Inside Behavior Analysis
Volume 3 | 2011 | Number 2 | Online ISSN: 2151-4704
Heartland ABA
By Tiffany Kodak
HLABA held its fifth annual conference on March 3–4 in Omaha, Nebraska. We were honored to recruit Dr. Mark Sundberg and Dr. Steve Taylor to conduct preconference workshops. Dr. Mark Sundberg offered a workshop titled, "Designing and Implementing a Behavior Language Intervention Program Based on the VB-MAPP." Dr. Steve Taylor's workshop was called "Ethics for Behavior Analysts." Both workshops were well-attended by individuals from a variety of fields and from surrounding states. We also had several invited conference presenters, including Dr. Mark Shriver, who presented on the assessment and treatment of selective mutism; Dr. Cynthia Ellis, who presented on psychopharmacological interventions for individuals with developmental disabilities; Dr. Mark Sundberg, who presented on future directions in Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior; and Dr. Pamela Neidert, who presented on behavioral maintenance under conditions of extinction. We offered a poster presentation award for the third year in a row, which is meant to contribute financial support to a student attending the annual ABAI convention in May. The winning poster, titled "Treatment of Feeding Problems in Young Children in Inclusive Early Education Environments," was presented by Danielle Gureghian.
Conference attendance increased from last year, which we attribute to several variables. First, we modified the date of the event in an effort to prevent overlap with other regional ABAI chapter conferences. Second, we recruited numerous esteemed colleagues in the field of applied behavior analysis and behavioral medicine, and the topics of their presentations were diverse and interesting to a variety of professionals. Finally, attendance at the preconference workshops increased from previous years. We had 115 conference attendees, which represents approximately a 50% increase in attendance. Our sixth annual conference will be held in March, 2012. We are currently in the process of identifying prominent behavior analysts in the field to present or conduct workshops at our next conference.
The HLABA Executive Board for 2011 includes Dr. Valerie Volkert as our past president, Dr. Tiffany Kodak as our current president, Amber Paden as our vice-president, Anney Farenholtz as our secretary-treasurer, Krista Gabriau and Doug Boem as our representatives-at-large, and Kathryn Peterson as our student representative. Dr. Steve Taylor helped found HLABA, and he remains an integral part of our HLABA organization.
Dr. Steve Taylor and Anney Farenholtz worked on an initiative to help HLABA become a nonprofit organization. We recently became incorporated, which was a necessary step. We achieved nonprofit status in October of 2010.
HLABA continues to provide on-going training opportunities to behavior analysts in Nebraska and surrounding states. We offer a monthly speaker series that is free of charge to our HLABA members. The speaker series allows members to obtain continuing education units for BCBA certification, and many members join the speaker series in Omaha, NE, via teleconference.