Behavior Analysis Services on the Island of Curaçao: Increasing Dissemination, Capacity Building, and Access to Care
One team kept ABA alive on a tiny island by starting small, training locals, and stitching together family funds.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Torres and the team spent six years starting ABA on the island of Curaçao.
They opened a tiny clinic, trained local helpers, and mixed family money with small grants to pay for therapy.
The paper is a simple story of what they built, not a numbers study.
What they found
The clinic is still open.
Local staff now run sessions every day.
Families who once had zero help can now get ABA on the island instead of flying overseas.
How this fits with other research
Wallace et al. (2012) drew a world-wide game plan for low-resource countries.
Torres shows one island putting that plan into action, so the story extends the blueprint.
Pasco et al. (2014) did the same thing across all of Romania.
Curaçao proves the idea also works in a place with only 160,000 people.
Winett et al. (1991) warned that community ABA often dies from red tape and push-back.
Torres side-stepped those traps by keeping the clinic small and training islanders from day one.
Why it matters
If you consult abroad, copy the three-step recipe: open one room, train eager locals, blend tiny funding streams.
Start small, stay flexible, and let the community own the program so it survives after you leave.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Although applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a well-supported evidence-based practice in the United States, other countries have a lack of national practice standards, training programs, and public policy that has made it challenging for practitioners to provide services to individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities. In addition to these barriers, smaller countries, like the island of Curaçao, must also contend with their small size and limited resources. Nonetheless, over the past 6 years a small multidisciplinary team has established an ABA therapy center, identified some funding sources for families who may not have the resources to afford these private pay services, and created a training program for local people interested in a career in behavior analysis. The steps taken, barriers encountered, and successes achieved, provide a guide for others attempting to make an impact when resources are limited. With these achievements, Curaçao joins a small group of other islands that are paving the way for the establishment and regulation of behavior analysis in the Caribbean.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2025 · doi:10.1007/s40617-024-00922-4