Texas ABA

By Rachel L. Kramer

TxABA Mission
The Texas Association for Behavior Analysis (TxABA) continues to be guided by the mission to advance the science of behavior analysis to improve the world in which we live by disseminating knowledge from the science and providing resources to the behavior analytic community and the public in Texas in an ethical and high-quality manner. For more information on TxABA please visit www.txaba.org.

TxABA Membership
Membership in TxABA is a 365-day membership from the date of payment; individuals may join anytime during the year. Voting/affiliate membership is $60 and student/ RBT membership is $30. Members receive discounts on conference registration as well as free registration and CEUs for the TxABA webinar speaker series. Members may serve on TxABA Committees to help shape behavior analysis in Texas and participate in TxABA SIGs. Voting members may vote in TxABA elections and those meeting all requirements may be nominated to serve on the executive council.

TxABA Executive Council (EC)
The 2023–2024 Executive Council consisted of President Dr. Summer Gainey, Past-President Jeffrey Dillen, Council Member Dr. Berenice de la Cruz, Council Member Dr. Joseph Dracobly, Council Member Dr. Leslie Neely, Council Member Dr. Janet Enriquez, Senior Student Representative Marcus Strum, Junior Student Representative Michelle Castillo (non-voting), TxABA Executive Director Rachel Kramer (non-voting), and TxABA Secretary-Treasurer Jennifer Hines (non-voting). The TxABA Executive Council (EC) gathered together in July to set the Strategic Plan for the next three years. The EC continued to meet monthly to discuss strategic plan progress, monitor the budget, discuss upcoming events, oversee TxABA Committees, approve SIGs, appoint TxABA PPG officers, and discuss current events/issues in the field.

TxABA Strategic Plan
During the Spring, we conducted a SWOT analysis with the Executive Council followed by a member survey for input on short-term goals relevant to the organization’s long-term goals. The TxABA Executive Council met in person in July 2023 to set the TxABA Strategic Plan for the next 3 years. As we grow, TxABA has set shortterm goals to reach our overarching long-term goals: 1) Develop the organizational infrastructure for committees, special interest groups (SIGs), the executive council, and administration; 2) Support the quality and growth of the science and practice of behavior analysis through expansion of funding opportunities for science, practice, and research, and through the expansion of service offerings beyond the annual conference; 3) Increase the visibility and awareness of behavior analysis and TxABA among the public, and; 4) TxABA will engage in activities that promote diversity, inclusion, and equity as it pertains to its members, constituents, and conference attendees. The majority of short-term goals will be implemented through TxABA Committees, supported by the TxABA Secretary-Treasurer, and by the TxABA Executive Director.

TxABA Annual Conference and Awards
TxABA hosted its 39th Annual Conference in Houston, TX on April 11–14, 2024. It was a hybrid conference with BehaviorLive streaming the conference and providing asynchronous viewing for most presentations after the conference. TxABA continued this year to offer pre-conference workshops on Thursday. The conference consisted of nine tracks with all invited presentations: Neurodevelopmental Disorders Track, Neurodevelopmental Disorder Track – Adults, Professional Track, General Track, Education Track, Social Issues Track, Organization Behavior Management Track, Research Track, and Niche Areas Track. New this year, we partnered with the OBM Network, an ABAI SIG, to host their conference and collaborate on the TxABA OBM Track. This was a great partnership that increased the visibility of the OBM Network to TxABA Members interested in OBM. Thank you to everyone who made the 2024 TxABA Conference a success! The 40th Annual Conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas, TX on April 24–27, 2025. We look forward to celebrating 40 years of behavior analysts gathering in Texas to discuss research and support practitioners.

Two awards were presented this year at the TxABA
2024 Conference. Dr. Wayne Fisher, who received his Ph.D. at the University of Texas, was presented with the Enduring Career Contributions to Behavior Analysis award for his many contributions to our field during his extensive and ongoing career. Dr. Fisher’s methodological research advances and clinical research programs have shaped how the field assesses and treats severe behavior disorders and autism around the world. He has been a leader at three prestigious behavior analytic programs, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Monroe-Meyer Institute, and Rutgers University Center for Autism Research, Education, and Service. Dr. Fisher has mentored countless master’s students, doctoral students, and postdoctoral students, leaving a legacy of sophisticated and compassionate behavior analysts dedicated to helping individuals with severe behavior. Duy Le was presented with the Career Contributions to Behavior Analysis in Texas award for his dedication to Applied Behavior Analysis and his impact on the Texas behavior analytic landscape in his over 25-year and counting career. Duy has made contributions in both research and practice while developing a program that has brought behavior analysts to the state, mentored graduate & undergraduate students, advocated for behavior analytic services and families in Texas, and collaborated with pediatricians, psychologists, and other service providers. As Duy has moved up in management positions, he continues to work directly with children and families. Duy has served twice as a TxABA Council Member, on several TxABA Committees, the TxABA Public Policy Group’s advisory committee, and plays bass guitar in the Operant Lab Band, a conference favorite. TxABA was honored to recognize these two individuals for their numerous contributions to behavior analysis over their careers.

Other Activities
We continue to update the functionality, content, and style of our website to increase ease of use across platforms. We are growing our resources page on the website with contributions from two different committees. As we continue to update, you will find different Texas landscapes on our website, symbolizing TxABA’s commitment to being an organization for the science and practice of behavior analysis for the entire state from the piney woods and coastal regions across the hill country and plains regions to the desert and mountain regions. TxABA values the diversity that makes Texas beautiful and unique.

TxABA continued to increase dissemination beyond the annual conference with the TxABA Speaker Series webinars that are free to TxABA members. TxABA will continue the webinar series in 2024. In February, the Chair of the Program Committee and the Executive Director visited El Paso to start planning a regional conference this Fall 2024.

TxABA currently has nine standing committees that were created to implement the strategic plan. TxABA standing committees are the Awards Committee, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity for Everyone Committee, Grants and Funding Committee, Professional Issues and Development Committee, Program Committee, Public Dissemination Committee, Special Interest Group Committee, and Student Committee. TxABA has three Special Interest Groups (SIGs): Alamo City Behavior Analysts, Austin Area (ATX) ABA, and Severe Behavior. Our OBM SIG and BFSR SIG dissolved this year, we are encouraging our membership interest in those areas to get involved in the corresponding ABAI SIGs.

TxABA Public Policy Group (PPG)
The TxABA PPG is the sister organization of TxABA that focuses on legislative issues and lobbying. The 2023–2024 TxABA PPG officers consisted of President Mariel Cremonie-Fernandez Past-President Rany Thommen, Treasurer Berenice de la Cruz, Secretary Anna Sciarillo, and Communications Christina Martin. The TxABA PPG is working during the interim year to continue relationship development with legislatures, survey members to set priorities for the 2025 legislative year, and hired a new part-time lobbyist. The TxABA PPG officers provided a workshop at our annual conference with revenue going to the TxABA PPG and were invited speakers on the topic of improving the well-being of behavior-analytic consumers through public policy advocacy. For more information, please visit behavioranalysispu.wixsite.com/txabappg.