Philippines ABA

By Maria Teresa Echaus Cojuangco
Philippine ABA for the year 2023 was able to resume its activities and programs as the restrictions of the Philippine Government on Community Enhanced Quarantine rule were slowly eased to a lower level. The government in the second quarter of the year allowed institutions to work on a hybrid setup which PABA together with their affiliate member centers managed
to adopt.

The first project of PABA for the year was to update its website and offer online seminars and workshops for its members. These seminars presented by various member center affiliates were received well by members and other participants coming from various provinces of the country where COVID restrictions were still implemented. ABA practitioners doing online practices were given continued assistance in updating various information about ABA practice. More ABA practitioners availed of online PABA services due to their accessibility and convenience. Medical facilities availed the assistance of PABA in giving short lectures to their staff about ABA and

online observation on PABA affiliate centers.
PABA continued to serve government community health centers by providing assistance in training their in-house staff as well as continued accepting students doing their internship as part of their respective
academic requirements.

In September 2022 was able to host its first Annual Virtual Conference entitled Applied Behavior Analysis: A Scientific Approach to Behavior. In this new format, PABA’s objective was to reach a wider audience, specifically those outside of the region. PABA was able to feature several speakers from the USA presenting various scientific approaches to behavior. Dr. Joyce Tu – Ed.D., BCBA-D shared her expertise in Severe Problem Behaviors. Dr. Smita Awast – PHD., BCBA-D spoke on Verbal Behavior while Dr. Teresa Camille Kolu – PHD., BCBA-D lectured on Trauma Informed Applied Behavior. Ms. Theresa Mckeon – M. Ed, BCBA spoke on Teaching with Acoustical Guidance, and Manny Rodriguez DBA, BCBA shared his expertise in Organizational Behavior Management. Ms. Maribel Castillo Stikeleather – M. ED, BCBA lectured on ABA: Implementation on a Large Scale. These speakers have greatly contributed to the best practices of ABA in the US and internationally and shared information with their Filipino audience who are limited in having access to information about ABA. All presentations brought increased awareness to all participants and follow-up lectures were immediately requested.

The Virtual Conference allowed more participants to access information about ABA practices from the US. Participants were also able to utilize the conference as an opportunity to network with other attendees and become more involved in PABA and their respective communities.

For the coming year 2023, PABA will be able to implement various requests from its members to offer more online lectures and seminars as this new format was highly acceptable to most participants. PABA will aim to work on more fundraising projects to fund more of its assistance at local government health centers.