Director of Graduate Programs in Autism/ABA Participates on Panel in Asia
In early November, Dr. Mary Jane Weiss, Director of Graduate Programs in Autism/ABA for Endicott College’s Institute for Behavioral Studies, participated on a panel and gave solo presentations in Seoul, South Korea, and Hong Kong.
Weiss and the other panelists brought news of applied behavior analysis and autism intervention to the area through Autism Partnership, the leading organization in effective intervention and meaningful autism treatment research.
Both parents and professionals were in attendance, including Lorri Unumb, a mother of a child with autism, and an Autism Speaks attorney. She shared her strategies for securing support for funding effective treatment, and how she secured funding for American children in 46 states through the Autism Insurance Mandate. Just like in the U.S., funding is a major challenge in Asia, so she urged those in attendance to be advocates and share a unified message.
“An impressive takeaway was the dedication these people have to learning as much as possible about effective autism treatment and about how to become expert in implementing state-of-the-art ABA,” Dr. Weiss said.
Proliferation of fad interventions and advice for how to educate the community about intensive and specialized ABA interventions were among the other topics discussed at the conferences. The panelists, meanwhile, suggested how ABA can be delivered to maximize outcomes.
“Overall, all attendees shared an enthusiasm for ABA and a quest to learn more about how to extend this intervention to more learners,” Dr. Weiss said. “As a presenter, I was struck by the similarity of the issues faced, despite the geographical distance. And I was inspired by their determination to provide the best they can to the children in their care.”
Endicott College’s Institute for Behavioral Studies provides students with the opportunity to focus on academic curricula related to the study of applied behavior analysis (ABA) in the context of delivering effective educational services to learners with special needs. Learn more about the Institute for Behavioral Studies and its online degree and certificate programs in ABA and Autism.