Instructor: Nicholas Weatherly, Ph.D., BCBA-D

Time: 10:00 am - 1:00 pm

Duration: 3 hours

BACB CEUs: 3 SUPERVISION CEUs Available

Format: In-Person

Abstract: Leaders serve a critical role in any organization to set people up for success and support people in achieving outcomes valued by the individual, the organization and consumers. A behavior-analytic approach to leadership involves understanding why certain behavior patterns are occurring and using that information to make informed decisions to maximize the impact of a given leadership solution. This is the role of performance diagnostic tools, one of which being the Deliberate Shift Tool (DST). The DST makes it quick and easy to make the shift from undesired behavior to desired behavior by assessing what elements in the workplace are causing performance problems to occur. The purpose of this workshop is to practice using the DST to address antecedent needs, environmental barriers, competing contingencies, and other factors that can be used to help shift performance from undesired behaviors to desired behaviors and maximize results.

Learning Objectives:

• 1) The participant will be able to describe the five areas of the Deliberate Shift Tool
• 2) The participant will be able to use the Deliberate Shift Tool to capture variables in the environment responsible for current levels of performance.
• 3) The participant will be able to use the Deliberate Shift Tool to identify cause-based leadership solutions.

Instructor Bio:

Dr. Nicholas Weatherly is a senior-level executive, leadership coach, researcher, and author with over 20 years of success leading progressive people operations. An experienced international consultant, coach, and speaker, Dr. Weatherly is the managing director of NL Weatherly Inc., maintains a line of research on leadership and coaching through Endicott College, has served as the Head of the School of Behavior Analysis at the Florida Institute of Technology, and was a management consultant with Aubrey Daniels International. He is the Past-President of the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts, the Georgia Association for Behavior Analysis, and the Kentucky Association for Behavior Analysis, and was the inaugural chair of the Kentucky Applied Behavior Analysis Licensing Board, the first stand-alone licensing board for behavior analysis in the country. He received his Ph.D. from Western Michigan University, currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral®, and co-author of 3 books on Deliberate Coaching.

Instructor: Leanne Page, M.Ed., BCBA, LBA

Time: 10:00 am - 1:00 pm

Duration: 3 hours

BACB CEUs: 3 CEUs Available

Format: In-Person

Abstract:

Effective caregiver collaboration is often a challenging aspect of practice for many BCBAs and is absent from formal training programs (LeBlanc, Taylor, & Marchese, 2020). Research shows that compassionate caregiver support can increase outcomes for clients (Taylor, LeBlanc, & Nosik, 2019), but what steps can practitioners actually take? This hands-on workshop will provide behavior analysts with practical tools to foster caregiver buy-in, enhance communication, and align their interventions with family values (Plumb, Stewart, Dahl, & Lundgren, 2009; Whittingham & Coyne, 2019).

Participants will leave equipped with strategies that bridge the gap between technical behavior analysis and compassionate, values-driven parent training.

Learning Objectives:

• 1) Participants will identify strategies to encourage dialogue with caregivers.
• 2) Participants will create their own visual supports and tools for collaborative communication with caregivers.
• 3) Participants will create individual self reflection templates for self assessment based on compassion and communication research.
• 4) Participants will engage in Behavior Skills Training/ role playing in small groups to practice using coaching questions that drive collaboration.
• 5) Participants will complete values clarification exercises for themselves and then practice guiding someone else through exercises in a small group or partner format.

Instructor Bio:

Leanne Page is a board certified behavior analyst, approved BACB continuing education provider, parent coach, mom of two, founder of Parenting with ABA, and best-selling author of Parenting with Science: Behavior analysis saves mom’s sanity and Enjoy Parenting: The busy mom’s behavior toolbox. Leanne has taught over 40 continuing education courses all focused on compassionate caregiver support.

Leanne’s mission through Parenting with ABA is two-fold: 1) to make the science of behavior accessible to all parents; and 2) to help behavior analytic practitioners to infuse their services with compassion, particularly in the area of caregiver support.

Instructors: Ellie Kazemi, PhD, BCBA-D

Time: 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Duration: 3 hours

BACB CEUs: 3 SUPERVISION CEUs Available

Format: In-Person

Abstract:

Occupational wellness is balancing work productivity and self-care to promote health, personal satisfaction, and work satisfaction. To achieve a healthy work-life balance, supervisors need occupational wellness skills, and their work environment must foster occupational wellness skills by setting the occasion for such skills to access reinforcers. A supervisor’s workload is emotionally taxing, needing to be decisive, productive, dependable, and efficient while being caring, compassionate, and understanding. Under these work demands; occupational wellness skills are imperative to combat burnout. In this talk, I will discuss what we know from the research about compassion fatigue and burnout and outline some of the core skills every great supervisor must learn to not just survive, but to thrive.

Learning Objectives:

• 1) Attendees will be able to explain one way they can work smarter, not harder, as supervisors.
• 2) Attendees will be able to state at least 3 skills an effective manager must gain to combat burnout.
• 3) State exactly the steps they need to take to improve at least 3 occupational wellness skills.

