Alberta ABA
By Renai Stevenson
The Alberta Association for Behaviour Analysis (AltaABA) is in its sixth year as an affiliated chapter of ABAI. In March 2022, nominations for open Board member positions were put forth. These positions included the student member, a member-at-large, president-elect, treasurer, and PR officer.
The 2022 AGM was held virtually on April 30 and was paired with an invited speaker event discussing parent training and involvement in services from Dr. Amanda Kelly, and multiculturalism in ABA services from Shawn Capell. AltaABA’s membership has decreased over the last year to a total of 49 members at the time of this report (February 2022), likely due to the lack of in-person contact where many relationships are maintained and new connections are made. The current total number of active BACB certificants in Alberta also increased by 9 certificants this past year, to a current total of 2 BCBA-Ds, 55 BCBAs, 0 BCaBAs, and 6 RBTs province wide.
AltaABA’s has kept in line with our first 3-year Strategic Plan which was released in December 2020. This plan has three long-term goal sections that originally consisted of 14 short term actions. The Board added a new goal and revised one of the existing goals this past year based on additional membership feedback and Board discussions. In 2021, the Board achieved 13 of 15 goals. In line with our mission and vision, the Board also created a regulation committee whose goal is to work towards the recognition and regulation/licensure of Behaviour Analysts in Alberta.
As outlined in AltaABA’s strategic plan, the association is taking steps to further the use of technology and membership benefits for AltaABA members. As such, a membership directory and an active Job Board were added to our website. The Board also created two public and three members only infographics with Alberta specific behaviour analytic content as part of our dissemination efforts. Our social media/public relations committee established access to AltaABA branded merchandise available for online purchase, which is the first of its kind.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic restriction mandates, AltaABA did not hold any in person social events over the past year. However, online social events and a panel discussion for “new behaviour analysts” and individual’s that work in private practice was held. A recording of the panel discussion was made available to our membership on our website. AltaABA’s activity on social media platforms have continued to increase over the past year with the addition of trivia questions, consistent themed posts, and distribution of accurate information.
For further information, to view AltaABA’s Strategic Plan, or to join the chapter, please visit www.altaaba.ca or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
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