Saturday, 27 April 2013 ABA Today is presented by: Autism Behavioural Intervention Association p: 03 98300677 w: www.abia.net.au
Why Have A Governing Board For ABA Practitioners And How To Choose A Quality Service Provider Artika Singh,M.Sc. ABA Elyssa McKee, M.Ed, BCBA
Introduction We are not BACB representatives We are just raising awareness within the BACB community for quality assurance practice Elyssa McKee, M.Ed., BCBA University of British Columbia Artika Singh, M.Sc. ABA Trinity College Dublin Practicing under BCBA-D BCBA exam in September
Table of Contents What is a BACB? How do you get certified? How to choose a quality ABA practitioner?
What is a Governing Board?
Why a Governing Board in Behaviour To ensure quality control Analysis? By law, one can practice behaviour analysis without being certified which potentially means: Their credentials do not ensure they have the minimum standards of training, professional experience and knowledge in behaviour analysis The credentialing examination of other professions may contain little or no behaviour analytic content, and individuals who pass these examinations can miss all behaviour analysis questions but become credentialed in their profession The eligibility requirements to take the examination for professionals in another trade other than behaviour analysis may not include academic training or professional experience specifically in behaviour analysis and continuing education in behaviour is not required to maintain the credentials (Shook, G. L.. & J. T. Neisworth, 2010)
What is the History of BACB? Leading experts and researcher in the field were brought together and questioned on their expertise on what constitutes Applied Behaviour Analysis From this a task list was formed comprising of 12 fundamental areas of ABA They produced a Task List of 12 essential content of what the qualified behaviour analysts believe to be important in training BA practitioners 1998 BACB was established internationally
Task List Example MEASUREMENT 48. Use inter-response time (IRT) 49. Use celeration 50. Use percent of occurrence 51. Use partial-interval recording 52. Use whole-interval recording 53. Use momentary time sample recording Displaying and Interpreting Behavioural Data Selecting Intervention Outcomes and Strategies
Mission Statement The BACB s mission is to develop, promote, and implement an international certification program for behaviour analyst practitioners. The BACB has established uniform content, standards, and criteria for the credentialing process
Cumulative Number of Certificants 14000 13,026 12000 10000 8000 6000 FL BCaBA BCBA 4000 2000 0 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Current Non-US Certificants Australia 20 Iceland 3 Qatar 3 Azerbaijan 1 India 11 Romania 5 Bahamas 1 Ireland 59 Saudi Arabia 10 Bahrain 1 Israel 74 Singapore 5 Bermuda 2 Italy 20 South Africa 1 Brazil 2 Jamaica 2 South Korea 11 Bulgaria 1 Japan 5 Spain 2 Canada 418 Kenya 1 Sweden 6 Cayman Islands 1 Kuwait 3 Switzerland 4 China 20 Lebanon 2 Taiwan 10 Colombia 3 Mexico 1 Thailand 1 Costa Rica 1 New Zealand 18 The Netherlands 3 Cyprus 3 Nigeria 1 UK: England 94 France 14 Norway 1 UK: N Ireland 20 Germany 8 Peru 1 UK: Scotland 5 Greece 2 Poland 4 UK: Wales 14 Hungary 1 Portugal 1 United Arab Emirates 10
BCBAs in Australia New South Whales 13 Victoria 3 Western Australia 2 South Australia 2 Queensland 2 Northern Territory 0 Tasmania 0
Our Mission B.ehaviour A.nalysts I.n T.raining
Who Would Benefit? Families and Consumers ABA Practitioners ABA Profession Professionals
Why is a Governing Board Beneficial for Families and Consumers? A place for families to convey concerns about their service provider A way for families to be Informed that their service provider: meets standard qualification in ABA has practical experience Knowledge of the theory behind ABA Prevent rogue practitioners and therapists It is a way to identify professionals and experts in the field (Medical Doctors are M.D., Psychologists are registered, Teachers are certified, Attorneys are licenced)
Why is a Governing Board Beneficial for ABA Practitioners? To ensure new behaviour consultants enter into the field with quality/valuable skills To maintain professional standards and best practice after certification and training So consumers know that you ve met the basic standard training BACB certification is internationally recognized
Why a Governing Board is Beneficial for the ABA Profession? To prevent rogue practitioners Unify the profession by bringing together students and teachers Stimulates discussion and further research within the field
Why a Governing Board Benefits Other Professionals? Academics and Professors Researchers Employers of ABA practitioners
Different Levels of Certification Three Levels of Certification: 1. BCBA-D (Board Certified Behaviour Analyst- Doctorate) 2. BCBA (Board Certified Behaviour Analyst) 3. BCaBA (Board Certified Assistant Behaviour Analyst)
