One of the tenets of ABA is to provide evidence-based practice. The best way to help us do this is to keep up with the literature! Each month, Sam Blanco, PhD, LBA, BCBA will select one journal article and provide discussion questions for professionals working within the ABA community. The following week another ABA professional will respond to Sam’s questions and provide further insight and a different perspective on the piece.
In this month’s journal club article, we’re discussing cultural awareness skills. This is an important topic for discussion because behavior analysts need to consider cultural variables when implementing interventions, interacting with families, and identifying target behaviors.
Fong, E. H., Catagnus, R. M., Brodhead, M. T., Quigley, S., & Field, S. (2016). Developing the cultural awareness skills of behavior analysts. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9(1), 84-94.
- How does Skinner’s definition of culture differ from how you typically consider culture?
- Have you encountered situations in which by cultural contingencies impacted an intervention you planned? What might you have done differently if you could go back in time?
- Do you currently engage in any of the suggestions the authors provide for self-reflection? What has been your experience with self-reflection?
- Do your current functional assessments incorporate cultural variables? If not, what can you change to improve your functional assessment process?
- One of the recommendations by the authors is to use readily available resources. What resources are available to you? How can your organization better provide resources to help behavior analysts address cultural variables?
- The authors suggest the use of social validity surveys as one method for addressing cultural values. How can you incorporate this into your current practice?
- The authors state that one limitation of their article is that they did not provide systematic guidelines for working with culturally diverse clients. If you were going to introduce such guidelines, what might you include?
WRITTEN BY SAM BLANCO, PhD, LBA, BCBA
Sam is an ABA provider for students ages 3-15 in NYC. Working in education for twelve years with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental delays, Sam utilizes strategies for achieving a multitude of academic, behavior, and social goals. She is also an assistant professor in the ABA program at The Sage Colleges.
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