Newsletter
Volume 30 | 2007 | Number 2
Delaware Valley ABA
By Dr. Paul Neuman
The mission of the Delaware Valley Association for Behavior Analysis is to bring together new and established behavior analysts from the local region (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland) in an informal and informative setting. Our objective is to provide continuing education for behavior analysts in an informal setting that has the atmosphere of a social gathering. This approach has been very successful at assembling behavior analysts during busy work weeks. Another primary goal of DVABA is to increase cohesiveness among local behavior analysts who might otherwise be isolated as a result of working in diverse settings with service providers and researchers who are not behavior-analytic. Many of our members are the only behavior analysts at their places of employment.
This year, we have a new coordinator, as Patrick Progar has moved on to other endeavors. We continue the traditions established by Pat over the past several years. For instance, we had three excellent speakers over the 2006/2007 academic year. First, James E. Connell, Ph.D., BCBA, from the Salem City School District, gave a talk titled “What is so Negative about Positive Behavior Support.” Norm Dahl, Ph.D., BCBA, who is the Director of Pediatric Clinical Programs at Melmark Berwyn, spoke about “The Effects of Choice of Task Sequence on Escape-Maintained Challenging Behavior”as well as “Crafting Attention Conditions in Analogue Functional Analysis to Identify the Type of Attention that Reinforces Challenging Behavior.” Finally, William N. Davis, Ph. D., FAED, who is currently a research consultant to the Renfrew Centers, Inc., and formerly the Clinical Director of The Renfrew Center of Philadelphia and Director of The Renfrew Center of New York, spoke about “Individual Psychotherapy for Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa.”
We continue to add to our membership, and many of our new members are new to behavior analysis. In addition, we continue to offer continuing education units to board certified behavior analysts. We plan to continue growing over the coming years, and to have interesting and informative speakers. Those who are interested in becoming a member should contact Paul Neuman at pneuman@brynmawr.edu