Manitoba ABA

By Ryan Heckert

The Manitoba Association for Behaviour Analysis (MABA) is proud to be in its 16th year as an affiliated chapter of ABAI. We met several objectives were met during our 15th year, described below.

In October 2020, MABA was proud to host Dr. Robert K. Ross (Beacon Services) as the keynote speaker at our 15th Annual Conference. The conference was held in a virtual format and was well received by all attendees! Dr. Ross delivered a presentation entitled “Behavioural Indicators of Effective ABA Programming.” The conference also featured presentations by our invited speakers, Dr. Frank Cicero (Seaton Hall University), who shared his knowledge on sexual behaviour, autism, and behaviour analysis; Dr. Madeleine Keevy (University of Manitoba), who presented on using multiple and chained schedules in a clinical setting, and Dr. Cary Trump (University of Northern Colorado), who presented on behavior analytic equations. To conclude the conference, a panel discussion consisting of Dr. Ross, Dr. Cicero, and Dr. Trump discussed the impact of cultural diversity on ABA. The panel was chaired by Mr. Rob Jeffrey (St. Amant).

We are looking forward to our 16th Annual Conference, to be held on October 28, 2021, in a virtual format. The conference will feature a keynote presentation on ethics by Dr. Jon Bailey (Florida State University). Information on additional speakers can be found at maba.ca/conference.

MABA became a CE provider in 2013, and in 2020 offered several events. CEUs were available for free to our members who are BCBAs and BCBA-Ds. These events included our conference and two webinars. In March 2020, Dr. Matthew Brodhead, presented a webinar on risk mitigation during the COVID-19 pandemic. In conjunction with the Ontario Association for Behaviour Analysis (ONTABA), we hosted our seventh webinar which featured Ms. Arezu Alami (Brock University), who presented a clinical case on the treatment of food refusal.

As part of our mission to disseminate information on behaviour analysis, MABA participated in the annual Psychology Month event at St. Amant in February 2020, where we sponsored prize packages for a psychology themed trivia quiz open to all staff. MABA also provided several awards for students and members. In May 2020, MABA attended the virtual ABAI annual convention, and presented a poster at the Expo. We greatly enjoyed participating in the event, and the opportunity to virtually network with other affiliate chapters from Canada and around the World. MABA was excited to be part of the Expo at this year’s ABAI online conference. It was great to once again, connect with colleagues old and new, in the online format!

For the upcoming year, we will continue to work on our new and ongoing objectives and goals. Our key objectives for 2021 include offering CE opportunities for our members, as well as exploring options to provide education for the public. Furthermore, we will also explore opportunities to promote behaviour analysis in Manitoba through partnerships with local organizations and universities. Finally, we would like to continue to work on increasing our membership through various recruitment initiatives.