Association for Behavior Analysis International

In recent years, a number of skills that have not historically been emphasized in training have been identified as essential to professional practice in behavior analysis. These include interprofessional collaboration, compassionate care, ethical decision making, and cultural humility. These skills are often addressed in other disciplines, and resources exist within these disciplines that assist in defining the skills. However, the skills are inherently complex and are difficult to operationally define and measure. In this talk, we will review how these skills can be introduced inn graduate coursework in behavior analysis in ways that are conceptually systematic with the science of ABA. Specifically, methods for building specific skills in these areas will be highlighted. Emphasis will be placed on how to define and measure these skills, and how to socialize students into the need for skill development in these areas. Elements of Behavior Skills Training, including the provision of a rationale, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback will be discussed. Options for data collection, determining mastery, assessing generalization, and obtaining social validity data will also be presented.

Behavior analysis is a growing field within human service and beyond. Client demographics for behavior analysts are diverse and continue to grow as well. It is imperative that practices behavior analysts implement are culturally humble and that services are conducted in a culturally competent manner. Education and training of behavior analysts should incorporate a strong emphasis on cultural competence and cultural humility at both the organizational and individual level for practicing behavior analysts. In addition, behavior analysts can be trained to utilize broader general guidelines adopted from other, similar human service providers (e.g., psychologists, counselors, medicine, etc.) in order to assist with interpreting code items with an emphasis on cultural humility. The recommendations outlined in this paper are fluid and subject to change as new examples are provided in regard to culturally humble practice.

The presence of cross-cultural communities around the world is ever-growing resulting in many clinicians practicing in a culturally-diverse context with families that have different values, traditions, habits, and spoken language. Despite a growing interest in evidence-based practices for individuals with developmental disabilities, there is still a large discrepancy in the number of training professionals across the globe. In other words, the number of certified behavior analysts is uneven in countries around the world, and professionals wishing to obtain training in applied behavior analysis face the challenge of securing supervision from behavior analysts living in other countries. The geographical distance poses a difficulty in itself, however some other barriers involve the difference in cultural background among the supervisor, supervisee, and clients. To circumvent these barriers, it is important that supervisors are aware of cultural differences while delivering supervision and plan to incorporate cultural competency training into their agenda. During this talk, we will place particular emphasis on ethical considerations relevant to supervision and the importance of preparing future behavior analysts for working with individuals from diverse backgrounds.