According to your text, Competency 10 is how you represent and disseminate the field of behavior analysis to individuals who are not behavior analysts.
This competency is about how you relay what we do as behavior analysts when you interact with clients, their families, and other individuals who are not behavior analysts (e.g., school personnel, occupational and speech therapists, your friends, the community at large).
As a behavior analyst, you will need to work on your “bedside manner.” This is an older phrase, typically used in the medical profession, to refer to how a health care professional builds rapport with patients and their family members, relays information about diagnosis and medical procedures, and communicates patients’ progress. How a health care professional interacts with patients, their loved ones, and other stakeholders influences continuity of care, treatment acceptability, and how family members cope with difficult news.
The same is true for the behavior analyst profession. As a behavior analyst, you are likely to work with at-risk populations and family members, teachers, and other stakeholders who may be under much duress. Parents want to understand their children and to work with professionals who care for them. You will need to communicate with parents and caregivers using lay-person language and put them at ease when they feel confused about the treatment protocol. You also need to have a cultural competence such that you are respectful of cultures other than yours and be open to learning how culture effects each of your clients’ treatment needs and the decisions their caregivers make.
For this competency, there are two component skills: (a) develop and present a training module to individuals unfamiliar with behavior analysis and (b) explain behavioral concepts and philosophy using nontechnical language.
In this Final Exam short answer response, you are to present (b) explain behavioral concepts and philosophy using nontechnical language.
The Scenario you are to write about
You have been asked to make a presentation on contingencies to a group of teachers at a local elementary school. The purpose of this presentation is to introduce contingency based instruction and intervention. What would you include in your presentation to these teachers to get them interested in a more formalized training on implementation.
