Newsletter
Volume 31 | 2008 | Number 2
Hawai'ian ABA
By Dr. Kim A. Meyer
The Hawaii chapter has held two conferences in the past year. Our 3rd annual conference occurred in August of 2007 with a focus on reinforcement and its uses. Our featured presenter was Dr. Tiffany Kawaguchi of Hawaii State Hospital who discussed the Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) program and how positive reinforcement is used in the training of clients and service dogs. The AAT trains the clients at Hawaii State Hospital who then perform the actual training of the service dogs. Part of Dr. Kawaguchi’s presentation included a demonstration of the training by a client and dogs in her program. Other presenters at the conference included Dr. Christine Walton and Dr. Kim Meyer who discussed reinforcement and its applications with individuals with developmental disabilities and individuals diagnosed with severe and persistent mental illness. The three presenters then held a panel discussion/question and answer session with conference attendees. About 40 participants attended the conference with the great majority being members of HABA.
Our 4th annual conference was held in April, 2008 and featured Jose Rios, BCBA, a behavioral consultant from California, as our keynote speaker. Mr. Rios’ presentation stressed the importance of strengthening the link between functional assessment and behavioral interventions. In addition, he conducted a workshop emphasizing the importance of being aware of our own behavior and the flexibility to change our behavior if we hope to impact the behavior of our clients. Jessie Mitchell and Jana Ortiz, Ph.D. were also presenters and discussed the challenges and rewards of working within interdisciplinary teams in the implementation of positive behavior support plans. There were about 50 attendees at the April conference with the majority again being HABA members.
In addition to the two conferences, the HABA chapter has also published two newsletters online and will be completing a third this summer. There have also been efforts to improve the interface between HABA and local universities. In November, a HABA speaker addressed the Psychology Club at Brigham Young University, Hawaii. In April, the Clinical Director of the Clinical Studies program at the University of Hawaii contacted HABA and volunteered to coordinate information from HABA to clinical faculty members and students.
Plans for the upcoming year include a continued emphasis on increasing our membership and improving contacts with local universities and agencies. One of the challenges facing HABA is the lack of academic programs in the state that provide students with behavior analytic training. This is noteworthy because several local agencies do view HABA as an important source of behavioral training for the employees. We are hoping that improved collaboration with academic institutions might provide advantages for all parties. A second major goal will be continued efforts to obtain non-profit status from state and federal governments. Third, we will be planning our 5th annual conference and hope to identify possible speakers in the near future. Last, we will be electing new officers in early 2009. Current officers are Christine Walton, Ph.D., Treasurer; Jessie Mitchell, BCBA, Secretary; and Kim Meyer, Ph.D., President.