About the presentation:
What are the relations between science, ethics and progress in Applied Behavior Analysis? How does this relate to Autism? To explore this question, we look at the progression of intensive interventions in autism. This will include: an overview of the foundational and changing premises of our discipline; the emergence, impact and metamorphosis of early intervention configurations; the rapid expansion of services and service providers; and, the concerns voiced by people of color and autistic people. The proliferation of behavior analysis in autism services has brought both growth and growing pains. When facing the painful dimensions of growth, we can either choose to be complacent or humbly act to progress as an applied science that cares deeply for the people we serve. Concepts complementary to our science can offer meaningful ways to strengthen our caring hearts to honor individual and the collective.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will be able to identify the relations between science, ethics and progress in ABA
- Participants will be able to identify growth and growing pains
- Participants will be able to identify probable outcomes of different actions in the face of rapid growth
- Participants will be able to identify resources for advancing caring, progressive, and culturally responsive practices in ABA
About the presenter:
Shahla Alai-Rosales, PHD, BCBA-D, CPBA-AP is an Associate Professor in the Department of Behavior Analysis at the University of North Texas. She has taught courses in Texas, Europe and the Middle East on a variety of topics, including ethics, early autism intervention, parent training, behavioral systems, applied research methods, technology transfer, behavior change techniques, and cultural diversity. Shahla has served on several boards and disciplinary committees and has published and presented research on social justice, ethics in early intervention, play and social skills, family harmony, and supervision and mentoring. Shahla has more than four decades of experience working with families and has trained hundreds of behavior analysts. She has received awards for her teaching, her work with families, and for her work in the community. She is an Associate Editor for Behavior Analysis in Practice and is co-author of Building and Sustaining Meaningful and Effective Relationships as a Supervisor and Mentor (LeBlanc, Sellers & Alai, 2020) and Responsible and Responsive Parenting in Autism: Between Now and Dreams (Alai-Rosales & Heinkel-Wolfe, 2022).