ABA España

ABA España personnel during a workshop with professionals from Consorci Aprop (Balear Islands, Spain), one of the largest providers of residential services for people with complex disabilities in the region.

By Aida Tarifa-Rodrigues & Javier Virues-Ortega

ABA España is a non-profit organization that has been providing support to individuals and families affected by autism spectrum disorders since 2004. The organization’s mission is to promote social inclusion and improve the quality of life of people with autism and their families through research, education, and advocacy. In the past year, ABA España continued to pursue its mission by focusing on several key initiatives, including the signing of an MoU with the University of Cadiz to deliver a university-based master’s program in collaboration with this institution. The program is in its first year of operation and has attained VCS status (5th ed.). It is currently undergoing the tier-level evaluation as per ABAI’s new process. The program has also been approved by international certification programs including QABA, IBAO, and BICC. These efforts have allowed ABA España to expand its reach and provide more comprehensive support to prospective professionals seeking training in ABA in Spanish.

We have also established new partnerships with local programs. For example, ABA España personnel delivered a three-day training to Consorci Aprop, one of the largest residential services for individuals with complex disabilities in the Balear Islands. We are also in the process of establishing a new partnership with NECC Abu Dhabi in the wake of our 15-year-old collaboration with NECC Boston. We expect that this opportunity could translate in practice and employment opportunities for students undergoing the Universidad de Cádiz course sequence developed in collaboration with ABA España.

We have continued our ambitious editorial activity with seven new titles published in 2022 alone (see below). With the support of ABAI, we had the opportunity to feature some of these titles in the conference bookstore in Boston last May. We believe that producing this reference material is making a difference in training programs across the globe with thousands of books sold internationally (Spain is only a small percentage of the demand for behavior-analytic literature in Spanish).

Newman, B., & Heinecke, D. (2022). Detectives de
la conducta. ABA España.

Hayes, S. C., & Strosahl, K. D. (2022). Una guía práctica a la terapia de aceptación y compromiso. ABA España.

Bailey, J. S., & Burch, M. R. (2022). Ética para analistas de la conducta, 4ª ed. ABA España.

Shibutani, M. (2022). El lenguaje visual de ABA: Análisis aplicado de conducta. ABA España.

Skinner, B. F. (2022). Ciencia y conducta humana. ABA España.

Barbera, M. L. (2022). El enfoque de la conducta verbal.
ABA España.

Wallace, M. & Mayer, R. G. (2022). Principios ABA para técnicos conductuales y otros profesionales. ABA España.

In sum, during the last year, ABA España continued to pursue its mission of promoting social inclusion and improving the quality of life of people with autism and their families by providing training opportunities to prospective professionals and service providers. The organization’s partnership with the University of Cadiz and its ambitious editorial activity have allowed ABA España to expand its reach and provide more comprehensive support to its stakeholders and to the community at large. ABA España personnel during a workshop with professionals from Consorci Aprop (Balear Islands, Spain), one of the largest providers of residential services for people with complex disabilities in the region. ABA España personnel during a recent visit to NECC Abu Dhabi.