Cultural Responsiveness in Behavior Analysis: Provider and Recipient Perceptions in Ontario

O'Neill et al. (2024) asked Ontario BCBAs and the families they serve about cultural training. They used an online survey to see how much cultural responsiveness training BCBAs get and how families rate their skills.

The team compared provider reports with family reports to find gaps between training and real-world practice.

Most BCBAs said they received little to no formal training on working with diverse families. Yet families rated provider skills as fairly good while still seeing room for improvement.

The study found a training gap that families notice even when overall ratings stay positive.

LeBlanc et al. (2020) found the same pattern for caregiver relationship skills. Ontario BCBAs also lacked formal training there, showing a wider soft-skill gap across the province.

Wheeler et al. (2024) ran a parallel survey in the same year. They found BCBAs value trauma-informed care training but get almost none, matching the cultural responsiveness gap O'Neill reports.

Friedman et al. (2025) tested a fix for a similar problem. They ran a four-month coaching package to boost self-compassion and teamwork skills, showing one way to close training gaps once we find them.

You may be under-trained in cultural responsiveness without knowing it. Ask your supervisor for case-based cultural discussions and seek CEUs that include diverse family examples. Small steps like learning key phrases in a family's home language or asking about holiday customs can boost rapport while you wait for broader training changes.