Different Levels of Certification BCBA-D BCBA Masters Degree Specific Graduate Coursework in Behaviour Analysis 225 hours of classroom hours of behaviour analytic content (equivalent to 15 semester credit hours) Coursework Content includes: basic principles o behaviour, application of behaviour, single-subject design and ethics. Supervised Professional Experience in Behaviour Analysis 9 months of experience where applicant is engaged in behaviour analytic activities for at least 20 hrs/wk Less intensive program does not require face-to-face but applicants then must have 18m of experience to take examination Can use certain number of hours for Group Supervision
Different Levels of Certification BCaBA Bachelors Degree Specific undergraduate or graduate coursework in behaviour analysis Supervised coursework 125 Classroom hours (equivalent to 9 semester credit hours) Coursework Content includes: basic principles of behaviour, application of behaviour, single-subject design and ethics Applicant must have at least 4.5m of supervised experience or 9m of mentored experience in appropriate applied setting
Course Sequences by Academic Department 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 BCaBA BCBA 20 0 Education Psychology Other Counseling Behavior Analysis Human Services Medicine Sociology
BACB!!! Fact Sheet Established in 1998 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation Certifies professional behaviour analysts Has certified more than 13,000 behaviour analysts in over 40 countries Has approved over 300 behaviour analysis course sequences at more than 200 universities internationally
Choosing a Qualified ABA Service Provider Certification by the BACB helps to ensure a standardized practice, production of quality service providers, and protect against rogue therapists/providers It should be noted that a qualified ABA practitioner does not have to be board certified and that all BCBAs are not necessarily autism specialists or provide quality services either
Choosing a Qualified Service Provider What to look for in an ABA practitioner : Minimum post graduate degree in ABA or a related field with a specialisation in ABA. E.g. Behavioural Psychology or Special Education with a focus on behaviour analysis Questions for your potential service provider Is he/she accountable to some kind of regulatory body that sets standards of practice? What kind of training did he/she receive? Theoretical? Practical/hands on? By who? How much? How many learners have they worked with and what age group?
Questions for Your Potential Service Provider What methodology does he/ she use? What assessment procedures are used for programming? Ask to see an example of an individual education plan Ask to see an example of a behaviour support plan How do they make decisions on whether or not a program or behaviour support plan is working? Ask if they collect data Ask if they graph results; Ask to see an example of a graph **Decisions should be based on hard observable data and graphs Do their philosophies fit with your families values and beliefs and goals for your child?
Things to be Weary of When Choosing a Behaviour Consultant Difficulty identifying their profession Unable to guide you to scientific research/journal articles about their methods Ask for scientific journals; reputable websites; names of leading researchers in the field and/or names of books Share testimonials from other families rather than provide specific references Ask to contact previous families and employers Unable to talk about their practice in clear and easy to understand language in other words they use lots of jargon Ask for more detail and then do your own research on their methods!
Websites and Resources for Parents When Choosing a Provider http://www.abia.net.au/ www.amaze.com www.bacb.com www.fahscia.gov.au www.raisingchildren.net.au/autism
Websites and Resources for www.bacb.com Practitioners http://www.abainternational.org/ http://www.psych.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/home/for/fut ure-postgraduates/postgraduate-studyoptions/applied-behaviour-analysis/ http://www.waikato.ac.nz/fass/about/psychology
References Moore, J. & Shook, G.L. (2001). Certification, accreditation, and quality control in behaviour analysis. The Behavior Analyst, 24, 45-55. Shook, G.L. & Favell, J.E., (2010). Identifying qualified professionals in behaviour analysis Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism. Exceptionality: A Special Education Journal, (3)1, 3-10. Shook, G.L., Hartsfield, F. & Hemingway, M. (1996). Essential content for training behaviour analysis practitioners. The Behaviour Analyst, 18, 83-91. Shook, G.L. & Neisworth, J.T. (2005). Ensuring appropriate qualifications for applied behaviour analyst professionals: The behaviour analyst certification board. Exceptionality: A Special Education Journal, 13(1), pg 3-10.
References www.bacb.com www.behaviorbabe.com www.behaviorguy.com http://www.latrobe.edu.au/otarc/otarc-documents/margot-eiguidelines-revised.pdf http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/our-responsibilities/disability-andcarers/program-services/for-people-with-disability/helping-childrenwith-autism/early-intervention-service-providers http://www.psychology.org.au/practitioner/resources/autism/