Chicago/identifying qualified ABA practitioners

[Guest guest]

Parents,

Please refer to _www.BACB.com_ (http://www.BACB.com) (Behavior Analysis

Certification Board) for the field's standards of practice and guidelines for

choosing a practitioner/ provider for ABA/ VB services. As most of you know,

the standard for consultation in the field is a minimum of a Master's degree

specifically in a program with a required number of courses in Behavior

Analysis and supervision by a BCBA. This website outlines the minimal

requirements

for a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and how to choose a consultant. ABA

is a very specialized area that requires formal training and supervision and

prepares the person to eventually provide consultation without additional

supervision from a BCBA. Additionally, not all BCBAs are appropriate to

supervise autism programming. The BCBA should have BCBA supervision and

experience

at a site or program that specializes in this specific area. The BCBA

supervisor has an obligation to tie together the formal training in the science

and it's application. This is crucial so the application is derived from

respected peer reviewed journal articles such as the Journal of Applied

Behavior

Analysis, and Journal of Verbal Behavior.

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is a BACB approved program

that is dedicated to preparing students with a strong foundation in the Science

of ABA and ethical practice of ABA. The Director of this program is Dr.

Merbitz, PhD, BCBA and the Assistant Director is Dr. Pyles, PhD,

BCBA. Dr. Merbitz number is 312-329-6628. He is always more than happy to

help

parents find ABA services or answer questions regarding ethical practice of

ABA. Many of the graduate students comment on a regular basis how they now

realize how important it is that they get the formal training to practice/

consult ABA. The more they learned, the more they realized they did not know,

and definitely felt fortunate to be providing services with appropriate

supervision. This way, the kids really win.

Another resource is Behavior Analysis Society of IL, (BASIL). Another good

website is the one for RACE School in Lake Zurich, IL. Also, FYI. St.

Coletta's in Tinley Park has opened a large ABA school with many of the Chicago

School students working there with BCBA supervision. There are also 3

experienced BCBAs consulting with this agency.

Sincerely,

Janice Pellecchia, M.A., BCBA

Program Coordinator

Behavior Analysis Society of IL