This invited address by Natalia Baires provides behavior analysts with practical tools for enhancing cultural self-awareness in the delivery of ABA services. Grounded in the BACB's ethical mandate for cultural responsiveness, this course addresses a critical gap between the profession's stated commitment to cultural responsiveness and practitioners' actual capacity to implement it.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via BABAT
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Join Free →The Behavior Analyst Certification Board (2020) emphasizes the ethical responsibility of Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) to enhance their knowledge and skills related to cultural responsiveness and diversity. When the cultural practices of BCBAs differ from those of the clients they serve, BCBAs might observe behaviors that seem to interfere with services but may overlook crucial variables, such as the client's cultural context and their own cultural biases. Ignoring these factors can compromise treatment adherence, social validity, rapport, and collaboration. Therefore, this presentation will define key terms related to the topic, discuss barriers to providing ethical and culturally responsive services, explore the dimensions of culturally responsive services, and offer interactive activities to foster greater self-awareness in behavior analytic practice.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1 | Ethics |
Dr. Natalia Baires (pronounced "by-res") earned her B.A. in Psychology and Chicano/a Studies from California State University Northridge, went on to complete her M.S. in Counseling/Applied Behavior Analysis from California State University Los Angeles, and earned her Ph.D. in Psychology/Behavior Analysis and Therapy from Southern Illinois University.An English-Spanish bilingual, doctoral-level Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D), Dr. Baires' research interests include culturally responsive interventions/service delivery, social justice and equity within and outside the field of behavior analysis, compassionate approaches within behavior-analytic services and supervision/mentorship, the role of language and cognition from a Relational Frame Theory framework, and the use of Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) to ensure sustainable behavioral flexibility and psychological well-being.As a scholar, Dr. Baires regularly conducts symposia, panels, and invited presentations at national and international conferences within behavior science in both English and Spanish. Her scholarly work includes publications on the importance of distinctions between open- and closed-ended indirect assessments, sexism, observational learning, the importance of listening (from a Skinnerian perspective) and intercultural communication to combat racism, stimulus-stimulus pairing, an intersectional examination of disability and race models in behavior-analytic practice, pay equity among practitioners who serve children, a contextual behavioral framework for enhancing culturally responsive services for Latino families, and a cultural adaptation of ACT for Spanish-speaking parents of children with autism.Dr. Baires is also serving as a co-guest editor for Behavior Analysis in Practice's special issue on Latin American women in behavior analysis. To find out more about Dr. Baires and her work, click the links below.Research Gate | LinkedIn
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
280 research articles with practitioner takeaways
279 research articles with practitioner takeaways
258 research articles with practitioner takeaways
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All behavior-analytic intervention is individualized. The information on this page is for educational purposes and does not constitute clinical advice. Treatment decisions should be informed by the best available published research, individualized assessment, and obtained with the informed consent of the client or their legal guardian. Behavior analysts are responsible for practicing within the boundaries of their competence and adhering to the BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts.