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Collaborating with school personnel is not easy. There are many other parameters, schedules, and opinions to consider. Creating and implementing an effective Individualized Education Plan (IEP) can be confusing for parents, behavior analysts, and teachers alike. Nicole Postma will review the Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS) tier model that many local school districts use.

Recently, Tom Freeman, MS, BCBA, LBA-NY, LBA-MA, and current senior vice-president of ABA Technologies, Inc., received a question from a colleague regarding an ethical dilemma of sorts. Following is the exchange between the two—one that, hopefully, will be helpful to others confronted with a similar issue.

Important:   This course fulfills the 8-hour training requirement and is based on the B

There are a variety of paths that individuals take to enter the field of behavior analysis. A few take a direct route by entering a graduate program in behavior analysis after undergrad. Still, many pursue behavior analysis at a later time. Read More

In clinical organizations, most Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) work as program coordinators or clinical directors. Rather than working with clients “in-the-chair,” BCBAs supervise others doing the work. Developing programs and training staff might be old hat, but managing and engaging staff and families—long term—requires new skills.

 “Establish yourself as a conditioned reinforcer. Just be nice, please.” Stacie Neff, MS, BCBA

Knowledge of ethical guidelines is an essential component when practicing as a BCBA or completing any form of behavior analytic services or consultations. Thomas Freeman reviews the history of ethical guidelines and codes in ABA, how they have changed, and comparisons between the current ethical guidelines and codes to the previous editions. Dr. Martinez-Diaz then reviews the newest addition to the code, element 10.0, and provides examples of violations within the newest code element.

Typically, the only psychotropic medication knowledge BCBA's have stems from a course they took in their graduate program or learning through their own experiences with clients. It can be difficult to assess the effects of medications on behavior if one does not know the possible common side effects to expect from certain drugs.

As laws change and technology progresses, the behaviors we engage in becoming more difficult to classify as either ethical or unethical. What may be legal in some states and not in others makes it difficult to follow certain ethical guidelines.

Primary care physicians, psychiatrists, specialists . . . OH MY! Working within the field of clinical behavior analysis includes working with clients that could be seeing multiple professionals for a variety of reasons. It is not always included in training, but it is important that behavior analysts have an understanding of the types of treatments their clients could be given from other health care professionals.

As Karin Torsiello says, anger and aggression are to be expected in clinical practice and so it is important to learn and address these behaviors in the foster care population. Karin Torsiello discusses the expression of anger and aggression in children, where this may originate, the influence of trauma, and how to treat and manage anger and aggression. This presentation ends by offering tools and activities for providers to use or give to guardians of children to assist in managing anger and aggression. 

OBM seems to be such a mystery to many of us. In this Continuing Education course, Kelly Therrien demystifies OBM and recounts her experiences in the field. You’ll learn what OBM is, how it fits into behavior analysis, and you’ll even get practice using a couple of helpful tools within the field.

Perhaps you work in a clinical setting, where you have provided reinforcement to a client for an appropriate behavior consistently in a group setting. Eventually, another client consistently included in the group begins to emit the same behavior in response to the client receiving reinforcement.

We’re all on a journey. We may be at different points in that journey, but we’re constantly learning from the people around us. In this Continuing Education offering, Corey Robertson gives personal examples of what supervision, mentorship, and leadership mean.

“Don’t bother doing anything without good performance management procedures in place.” Byron Wine, PhD, BCBA