Occupational Therapy SIG

By Amy Stango

Mission
The occupational therapy special interest group’s mission is to promote the development and dissemination of behaviorally oriented occupational therapy research, and to promote interdisciplinary collaboration between behavior analytic and occupational therapy professionals. This collaboration between occupational therapists and behavior analysts is a boon for members of the public who receive services to address deficits in meaningful behaviors, or occupations, such as activities of daily living, education, work, play, leisure, social participation, and rest and sleep.

Gratitude
The occupational therapy SIG is grateful for the support of the ABAI members who helped to form the group: Jessica Dean, Adrienne Fitzer, Jenna Weisz, Susan Silvestri, Kristine Quinby, Josh Pritchard, Hallie Ertel, Christine Barthold, Ansley Hodges, Lina Slim-Topdijan, Rebecca Tagg, and Amy Stango. We also wish to extend our thanks to the Speech Pathology Applied Behavior Analysis (SPABA) SIG, which has offered ongoing support in the development of our SIG.

Membership
In our 2021-2022 membership cycle, 64 individuals registered to be official members of the occupational therapy SIG. The occupational therapy SIG provides a significant amount of free access to SIG information and interaction through our Facebook group. We have 2,799 Facebook users who have joined our Facebook group.

Financial
There are currently no fees associated with joining the occupational therapy SIG.

SIG Member Activities
The occupational therapy SIG was formed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to date, the interactions of group members have been virtual. Formal and informal members of the SIG have been active conducting research, disseminating information regarding evidence-based practice, applying the principles of applied behavior analysis to the research and treatment of occupational performance, publishing scholarly articles, conducting webinars, creating digital material, speaking and conducting workshops at professional conventions, and mentoring students in both the fields of ABA and occupational therapy.

Future Initiatives
The occupational therapy SIG is looking forward to expanding our membership through various initiatives, social media and increasing member participation within the group. We are also planning to complete several projects over the year to support our members:

Journal club related to the intersection of behavior analysis and occupational therapy
Disseminating behavior analytic information to occupational therapy professionals, such as through outreach to national and state-level occupational therapy associations and conferences
Connecting OT and ABA professionals interested in conducting research on interprofessional collaboration
Continue disseminating interprofessional collaboration information across related disciplines to increase awareness of evidence-based practice
Creation and management of an online database of occupational therapists who are dual-certified as BCBAs or BCaBAs
Continue disseminating behavior analytic information to ASHA members through the ASHA community forum listserv and to US and international speech pathologists via various speech/language Facebook groups as well as presenting at speech/language conferences and conventions.
Continue disseminating speech-language information to ABAI members and BACB certified individuals via various behavior-analytic Facebook groups and list-servs as well as presenting at ABA conferences and conventions.
Continue disseminating interprofessional collaboration information across related disciplines and fields to maximize outcomes for shared consumers of our services. This collaboration has strong benefits and enhances communication between our related professions.

The identified initiatives are feasible only with increased financial support from our members. Please consider donating your expertise/services in-kind, making financial contributions, or providing committee support so that we may meet the needs of our membership and complete our targeted activities.
If you are interested in learning more about the SPABA SIG, wish to volunteer to sit on a committee, or assist with a specific project, please visit us at www.behavioralspeech.com and join or follow us on social media:

Facebook Group: SPABA.SIG
Facebook Page: SPABASIGofABAI
Twitter: SPABASIG
Instagram: SPABASIG
Pinterest: SPABASIGofABAI
LinkedIn: speech-pathology-applied-behavior-analysis-special-interest-group-of-abai