Assignment 1
Currently 1 in every 67 children is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. This number has increased dramatically over the past 10 years. Currently there are roughly 25,000 Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) in the world. Today insurance companies are now required to provide Behavior Analysis services to any child with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and Down Syndrome. Most recently, Florida Medicaid has expanded coverage to include not only those with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, but also other diagnosis including but not limited to ODD, and ADHD. This insurance coverage shift has created a huge need for behavior analysts within this state and elsewhere.
Due to the deficit in board certified behavior analysts and board-certified assistant behavior analysts service providing agencies have clients waiting, at times, over a year to begin services. This shortage is not just across this company, it is across the world. It is very easy to get a job with board certification.
Currently on the Applied Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) job posting website, there are over 160 positions available with many of those posting needing at least 3-5 analysts to fill positions. There are many opportunities for large signing bonuses as well for those seeking jobs.
Recent reports present that 46% of behavior analysis job postings fall into Health Care industry and 28% in the educational setting. Not only do behavior therapies assist in the home, but also within the school. School based interventions are beneficial with challenging behaviors through function based, antecedent, and reinforcement components. With this type of behavioral intervention, target behaviors decreased even though behaviors were across a spectrum regarding their level of difficulty. (Martinez, Werch, & Conroy, 2016). Because behavior therapies are so successful in school, imagine the possibilities of adding it in clinics, hospitals, and other allied health facilities.
Applied Behavior Analysis was not always a “thing”. There was a point in time where behavior was not studied, analyzed, or intervened on in the formal way that ABA is now, and that was not even that long ago. At the same time, there is not really a clear “date of origin” because ABA is a field that is constantly evolving and growing with new research. It has been a fluid science that has developed over decades and goes way back to the initial studies of behaviorism, or the systematic study of human and animal behavior (InBloom, 2019).
Author unknown (2019) The history of applied behavioral analysis. InBloom Autism Services Retrieved from https://www.inbloomautism.com/post/the-history-of-applied-behavior-analysis
In this first writing assignment research the beginning of the scientific study of human behavior. Identify 2 theories and 3 theorists that show the evolution toward behavior analysis. The goal of this assignment is to introduce behaviorism in theory and application.
(3 pages, APA citations and references)
