Raising the Standard: ABA Ethics and Supervision
Handling Everyday Ethical Dilemmas
Gina Green, PhD, BCBA-D
Association of Professional Behavior Analysts
Abstract
Whether they work in clinical, administrative, academic, or research settings, behavior analysts frequently face situations that evoke ethical problems. Solving such problems typically requires the behavior analyst to weigh a number of factors within the framework of relevant professional ethical standards. The Behavior Analyst Certification Board’s Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts sets out ethical principles and standards that are specific to behavior analysts. Those principles and standards are discussed, and participants are given written descriptions of ethical dilemmas to analyze with reference to the BACB Code. Participants will also have opportunities to discuss ethical dilemmas they have encountered.
NOTE: Participants must bring copies of the BACB Professional and Ethical Compliance Code with them to the workshop.
Learning objectives:
Briefly describe the origins and history of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board Compliance Code.
Discuss contingencies for complying with the BACB Code.
Describe procedures the BACB follows when it receives an allegation that the Code has been violated, actions the BACB may take if an allegation is substantiated, and where to find descriptions of those procedures and actions on the BACB website.
Given a written or verbal description of an ethical dilemma faced by a behavior analyst, locate the sections of the BACB Compliance Code that should guide the behavior analyst’s actions and discuss how the behavior analyst should use the Code to resolve the dilemma.
The Training Curriculum for Supervisors of ABA Technicians in Autism Programs
Tim Courtney, MA, BCBA
Little Star
Abstract
The Training Curriculum for Supervisors of ABA Technicians in Autism Programs is designed to train supervisors and aspiring supervisors in evidence-based methods of supervising staff who provide ABA (applied behavior analysis) services for people withautism. The content is based on over four decades of ABA research and application on staff training and supervision as well as the authors’ hands-on experience. The content includes critical supervision knowledge and skills coinciding with the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB©) task list for effective supervision, and provides the BACB’s required eight hours of supervision training. The curriculum is performance and competency-based, requiring trainees to meet classroom and on-the-job criteria to successfully complete the training. The Curriculum content is relevant for supervisors of staff providing ABA services across a variety of settings, including center-based programs, homes, schools, and clinics.
Learning Objectives
Identify how to assess the performance of supervisees
Identify how to establish, change, and maintain the behaviors of supervisees
Identify how to address behavior problems of supervisees
Presenters
Gina Green
Gina Green received a PhD in Psychology (Analysis of Behavior) from Utah State University in 1986 following undergraduate and master’s degree studies at Michigan State University. She has been a faculty member in Behavior Analysis and Therapy at Southern Illinois University; Director of Research at the New England Center for Children in Southborough, Massachusetts; Associate Scientist at the E.K. Shriver Center for Mental Retardation in Waltham, Massachusetts; Research Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Massachusetts Medical School; a Lecturer in Public Health and Special Education at San Diego State University; and a consultant in private practice.
Currently Dr. Green is the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts. She has authored numerous publications on the treatment of individuals with developmental disabilities and brain injuries, as well as the experimental analysis of behavior. Dr. Green co-edited the books Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism and Making a Difference: Behavioral Intervention for Autism. She serves or has served on the editorial boards of several professional journals in developmental disabilities and behavior analysis. Dr. Green also serves on the Autism Advisory Group of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies and the advisory boards of several autism programs and organizations. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral, former president of the Association for Behavior Analysis and the California Association for Behavior Analysis, a former member of the Board of Directors of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, a founding Director of the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts, and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Council for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health, and the Association for Behavior Analysis.
Other recognitions and awards include Psychology Today’s “Mental Health Professional of the Year” (2000); honorary Doctor of Science degree from The Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland (2005); California Association for Behavior Analysis Award for Outstanding Contributions to Behavior Analysis (2013); New York State Association for Behavior Analysis John W. Jacobson Award for Contributions to Behavior Analysis (2013); Berkshire Association for Behavior Analysis & Therapy Sidman Award for Enduring Contributions to Applied Behavior Analysis (2014); Friend of the Kendall Centers, Modesto, CA (2014); Autism Speaks Provider of the Year (2014); and Behavior Analyst Certification Board Michael Hemingway Award (2017).
Dr. Green lectures and consults widely on autism and related disorders, behavioral research, effective interventions for people with disabilities, and public policies affecting the practice of applied behavior analysis.
Tim Courtney
Tim Courtney is foremost a behavior analyst who is passionate about the science of human behavior. His journey began with a chance meeting with a friend who explained her career as a behavior analyst. Tim was instantly intrigued, as this role was well aligned with his value for effective intervention. Highly motivated, he then quickly completed the coursework requirements to get his Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst® (BCaBA®) certification. Shortly thereafter, Tim enrolled in the Master of Applied Behavior Analysis program at Florida Institute of Technology. He had the amazing opportunity to work in several diverse settings: public schools, residential programs, center-based programs, and in private and group homes. Tim loved doing clinical work, and he found his calling when he shifted to operations and the system-wide performance of LittleStar. As a result, Tim’s research focus became the practice of behavior analysis — such as how to work with insurance companies — as well as management, supervision and leadership. Right now he’s working on his PhD in Leadership at Benedictine University.
Schedule
Morning
8:00 am - 8:30 am Registration
8:30 am - 12:30 pm Ethics with Gina Green and Ellen Catoe
Afternoon
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Lunch provided
1:30 pm - 4:30 pm Supervision with Tim Courtney
St. John the Divine
2450 River Oaks Blvd
4 Ethics and 3 Supervision BACB CEs!
In order to get CEs, participants will be required to sign in and out each morning, when returning from lunch, and prior to leaving at the end of the day.
Thank you for attending!
Email us at abanetworking@gmail.com or use the Contact Form if you have any questions.