Great line-up at this year's MABA conference!

I hope that everyone using ABA to help their child with autism has already signed up for the December 2 conference with Dr. Mark Sundberg.   That conference, where Dr. Sundberg will speak about the VB-MAPP assessment tool, is sold out.    But that doesn't mean it's too late to hear Dr. Sundberg speak, along with other excellent behavior analysts.  The annual conference of the Maryland Association for Behavior Analysis (MABA) still has seats available.

I have been attending the MABA conference annually since 2006.   Usually, I'm one of 2 or 3 parents there.   I think that's unfortunate because I always learn something that I can bring home to improve my daughter's ABA program.   (Well, maybe the year they talked about Behavioral Economics would be a stretch, but almost always.)   This year they have the most exciting line-up of speakers I've ever seen there, so I encourage everyone to make this the year you check it out.

The full schedule of speakers is here.    Dr. Sundberg alone is a reason to attend.  Any of us who have used ABA programs or sent our kids to schools that apply B.F. Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior owe a huge debt to Mark Sundberg.   While Skinner's book Verbal Behavior is fascinating, it doesn't tell you the first thing about how to help a child with autism.   Sundberg, his colleague James Partington and their teacher Jack Michael took the ideas in that book and figured out how to apply them to help our kids.   The result, published in Sundberg and Partington's book Teaching Language to Children with Autism or Other Developmental Disabilities, is a masterpiece of applied science and my daughter's education would not have been the same without it.   I attended a conference with Dr. Sundberg in Fairfax a few years ago.   He's a lively and engaging presenter too. 

I'm also excited about the opportunity to hear Dr. James E. Carr.   Carr is another important researcher in effective teaching of verbal behavior.   When we were using stimulus-stimulus pairing techniques to try to shape vocal speech in my daughter, a study by Dr. Carr and others was very helpful to us.    He is also a champion of the need for hard science to back up any intervention package.   I remember a tough essay he co-authored in in the Journal for Early and Intensive Behavioral Intervention in 2005 calling for more empirical support for 'verbal behavior approach' interventions.  He noted, correctly, that while there is a great evidence base for many specific procedures used in a VB program, more research is needed on the overall package.   Dr. Carr's presentation is on teaching interverbals -- something we're struggling with in my daughter's program right now.

It is evidence of an amazing line-up that I can mention Dr. Gina Green third.   She likely the most famous name on the program.    Many of us know her as the co-editor, with Catherine Maurice, of the 'big grey book' -- the ABA manual

Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism.   That book was the first thing I read after we received my daughter's autism diagnosis.   Dr. Green's chapter on science and pseudo-science has  informed everything I've learned about autism intervention since.   I heard her present at the OAR conference a couple years ago and look forward to another chance.   Her subject, credentialing behavior analysts, may sound a little esoteric to parents but it is important.   Consumers need help knowing what who is qualified to deliver effective ABA interventions. 

There are other interesting speakers on tap at MABA this year, but those would be enough on their own.   I'm writing this too late for you to mail in registrations, but you can register at the door.   All this for only $45 (which includes affiliate membership in the Association for the year).   If possible, don't miss it.    If you can't make it, stay tuned here.  I'll be posting about the sessions in the weeks ahead.