Washington ABA

By Francesca Crispo & Jennifer Collado
The Washington Association for Behavior Analysis (WABA) had a great year in 2022! In October, we hosted the WABA annual conference in Auburn, WA. Focusing on “Compassionate Care,” we were joined by speakers Courtney and Dr. Jonathan Tarbox on “Compassionate Care Within Applied Behavior Analysis”; Shannon Penrod, President of the Autism Network on “The Parent’s Perspective: What I wish ABA providers knew about ABA”; and Dr. Mari Cerda on “Disability Justice In Behavior Science.” The conference was concluded by a panel of providers working towards prioritizing assent, compassion, and trauma-informed practice in their work.
The WABA Public Policy Committee has worked to support access to care through advocacy for improved Medicaid rates. This included working with the Healthcare Authority to support a decision packet recommending an increase in Medicaid rates for ABA services. Additionally, members responded to a call to action by contacting the Governor to support these imperative changes to ensure that all individuals may access ABA services, regardless of insurance type.
WABA also offered the following webinars to the community in 2022: Building a Culturally Humble ABA Practice: Considerations for Organizations and individual practitioners. In addition to access to free webinars, members can enjoy a reduced rate to the annual conference, as well as attendance and the ability to vote in all membership meetings. The Washington State ABA community looks forward to seeing what 2023 will bring us!