Inside Behavior Analysis
Volume 3 | 2011 | Number 2 | Online ISSN: 2151-4704
Israel ABA
By Eitan Eldar
The Israel Association for Behavior Analysis (IABA) was established in 2003 and held its first conference shortly afterwards. It has been offering a yearly conference and workshops ever since. IABA is growing consistently, and had about 100 members in 2011. All of the IABA members actively support applied behavior analysis (ABA) in various academic and clinical fields and more than 200 additional professionals participate in IABA's activities every year. More than 100 students are studying yearly in two approved BACB programs. These programs are offered at Tel-Aviv University, led by Professor Amos Rolider (BCBA-D), and at the Zinman College, led by Dr. Eitan Eldar (BCBA-D).
IABA has published the Hebrew version of applied behavior analysis (ABA) terms and ethical principles in addition to a few text books in Hebrew, written by several Israeli scholars. Notably, most of the students who have graduated from the above mentioned programs were employed in a variety of educational and clinical agencies in Israel. Some are already holding key positions in the education system and in other organizations. IABA has the following goals:
- Promote ABA as a leading science in human behavior
- Gain Ministries of Health and Education recognition for the discipline as a distinct and unique profession
- Have more members and friends join the IABA
- Establish an ABA newsletter/journal in Hebrew
- Establish an additional approved ABA programs in other universities and initiate the first full ABA graduate program
- Promote both experimental and applied behavior analysis research in Israel
- Strengthen our ties with the BACB and ABAI and encourage more Israelis to take part in their activities
The first 2011 IABA convention, "From Skill to Expertise," dealt with acquirable teaching skills to enhance effective learning, and offered several workshops on intonation and motivation, enhancing teaching pace, the usage and implementation of games in the classroom as a motivator to develop target behaviors, and creating a positive classroom climate to reduce behavior problems. A concluding discussion was held among participants.
The second 2011 IABA convention, "This Is the Last Time I Am Telling You This Is the Last Time," focused on ABA educational interventions in parent-child's relationship and offered workshops on authority, effective parent-child communication, and teaching kids self-management. A concluding discussion was held among participants.
The recent IABA newsletter dealt with ABA and physical activity. The issue included articles on improving behavior; learning among children with severe behavior problems in a special education school using physical education, physical activity, and confrontation games as a tool for identification and assessment of aggressive behaviors in kindergarten; and the effect of a physical education program on teaching self-management skills and generalizing them to other settings in kindergarten.
The main theme of the upcoming newsletter is interventions in the educational system and will include articles on the functional assessment of communication behaviors of five children with a hearing disability in a regular school and the efficiency of self-management interventions in elementary school—a suggestion for a class wide intervention.
IABA has strengthened its relationship with the Ministry of Education, while refining the criteria for preparing behavior analysts to meet the requirements of the Israeli regular and special schools. Special attention has been devoted to promoting inclusion in various educational settings.
The new IABA website has become a major platform of communication for behavior analysts and other professionals. It also includes a special forum for posting job demands and offers.
Facing a substantial demand for behavior analysts in Israel and in order to assure the best professional outcomes, IABA is striving to achieve high quality behavior analyst preparation and appropriate certification.