Inside Behavior Analysis
Volume 1 | 2009 | Number 1
Ontario ABA
By Peter Wyngaarden
Continuing to serve a growing community of professionals interested and involved in behaviour analysis in Ontario, the Ontario Association for Behaviour Analysis (ONTABA) had a 2008 membership of over 360 persons reflecting a variety of professional areas, such as education, nursing, health care and psychology. ONTABA also has members from at least four other provinces.
This past November saw ONTABA celebrate it's 15th Annual General Meeting and Conference. Invited addresses from Dr. Vincent Carbone (A behavioural Analysis of Eye Contact as a Language pragmatic skill and how to teach it in children with Autism as well as The development of Complex Linguistic Structure in Children with Autism) and Dr. Robert Stromer (Stimulus Class Research and its relevance in Teaching Verbal Behaviour) contributed to this successful event. Additional talks, concurrent sessions, as well as a poster session represented a variety of issues and topics relating to behaviour analysis. It was another great conference: wonderful presenters, a great venue, and a fantastic time.
It was also great to celebrate the 15th AGM of ONTABA and, to mark this milestone, introduce ONTABA's new, official logo. It figures prominently in our newly re-designed Web site, new ONTABA brochures, new letterhead as well as t-shirts, which were offered for sale at the Conference.
The ONTABA conference also saw the second presentation of the ONTABA award excellence in the field of Behaviour Analysis Education. The recipient was Dr. Andrew McNamara of St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario. His work with students and commitment to education in Behaviour Analysis were commended in his nomination. ONTABA also solicits nominations for deserving candidates who have made outstanding contributions to Research in Behaviour Analysis or to the Clinical Practice in Behaviour Analysis.
In April of this year ONTABA was pleased to sponsor, with St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario, a poster gala and speaker presentation entitled "Catch the Behavioural Wave". ONTABA continues to pursue creative ways to provide educational and professional development opportunities for professionals as well as encouraging students who are pursuing education in the field of behaviour analysis.
As ONTABA enters its 16th year as an organization, the board continues to work hard to make the organization serve the needs of its members. Multi-year membership renewals are now available, membership applications and renewals are now online, and the board, at members request, has actively pursued liability insurance for the membership.
This year ONTABA is undertaking several new initiatives. ONTABA continues to enhance its capacity for online registration and payment of membership and conference fees and to move toward paperless systems and to make communication to the membership greener and more convenient through the use of electronic means. The ONTABA Analyst - ONTABA's newsletter for information sharing, opinion pieces, research articles, and articles on clinical work, is being prepared for online publication.
ONTABA’s board recognizes a need for some changes, updating and clarification of ONTABA's bylaws/policies/practices. Some committee roles and mandates require revisiting. The board is also working hard to enhance response rates for Board and Award nominations as well as facilitate transitions as new volunteers move into roles previously held for long terms (e.g., Conference, Membership). ONTABA's board and committees also continue to be active in areas of public policy and awareness of behaviour analysis.
Certification continues to be a major interest to ONTABA membership. Work continues to be done by ONTABA's Transitional Certification Committee for a formalized system of certification once the Alternative Pathways to BACBÒ certification have expired. In addition, ONTABA continues to investigate models and methods of certification for practitioners of Behaviour Analysis who provide direct, hands-on ABA-based services.