Instructor Bio:

Dr. Ellie Kazemi has worked internationally (e.g., in China, S. Korea, Norway, and Italy) and is well-recognized as a public speaker. She has also led large-scale efforts in standard development, evaluation methodology, measurement science, outcome assessment, and value-based care at an accreditation organization. She is the founder of a successful self-supported graduate program in behavior analysis at CSUN, where she is tenured as a professor of psychology and the Director of AI/VR/AR Initiatives. In 2015, she authored “Fieldwork and Supervision for Behavior Analysts,” which is currently recognized as one of the primary sources for supervision training in the field of ABA. She has also published numerous peer-reviewed publications on training, turnover, conflict management, and leveraging advanced computer technology (e.g., A.I., V.R., and robotics) for simulation-based learning. She has been a principal investigator on large national multidisciplinary research grants (e.g., with FEMA and NASA) focusing on effective training and measuring outcomes. Her efforts have been recognized through several awards, such as the ABAI Best Mentor Award and the Outstanding Service to the Community Award. See more by going to elliekazemi.com.

Instructors: Mariel Fernandez, MS, BCBA, LBA, Anna Sciarillo, MA, BCBA, LBA, and Ellen Rhoads, MS, BCBA, LBA

Time: 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Duration: 3 hours

BACB CEUs: 3 ETHICS CEUs Available

Format: In-Person

Abstract:

The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) is a federal law that prevents group health plans and health insurance issuers that provide mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits from imposing more restrictive benefit limitations than for substantially all of the medical/ surgical benefits.

On September 9, 2024, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury released new final rules implementing MHPAEA. The new final rules clarify requirements for individual and group health plans, including Medicaid MCOs, and reduce administrative burden to access care, including how and when health plans are required to complete and provide parity analysis to demonstrate compliance with MHPAEA.

MHPAEA is one of the most powerful regulations in place that supports access to medically necessary care. Behavior Analysts must have a fundamental understanding of MHPAEA protections and parity requirements to effectively advocate for medically necessary services, appeal denials or partial denials, and meet ethical obligations for their clients. This workshop will provide a high level overview of MHPAEA, how and when it applies, what behavior analysts should know about the 2024 final rules and policy revisions, and how regulators at the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), Department of Labor (DOL), and The Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) can help ensure payor compliance.

Learning Objectives:

• 1) Participants will define parity and when MHPAEA applies to ABA services.
• 2) Participants will identify common quantitative and non quantitative treatment limitations in the provision of ABA.
• 3) Participants will learn how to utilize MHPAEA during peer reviews and appeals to better advocate for access to medically necessary care.
• 4) Participants will explain the importance of a parity analysis, how one can be requested, and how it assists with advocacy efforts.
• 5) Participants will explain how to report a parity concern to regulators at TDI, DOL, or HHSC.
• 6) Participants will identify what information to provide regulators, to better advocate for medically necessary care.

Instructor Bios:

Mariel Fernandez is the Vice President of Government Affairs for The Council of Autism Service Providers. Mariel is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, BCBA, and a Licensed Behavior Analyst, LBA, in Texas. She began working in the field of Behavior Analysis in 2001 and pursued her master’s degree in applied behavior analysis from Auburn University in 2004. Mariel has effectively advocated for improved access to care on the micro and macro levels, including supporting advocacy, public policy, and legislative initiatives across all 50 states and D.C.

Mariel is also a member of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, TDLR, Behavior Analyst Advisory Board and President of the Texas Association of Behavior Analysis, TxABA, Public Policy Group, where she helped to pass behavior analyst licensure and the autism services benefit, including ABA, through Texas Medicaid. She also serves as a subject matter expert for the Policy Council on Children and Families.

Anna Sciarillo is a BCBA based in San Antonio, Texas, and currently serves as the Vice President of Intake and Marketing at Empower Behavioral Health. Since beginning her career in ABA in 2010, Anna has gained experience in clinic-based, in-home, and community-based services for individuals with autism. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University and her master’s degree in special education, with a focus on ABA, from The University of Texas at San Antonio. In addition to her role at Empower, Anna is actively involved in ABA advocacy, serving as Secretary for the Texas Association for Applied Behavior Analysis Public Policy Group (TxABA PPG) and Chair of its Medicaid Task Force.

Ellen Rhoads is a Board Certified and Licensed Behavior Analyst. She received her Master's degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from Auburn University. She then moved to Texas to work for Texana Center in 2005. While at Texana, she worked as a BCBA training teachers on the principles and application of ABA, a clinical team supervisor, and as the Senior Manager. After starting a family, Ellen and her family moved to northwest Arkansas. Ellen continues to work for Texana Center as the specialized Services Project Manager. Ellen serves as the President-Elect of the Texas Association for Behavior Analysis Public Policy Group and the chair of the same organization’s Insurance Task Force; she also serves as well as the chair of the Council for Autism Service Providers (CASP) Profound Autism SIG.