| Abstract: “The reason you don’t fight for me is because you’re not fighting for yourself fully… Are you ready to heal?... That’s why they repress us as trans and gender variant people, because they’ve done this violence to themselves first.” - Alok Vaid-Menon When supporting transgender and gender-nonconforming clients, students, supervisees, trainees, and colleagues, it is critical that behavior analysts create contexts of affirmation. When considering cultural responsiveness, the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts notes that behavior analysts “evaluate their own biases and ability to address the needs of individuals with diverse needs/ backgrounds,” (BACB, 2020, p. 9). This presentation will examine gender identity as covert or subtle behavior, and the ways in which the tacting of covert events is taught (Skinner, 1945; Skinner, 1957; Moore, 2008). Attendees will be equipped to assess their own biases through the examination of selectionism at the phylogenic, ontogenic, and cultural levels, focusing on their own learning histories. Attendees will also learn how to create environments which forster orienting to appetitive control and which reinforce authentic responding through cultural competency and the movement toward cultural safety (Curtis et al., 2019). |
 Worner Leland, MS, BCBA, LBA (they/them) is a former researcher and educator with Upswing Advocates, a current educator with Sex Ed Continuing Ed, a current collaborative writer with the Assent Lab, and a past president of the Sexual Behavior Research and Practice SIG of ABAI. Their work focuses on sex education, assent and consent education, and harm reduction and coercion reduction education in behavior analysis. |