Presenters: Dr. Jon Bailey, PhD, BCBA-D and & Dr. Bruce Thyer, PhD, BCBA-D

 Presentation Title: A Friendly Debate on Scope of Practice for Behavior Analysts: A case of attempted strangulation

 Duration: 1.0 hours of Ethics CEU

Abstract:

A BCBA recently sent in a question to the ABA Ethics Hotline regarding a student who “attempted to strangle himself” on the way to school. In weighing alternative ways of responding it became clear that there was more than one way to approach this unusual and potentially dangerous behavior. Dr. Bailey then engaged Dr. Thyer in a friendly discussion of the most ethical way to handle this request for guidance and it was apparent that there were contrasting approaches which brought up the issue of scope of practice for applied behavior analysts. A Q & A will be offered at the end of the presentation.

Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to…

1. Describe the nature of the two approaches to the problem as presented.

2. Discuss the question of liability for the BCBA assigned to the case.

3. Discuss the variables that define the scope of practice in a situation such as this.