Manitoba ABA

By Maria Pongoski

The Manitoba Association for Behaviour Analysis (MABA) is proud to be in its 17th year as an affiliated chapter of ABAI. We met several objectives during our 16th year, described below.

MABA held its Annual Conference in October 2021, hosting a variety of speakers. Our keynote speaker, Dr. Jon Bailey (Florida State University) delivered a presentation entitled “Beyond Basic Ethics: A Trip Into the Gray Zone of Professional ABA Practice.” The conference also featured presentations by our invited speakers, Dr. Marc Lanovaz (Université de Montréal), who presented on the potential uses of artificial intelligence in applied behaviour analysis; Shannon Biagi (Chief Motivating Officers), who shared her knowledge on leadership development and education; Dr. Lindsay Wishnowski (University of Manitoba), who presented on a behaviour analytic approach to performance enhancement in sport, and Shawn Capell (Covenant 15:16), shared a presentation on working towards cultural competency within applied behaviour analysis. To conclude the conference, a panel discussion consisting of Dr. Bailey, Dr. Lanovaz, Ms. Biagi, and Mr. Capell discussed the ethics of using technology in applied behaviour analysis. The panel was chaired by Dr. Lisa Hunter (St.Amant).

We are looking forward to our 17th Annual Conference, to be held in the fall of 2022, in a virtual format. Additional information can be found at maba.ca/conference.

In 2013, MABA became a CE provider, and in 2021 offered several events. CEUs were available for free to our members who are BCBAs and BCBA-Ds. These events included our conference and 1 webinar. In March 2021, Dr. Andrew Craig presented a webinar titled “Resurgence or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Treatment Relapse and Start Planning for It.”

In May 2021, MABA attended the virtual ABAI annual convention, and presented a poster at the Expo. We greatly enjoyed participating in the event, and the opportunity to virtually network with other affiliate chapters from Canada and around the World. MABA was excited to be part of the Expo at this year’s ABAI online conference. It was great to once again connect with colleagues, old and new, in the online format!
For the upcoming year, we will continue to work on our new and ongoing objectives and goals. Our key objectives for 2022 include offering CE opportunities for our members, as well as exploring options to provide education for the general public. Furthermore, we will also explore opportunities to promote behaviour analysis in Manitoba through partnerships with local organizations and universities. As well, we would like to find new ways to support new students and innovative research in applied behaviour analysis through the development of new awards. Finally, we would like to continue to work on increasing our membership through various recruitment initiatives.