife and I went through the list, we realized that Mabel wasn’t developing her communication or movement abilities at all.”

Shortly after that appointment, Mabel began physical therapy, occupational therapy and Applied Behavior Analysis, which is commonly used to help people with autism spectrum disorder build specific skills. When Mark, who is a trained statistician, visited his daughter’s treatment facility, he was fascinated by Mabel’s treatment, especially a component of her therapy called discrete trial training (DTT).

Discrete trial training — learning step by step

In DTT, every task is broken down into its component parts. The participant performs each component repeatedly until they master it, and only then do they move on to the next component.

Most children learn how to wash their hands as one process from approaching the sink to drying their hands, for example, but this may not work for children with autism spectrum disorder.

Taught via DTT, however, hand washing might be broken down into sequential components, including: walk to the sink, turn on the water, wet hands, put soap on hands, rub hands, rub hands under water, turn off water and dry hands. The child would perform a single component of the task a prespecified number of times and reach a certain level of success — like successfully walking to the sink eight out of 10 times — before they would be taught the next component of turning on the water.

“I immediately loved DTT,” Mark said. “For one thing, I could see it was helping Mabel learn. But also, it was very scientific and systematic. DTT generates a lot of data that provides objective measures of progress. As a statistician, that was very exciting for me. But I noticed an issue between the performance thresholds and the level of mastery that the children had actually demonstrated.”

Performance is not mastery

A performance criterion is a specific score — a single data point, according to Mark. For example, it is a measure of whether a child was able to reach 80% on a specific trial of a task. Mastery, on the other hand, is a question of probability — a prediction of how often a child will be able to complete the task at any point in the future.

Mark learned that when children needed to master a skill with 80% success, they were typically expected to complete four out of five or eight out of 10 trials successfully. But as a trained statistician, Mark knew that probability of mastery is not equivalent to performance criteria and that the number of trials used mattered considerably.

“If a child performed 80% on a task, they will not necessarily be 80% successful each time; their actual projected mastery level would be a little lower,” Mark said. “Fortunately, there are basic statistical procedures that can estimate what level should be set as the performance criteria so students can perform a task to a specified level of mastery.”

Free software for therapists

Mark created a freely available software called Measurement of Individualized, Evidence‑Based Learning (MIEBL). In MIEBL, users — ideally, the clinicians who run DTT for children with developmental disabilities — enter the performance criterion and the number of items in the trial.

MIEBL employs Bayesian estimates — probabilities based on predicted performance and updated with observed data. For example, if the performance criterion is set at 80% on 10 items, the average mastery for students reaching this mark will be 77.27%. This means that children who reach 80% on the 10-item trial can only be expected to succeed at the same task 77.27% of the time in the future. So, if 80% mastery really matters, the performance criterion should be set to 90% of 10 items. Children who achieve 90% would be expected to successfully complete the task at least 80% of the time.

Performance criteria are already carefully set in DTT, Mark said. Typically, if a skill is important, but not critical — like color identification — the performance criteria will be set at 80%. For critical skills — like safely crossing the street — the performance criteria will be set at 100%.

According to Mark, the intention of MIEBL is to enable therapists to know exactly what level of mastery they can expect from participants for any given performance criteria and number of trials.

Mark recently shared the software with Mabel’s therapists and said he hopes they — and other therapists — will begin to use it routinely.

The future for Mabel and for Mark’s software

“To be clear, I do not think there are huge gaps in the DTT process,” Mark said. “I simply wanted to create an easy tool to let therapists verify whether children are meeting the targets they think they are hitting. If people use this tool and tweak their standards on certain tasks or simply verify that their current performance criteria are correct, that would be a great outcome.”

Though the project was very different than his typical work as a researcher in the Department of Health Policy and Administration, Mark said he loved working on this project because he believes the approach could eventually help his daughter or other children who need support.

“DTT is helping my daughter grow into the fun, capable, music-loving child she is becoming,” Mark said. 

And what will Mabel be focused on?

“She just loves to dance,” Mark said. “And fortunately, she changes her favorite song every week or two.”

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Your smartwatch might know you’re sick before you do — and it might help stop pandemics

2025-06-23
Smartwatch features that measure heart rates, oxygen levels, fitness levels and sleep quality have been marketed as valuable tools for people who are eager to monitor their health. But what if these features could do more than detect potential health issues — what if they could prevent potential health disasters such as pandemics? Recent studies have demonstrated that smartwatches’ health apps and sensors provide enough information to accurately predict when a person has become infected with a disease like COVID-19 or the flu, even within as few as 12 hours after infection.  In a study published this March in PNAS Nexus, researchers ...

ImmunoPET tracer enhances early detection of liver cancer

2025-06-23
NEW ORLEANS—A novel molecular imaging agent targeting glypican-3 (GPC3) has demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity in detecting hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), including tumors smaller than one centimeter, according to results from a pilot clinical study. The agent, 68Ga-aGPC3-scFv, coded as XH06, was shown to be safe, well-tolerated, and effective at providing high-contrast images of GPC3-positive liver tumors, offering a promising new tool for early diagnosis and staging of HCC—one of the most lethal forms of liver cancer. ...

AI-based brain-mapping software receives FDA market authorization

2025-06-23
A new AI-based technology that rapidly maps the brain to locate sensitive areas that control speech, vision, movement and other critical functions has received authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), enabling it to be marketed to hospitals with the aim of enhancing the precision of neurosurgeries. The technology was developed by researchers and clinicians at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to more precisely guide neurosurgeons in performing delicate brain surgeries to remove tumors or treat epilepsy, for example. The Cirrus Resting ...

New PET tracer identifies diverse invasive mold infections behind life-threatening illnesses in cancer and transplant patients

2025-06-23
NEW ORLEANS (June 23, 2025)—A novel PET radiotracer can accurately detect a wide range of mold species that are linked to dangerous infections, according to new research presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2025 Annual Meeting. The imaging agent has the potential to dramatically enhance the diagnosis and monitoring of invasive mold infections in patients. Advances in cancer and immunosuppressive treatments have helped many patients live longer, but they also leave more people with weakened immune systems, making invasive mold ...

Current Pharmaceutical Analysis (CPA) achieves notable impact factor growth in latest journal citation reports

2025-06-23
In 2025-06-18, the highly anticipated 2024 Journal Citation Reports (JCR) were released, revealing significant progress for the journal Current Pharmaceutical Analysis (CPA). The journal has achieved an impact factor of 1.5, marking a remarkable doubling from the previous year. This accomplishment underscores CPA's growing academic influence and recognition within the field of pharmacology and pharmacy. The impact factor, a core metric for evaluating a journal's academic impact, reflects the average ...

AI chatbot safeguards fail to prevent spread of health disinformation

2025-06-23
Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 23 June 2025    Follow @Annalsofim on X, Facebook, Instagram, threads, and Linkedin         Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent.    ----------------------------       1. ...

UTIA researcher to receive award from the Soil and Water Conservation Society

2025-06-23
Sindhu Jagadamma, associate professor of soil science at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, will receive the Soil and Water Conservation Society’s 2025 Conservation Research Award at the society’s annual conference in August. Soil health is critical for sustainable food production, and Jagadamma’s research in her Sustainable Soil Management Lab are developing ways to mitigate soil and environmental problems associated with conventional farm management practices. Her team studies how to maintain soil health through the implementation of conservation management, ...

HSE linguists study how bilinguals use phrases with numerals in Russian

2025-06-23
Researchers at HSE University analysed over 4,000 examples of Russian spoken by bilinguals for whom Russian is a second language, collected from seven regions of Russia. They found that most non-standard numeral constructions are influenced not only by the speakers’ native languages but also by how frequently these expressions occur in everyday speech. For example, common phrases like 'two hours' or 'five kilometres’ almost always match the standard literary form, while less familiar expressions—especially ...

Cold winters halt the northward spread of species in a warming climate

2025-06-23
As the climate warms, many species are shifting northward into areas that were previously too cold for them. A new study on the wall brown butterfly, published in the scientific journal PNAS, shows that rapid evolution can aid this process – but only up to a point. Cold winters stop further expansion beyond certain climatic limits. “Our results show that even though the butterflies adapt their life cycle as they move northwards, there are limits that evolution cannot easily overcome,” says Mats Ittonen, one of the lead authors of the study done by researchers at the Department of Zoology, Stockholm University. The wall brown (Lasiommata ...

Study finds early signs of widespread coastal marsh decline

2025-06-23
Researchers have revealed the declining health of coastal marshes several years before visible signs of decline, providing an early warning and opportunity to protect an ecosystem that serves as the first line of defense against coastal flooding.    Scientists from Colorado State University, the University of Georgia and the University of Texas at Austin developed a model to detect early signs of marsh decline using satellite observations. The model identified vulnerable marshes along Georgia’s coast by ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Automatized vocabulary knowledge in predicting speech fluency

Uncovering the relationship between oral function and lifestyle-related diseases

Drone herbicide applications prove effective for common reed control

New report shows China dominates in AI research – and is western world’s leading collaborator on AI

Hot weather causes children to sweat at the same rate as adults, study shows

New CZI AI model could help scientists pinpoint signs of cancer cells

Sugar-coated ‘sticky’ stem cells could unlock surgery-free liver treatments

Children’s social media activity highlights emotional stress of living with long-term health issues

New tool maps hidden roles and risks in ecosystems

New breakthrough method to protect quantum spins from noise

Chemicals from turmeric and rhubarb could help fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria lurking in wastewater

Instant cancer diagnosis with light and AI!

New electroenzymatic strategy enables non-natural oxidation reactions

Tunable laser light

Scientists uncover magnetic-field control of ultrafast spin dynamics in 2D ferromagnets

New AI-powered model accurately predicts lung motion with minimal radiation

AI language models show promise in predicting liver cancer treatment outcomes

Tracking insect and bug health in a heartbeat from a digital camera

'Talking fish' not heard by conservation policies, SFU study warns

Thirty years of research shows increased resistance in fungi

Junk food ‘avoids advertising regulation’ with top level UK sports sponsorship

Banking on AI while committed to net zero is ‘magical thinking’, claims report on energy costs of big tech

Ancient river systems reveal Mars was wetter than we thought

Online toolkit to help parents of autistic children improve dental health

The psychological and neurological parallels between sports fandom and religious devotion

Agricultural liming in the US is a large CO2 sink, say researchers

Seaside more likely to make us nostalgic than green places, study finds

Psilocybin delays aging, extends lifespan, Emory study suggests

Buck Institute awarded DARPA contract to pioneer next-gen AI modeling platform

Orange is the new aphrodisiac—for guppies

[Press-News.org] Concerned father, statistician develops software to improve skills therapy
Mark Ramos, assistant research professor of health policy and administration at Penn State, created a software tool for use in therapy for autism spectrum disorder and other developmental delays