Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis and Autism Studies

Today we welcomed the Fall 2024 cohort to campus. It was great to see almost all our incoming class together this afternoon! Many thanks to some of our outstanding 2nd years for serving on the panel of current students. We are excited to kick off another academic year!

Less than two weeks for the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies ETHICS conference in Beverly, MA. Check it out!

Our schedule is out for NEXT Friday! In-Person at Endicott College, MA, or virtually. Earn BACB® ETHICS Learning CEUs and/or Psychology CE Credits. Recordings available. Register today: https://behavior.org/product-category/conference/

Conference info: https://behavior.org/event/12th-annual-ethics-in-professional-practice-conference/

Check this out ABAAS students!

Attention Students!

The ABAI student committee wants to hear from you! As we begin to plan events for the 2025 convention, it is important to us to get your input.

Survey responses must be submitted by Friday, August 23, 2024.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CDRK27G

https://science.abainternational.org/2024/07/10/the-truth-about-lying-a-behavioral-perspective/

The Truth About Lying: A Behavioral Perspective – BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS BLOGS The Truth About Lying: A Behavioral Perspective Posted on July 10, 2024July 8, 2024 by Rocio Rosales 1 Guest Blog: Mariéle Cortez, Ph.D. Federal University of São Carlos (Brazil) Acknowledgement: Thank you to Mirela Cengher for her feedback on an earlier draft of this blog post. Dr. Mariéle Corte...

Excited to see the publication of ABAAS alumna Leyla Fanning's master's thesis in the The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA)! Congratulations, Leyla!

Evaluation of a training package to teach pairing procedures Pairing is a commonly recommended practice used to build rapport and create positive therapeutic environments. However, there are limited evaluations of training procedures to teach pairing skills to...

Congratulations to ABAAS student Jack Blake on the successful defense of his thesis this afternoon!

Pictured here with his committee: Dr. Anita Li (Chair), Dr. Doug Johnson, and Dr. Rocio Rosales.

It has been a busy few weeks for this amazing group of ABAAS graduating students!. Here they are presenting their capstone research projects at the first annual ABAAS poster session on April 30th.

Many thanks to all who joined us and a special thanks to their dedicated supervisors who helped mentor them along the way!

Bravo to the ABAAS class of 2024 for reaching this milestone!!! We are proud of you! 🎉🎉🎉

What better way to launch our event than with a sale? Registration for the 2nd PRABA conference is now available! 💪🏽👏🏽 On Friday, October 11 and Saturday, October 12, 2024 in the general studies amphitheaters at the University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras Campus at San Juan, Puerto Rico. Don't miss the early bird sale and sign up:
https://behaviorlive.com/conferences/praba/registration

Spanish presentations will be prioritized! Please share with your colleagues and anyone that might be interested in joining us!

It's our favorite time of year! Congratulations to our amazing ABAAS graduate students who were recognized for their various accomplishments this afternoon. 🎉🎉🎉

This past weekend students attended the APBA conference! Professor Anita Li was also a keynote presenter at this year’s conference !

Regis College is hosting an Invited Speaker Lecture with the inimitable Dr. Shane Spiker on "Sexuality and Safety in Autism," on 3/11/24 from 5-7 pm EST via Zoom! The talk will be recorded and available to registrants afterwards for a limited time. Hope to see you there!

🔗 to register in comments :)

Speaker Spotlight 2024 TxABA Conference - Hybrid!⁠
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For conference information visit here ⁠
https://www.txaba.org/2024conference/⁠
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Dr. Angelica Aguirre has been a BCBA-D since 2012 and has been in the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) field for over 16 years. Dr. Aguirre was born and raised in Fresno, CA. She received her B.A. and M.A. in Psychology with an emphasis in ABA from California State University, Fresno. Dr. Aguirre received her Ph.D. in Rehabilitation with an emphasis in Behavior Analysis and Therapy from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale under the advisement of Dr. Ruth Anne Rehfeldt in 2015. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Trumpet Behavioral Health under the advisement of Dr. Amber Valentino and Dr. Linda LeBlanc. Dr. Aguirre was an associate psychology professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato within the Clinical Psychology MA program for six years. Currently, she is an adjunct instructor at California State University, Fresno. She has a wide expertise in collaborating in clinical, home, school, group home, and hospital settings. She is the current President for the ABAI-Affiliate Chapter Minnesota Northland Association for Behavior Analysis and an Associate Editor for the academic journal Behavior Analysis in Practice. Her main area of clinical and research interests is designing and implementing effective language, social, and emotional regulation interventions for people with autism and neurodevelopmental disabilities. Dr. Aguirre has published articles in ABA journals and has provided a number of presentations at local, state, and national levels. Her passion is disseminating how compassionate, person-centered, community-centered, and effective ABA is and can continue to be to for individuals, families, and communities she serves.⁠
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Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.

Hello! We are seeking participants to take a survey that explores work and agency characteristics and how it relates to job satisfaction and tenure in the field. Additionally, we are also interested in alternative career paths that behavior analysts have considered and/or are currently considering. The survey should take no more than 15 minutes and will ask you questions related to your current or most recent job position, questions regarding alternative career paths you’ve considered, as well as demographic questions. The data collected will be anonymous.

If you are interested in taking the survey, please visit the attached link to review the informed consent document.

Please feel free to distribute the survey link to anyone else who may be interested in participating!

If you have any additional questions, please e-mail the primary investigator at [email protected]. Thank you!

Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.

