A Message from MABA's President: BACB votes against an autism speciality certification

Over the last year the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) had been considering pursing an additional certification specifically for BCBA's who work with clients with autism. It's a common belief - even across behavior analysts - that one must possess a different skill set to do ABA with clients with autism, than one would possess to be a behavior analyst in general. As you know, behavior analysis is a science of learning. If you have studied behavior analysis, you should be able to apply it to any behavioural excess or deficit; whether the individual or group has autism, a developmental disability, a lack of sports skills, a community problem, and so on. I am pleased to report that the expert panel convened to determine a task list for the autism specialty came to this conclusion as well.

The panel determined that there are skills and knowledge that an individual working with people with autism should have; however, were not behaviour analytic in nature - the skills related to autism diagnosis, cultural variables, history of the research, providing education to others regarding non-scientific treatments, and so on.

Please refer to the BACB website for more information (www.bacb.com).

Sincerely,

Dr. Kirsten Wirth, Ph.D., C. Psych. Candidate

MABA President