Evidence Based Practice (EBP)
As BCBAs and BCaBAs, we are required by our certification board to provide effective treatment that prioritizes our clients’ rights and needs in service delivery. This is actually part of our Ethics Code (2.01). According to our certification board, BCBA’s provide services that are conceptually consistent with behavioral principles, based on scientific evidence, and designed to maximize desired outcomes for and protect all clients, stakeholders, supervisees, trainees, and research participants from harm. Behavior analysts implement nonbehavioral services with clients only if they have the required education, formal training, and professional credentials to deliver such services.
What does this mean for you and your child?
It means that our BCBAs and BCaBAs use scientific, peer-reviewed research to plan your child’s programming. The interventions we use have been proven to be effective by scientists and researchers; not just one time. Often our interventions are proven effective over a long period of time, with a variety of unique individuals, and in different settings (home, school, clinic, etc.). We realize that research studies are not always reflective of what happens in real life. This is why we collect and analyze data from your child’s sessions.
Your child’s progress, or lack of progress, will be taken into consideration when determining interventions that are effective. This means that some type of data will be taken weekly, if not daily and will be regularly analyzed by a BCBA, BCaBA, or a team of behavior analysts to determine if we should continue on the path we are on or make a change. Changes we make may be include changing an activity, providing visuals to support learning, or changing the language we use. Or we may go back to the drawing board and try a different intervention.
Your child’s ABA programming should be fluid and change based on the needs of your child and their progress.
Finally, we take into consideration your family’s values and needs. If your family is not willing or able to implement a certain intervention at home and in the community, we will work together to find an intervention that aligns with what your family needs. For example, if your child is a non-vocal communicator and your BCBA suggests sign language as the mode of communication for your child, but you know you are not going to learn sign language and will not use it at home, we should come up with a different plan.
It is crucial to us that our families learn and grow with us to support their child’s development.
The key to success includes the use of evidence-based interventions; data collection to determine progress; and collaboration between us, the family, and any other service providers. If you are ready to learn more with us, give us a call. We are happy to help in any way we can.
