---------------------------
The ABA International newsletter, Inside Behavior Analysis 1(2), December 2009 reported some interesting and useful updates on developments within ABA International by the ABAI Practice Board.
Inside Behavior Analysis states that this is a followup to an earlier email communication sent to members in September.
Below is a summary of what was reported in the newsletter on Practice Board activities and focus at the current time. Please refer to Inside Behavior Analysis 1(2), December 2009 for the full article, and consult the Practice Board pages at ABA International.
Insurance coverage
- Two new committees are in development to assist practitioners with insurance billing questions.
- An insurance summit is planned for the national convention in San Antonio bringing together representatives of ABAI, the BACB, insurance companies, Autism Speaks, and other advocacy groups.
- Descriptions are given of state licensure acts that have already passed and initiatives in progress or proposed, as well as progress on a model licensing act
- Members of the Practice Board have been meeting with some of the affiliated chapters to assist with governmental advocacy, and will be expanding in the future to international efforts.
- Information is given on members of the Practice Board to contact should an affiliated chapter or organization be considering bills that would affect practitioners of behavior analysis
- A full-day session for affiliated chapter training is being planned to immediately precede the ABAI Autism Conference in Chicago on Friday, January 22, 2010.
- Another meeting for all affiliated chapters of ABAI is planned for the 2010 Annual Convention in San Antonio
- A practitioner hotline has been created to give access to consultation services and advice to behavior analysis practitioners on pressing professional issues.
- A committee is forming for those behavior analysts who have positions of responsibility in the private or public sector as CEO/COO of large agencies, Special Education Director or in service to school boards or state committees. The purpose of this committee is provide a forum for ABAI members in such roles and to provide a mentor service for new to such positions.
- There is currently an invitation offered for those who would be interested in participation on such a committee
- Position Statements
- A task force with joint participation of the Science and Practice Boards has been formed on the question of seclusion and restraint. The charge of the task force is to develop and recommend a position statement on the appropriate use of restraint and seclusion to be submitted to ABAI Full Members for consideration.
- Code of Ethics
- A task force is currently being assembled to study the implications of revising a code of ethics for behavior analysts that will represent and support scientists and researchers, educators, and practitioners.
- Various initiatives are in progress, headed by the ABAI Education Board, to develop or improve criteria related to higher education standards in the training of behavior analysts.
A Letter From the ABAI President
By Raymond G. Miltenberger, Inside Behavior Analysis 1(2), December 2009
Practice Board Page at ABA International,
Practice Resources page at ABA International
Which has news you can use in aid of advocacy on a variety of issues, and the formal Position Statements of ABA International
ABAI Education Board
By Charles T. Merbitz, Inside Behavior Analysis 1(2), December 2009
-----------
-----------
Views and news expressed in this blog or by the PIBA SIG are those of the SIG or SIG members and do not represent official policy of ABA International or other official body. For official policy of the Association of Behavior Analysis International, the reader is directed to their website, http://www.abainternational.org