***CURRENT STUDENT HIGHLIGHT***

Meet Keandra Cruz! Keandra is currently in her second year of the ABAAS program and a scholar of the UML-LIPP program. She will be receiving a Master of Science in ABA and Autism Studies while also receiving a certificate for teaching bilingual students with disabilities.

Keandra currently is employed at Shapiro Educational and Behavioral Consultants (SEBC) based in Fitchburg but servicing regions state-wide.

Keandra described the ABAAS program as “a way that promotes strong comprehension and application of clinical practices in the field through a well-developed course sequence. The faculty members are very supportive and want to see their students succeed!”

In the future Keandra looks forward to assisting individuals generalize the skills they are being taught in the school or clinical setting and transferring them into the home and community.

Once she has completed the program, Keandra intends on continuing to work with elementary aged individuals. She has a strong interest in developing her craft as a BCBA to educate, encourage, and guide future practitioners in the field of ABA.

You can apply for the UML-LIPP fully funded scholarship here: https://www.uml.edu/fahss/psychology/programs/graduate/funding.aspx

***CURRENT STUDENT HIGHLIGHT***

Derek McCann is a second-year student in the ABAAS program and is going into his final semester in Spring 2024. Derek has been working at Applied Behavior Institute(ABI) at the Lowell and Bedford centers for the last year and a half.

He said that he appreciates that “UML's program is rigorous and fulfilling, and that the things I learn in the classroom, and through the literature, are things I can see being applied to the clients and staff I am working with.” Derek has been in the field of ABA for over 4 years and the experience of being a student in UML’s program has helped him build on the knowledge and skills he already had. UML has allowed Derek to be a better behavior technician and future BCBA.

Derek is excited to attend his first ABA conference, such as BABAT or ABAI soon as this is a great way to learn about the most recent changes to the field, stay up to date on literature, and expand on knowledge about ABA. He has found that his passion is in serving learners between the ages of 3-18 and would love to continue working with this population and their families. If an opportunity presented itself for him to pursue a doctorate degree in ABA, he would pursue this option as well!

***CURRENT STUDENT HIGHLIGHT***
Jack Blake is in his 3rd year of the ABAAS program. He started our Bachelor’s to Master's program as an undergrad student and is currently accruing his supervised fieldwork experience at Applied Behavior Institute (ABI) in Lowell.

Jack explained, “The program’s bachelor’s to master's (B2M) option was exceptionally helpful in accelerating my education in behavior analysis and breaking down financial barriers associated with graduate school, which comprise one of many challenges you face when you are the first in your family to pursue graduate studies. I am incredibly lucky to have spent the past several years learning from talented and passionate faculty not only within behavior analysis but in psychology as well, thanks to our program’s top-down emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration."

Jack appreciates the numerous educational and professional opportunities afforded to him by the ABAAS program. He has had the pleasure of participating in research internships. He has also traveled to conferences including ABAI (Association for Behavior Analysis International) and APBA (Association for Professional Behavior Analysts). Our program has allowed students like Jack to participate in free webinars and talks through departmental events such as CARE’s Expert Speaker Series, affiliated fieldwork placements, and diverse applied research experiences via the capstone project and a thesis option.

Jack expressed that he feels lucky to be so well-prepared for any direction his behavior-analytic career evolves. In the future, he hopes to get a doctorate and is still calibrating his clinical specialty. Right now, Jack is most passionate about teaching and research. Jack enjoys working with school-aged children with autism and he has recently begun pursuing CEs (Continuing Education) in clinical behavior analysis! Jack wants to continue pursuing opportunities in teaching and research but is also open to full-time work in the autism service delivery realm.

Check out this incredible group of aspiring BCBAs and scientist-practitioners. They are working hard during their first semester of the practicum course sequence. Please help us cheer them on! 🤗

We are currently accepting applications for our PhD program in Applied Psychology and Prevention Science, with a concentration in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). This concentration is crafted to offer an interdisciplinary education that bridges psychology and behavior analysis.

The application deadline is January 15th, 2024. We are proud to mention that our program is conducted on campus, fostering a dynamic and interactive learning environment. The GRE is not a requirement for admission.

For more details visit our website: https://www.uml.edu/fahss/psychology/programs/graduate/phd-apps/

https://science.abainternational.org/2023/10/10/culturally-responsive-language-assessment-and-teaching/

Check this out!

Dr. Anita Li will be one of the keynote speakers at the next Association of Professional Behavior Analysts conference in NOLA!

Mark your calendars! 🎉🎉🎉

We are thrilled and honored to have Drs. Anita Li & Adithyan Rajaraman as our keynote presenters for APBA 2024! Drop an emoji in the comments to show your excitement and share this post to spread the news! Don't forget our call for papers is now open: https://behaviorlive.com/conferences/apba/home

The Department of Psychology and College of Fine Arts Humanities and Social Sciences at UMass Lowell is hosting the 3rd annual Northeastern ABA virtual conference on Saturday, September 30th from 8am-2pm EST.

Check out the amazing conference lineup including a discussion on advocacy from neurodiverse panelists through our Center for Autism Research & Education - CARE!

Registration is FREE to students and registered behavior technicians and $25 for 6 BACB CEUs (including 3 supervision CEs).

The mission of this conference is to provide accessible and affordable quality presentations for behavior analysts while encouraging participation from students and behavior technicians interested in the field.

Please consider joining us and supporting us!

To register and to see full abstracts of the presentations, please use the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/3rd-annual-fall-conference-for-northeastern-applied-behavior-analysis-tickets-685783525987