Exploring Facilitators and Barriers to Research Participation in ABA Agencies: Early Insights from the PALMS Project

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

About the autistic author marker

Martin Loya, M. R., Mello, M., Vejnoska, S., Lewis, C. A., Iosif, A. M., Rocha, M., Brown, H., Zuloaga Walker, A., Dufek, S., & Stahmer, A. C. (2026). Exploring Facilitators and Barriers to Research Participation in ABA Agencies: Early Insights from the PALMS Project. Behavior Analysis in Practice. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-026-01216-7

Publication date: 3 Sep 2026 Added to AutiHub: 5 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
10
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 10 (10.0%)

Abstract

Abstract Applied behavior analysis services are expanding rapidly while facing increased scrutiny from autistic people, families, and advocates, underscoring the need for ethical, family-centered, and ecologically valid intervention research in real-world service systems. The PALMS Project is an ongoing federally funded hybrid effectiveness–implementation clinical trial comparing the Early Start Denver Model, a naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention, to applied behavior analysis as usual in community-based agencies across the United States. This paper examines early lessons from the first years of the trial to describe participant characteristics, explore barriers and facilitators to research participation, and highlight potential strategies for strengthening research infrastructure and research–community collaboration in service organizations using an implementation science framework. To date, 18 agencies and 113 providers across 13 states have consented. Recruitment and retention challenges prompted eligibility expansion and targeted outreach, as well as ongoing implementation planning with agencies to reduce burden and support engagement. Organizational context was examined using the Implementation Climate Scale, which assesses the extent to which organizations expect, support, and reward evidence-based practice use. Scores indicated strong perceived focus on evidence-based practice but comparatively low perceived rewards, and agency leadership reported higher overall implementation climate than frontline providers. Overall, findings emphasize that successful community-based autism intervention research depends on building durable, reciprocal partnerships and practical participation supports that align with service realities and community priorities.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 12 Sep 2026 07:09.

Cited references
71
With a DOI
68
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
3
7 / 71 (9.9%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
3 / 71 (4.2%)
References with detected author names
68 / 71 (95.8%)
Without detected author names
3
Without a structured title
3
Without a stable identifier
3
References with raw author names still to review
3
References with external metadata lookup issues
1
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
329
From DOI or external metadata
329
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
4
104 / 329 (31.6%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 225 / 329 (68.4%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
18 / 329 (5.5%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 18 / 104 (17.3%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 16 / 284 (5.6%).
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