Home • Conference • News • Resources • Science • History • Autism • Bookshelf • Membership • Contact Us
Behavior Analysis Faculty Position at Eastern Michigan University
Tenure-track position beginning Fall 2015 for PhD in Psychology with specialization in Applied or Experimental Behavior Analysis or related field.
The Psychology Department has MS programs in Clinical, Clinical-Behavioral, and Experimental psychology, an APA-accredited Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program, and approximately 1000 undergraduate majors. The department includes an onsite clinic for family and individual therapy and an active experimental analysis of behavior laboratory.
Get more information or apply at: http://agency.governmentjobs.com/emichedu/default.cfm
Wendrow Family Wins $3 Million Jury Award in False Allegation Case in Federal Court.
After several weeks of trial, the Wendrow family was awarded $3 million in Federal Court against former Oakland County Michigan Prosecutors. The Wendrows were intially accused of rape in 2007 by a teacher's aide using the descredited technique, Facilitated Communication. A major contention in the case was that the Prosecutors should have known of FC's problems, and behaved recklessly in their prosecution even after it was clear that FC was unreliable and the girl could not actually communicate with the method. BAAM member James T. Todd (Eastern Michigan University) testified for the Wendrows on lack of scientific support for FC.
New Michigan budget includes $4M for Western Michigan University autism initiatives
(From the article.) Western Michigan University is slated to receive $4 million to boost its autism research and professional training initiatives, State Rep. Margaret O'Brien announced June 20 during a stop on campus for a news conference."
"Behavior analysis specialists in Western Michigan University's Department of Psychology have a 30-plus year history of work with community partners to offer supervised field experience in the areas of developmental disabilities, autism and education."
(From the article.) A state judge Thursday cast doubt on the centerpiece of Rutgers-Newark professor Anna Stubblefield’s defense of allegations she repeatedly sexually assaulted a 33-year-old man doctors say has the mental capacity of an 18-month-old."
Michigan Legislature Allocates $5.5 Million for Autism in Closing Days of the Term
In the final days of the 2013-2014 session, the Michigan legislature passed a bill authorizing $5.5 million in expenditure for "university programs and autism family assistance." The bill passed the House 88 to 21, and unanimously in the Senate. You can read the bill and get background information here.
From the story: A GRANDMOTHER who says she "fell in love" with her severely autistic client at a Sunshine Coast disability services home, has been convicted on two counts of indecent dealing with him....She said he used facilitated communication to tell her that he loved her.
Alan Hudson, veteran FC critic in Australia, "identified numerous substantial faults and concluded it did not "work" for the young man."
Read and sign BAAM's Resolution Against Facilitated Communication
The Christie Administration today announced the selection of Mark Mautone...as the 2014-2015 State Teacher of the Year....An educator for 19 years, he received his bachelor's degree from Kean University and his master's in Applied Behavior Analysis from Caldwell University.
Mautone is a signatory to BAAM's Resolution on Faciltated Communication.
The BACB is pleased to announce the standards for the BACB’s newest credential – the Registered Behavior Technician™ (RBT™). As we indicated in our June 28, 2012 press release, the BACB’s Board of Directors authorized the development of this new credential to establish training standards for behavior technicians, the paraprofessionals who implement behavior plans directly with clients. In recent years, the number of behavior technicians has grown along with the demand for quality applied behavior-analytic services. This growth, along with requests to identify and evaluate standards for behavior technicians by regulatory and funding stakeholders, firmly establishes the need for the new credential.
Objective data on licensing exam pass rates, internship placements, and other measures put both the Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan Clinical Psychology training programs, which include training in behavior analysis and BCBA preparation, in the top ten of programs in the nation.
BAAM Statement of Purpose
The Behavior Analysis Association of Michigan* has been organized to support and promote scientific research on the basic principles of behavior and the extension of those principles to create demonstrably effective and humane outcome-based therapies with the primary goal of establishing and enhancing functional independent living skills.
*BAAM is a state affiliate of the Association for Behavior Analysis International and is sponsored by the Eastern Michigan University Psychology Department.
Michigan State University: Scholarships for Applied Behavior Analysis Program Available
Full scholarships for a graduate certificate from the College of Education’s applied behavior analysis program are now available. The program prepares students who are interested in becoming practitioners in using behavior analysis to solve problems of human importance.
ABAI Practice Board Calls Out Time Magazine Failure on Concept of Time Out.
Time Magazine, which has had a history of endorsing dangerous (Facilitated Communication) and empirically unsupported (Floortime) autism treatments, attacks "time-out," an empirically validated and well-tolerated method originally designed as an alternative to physical punishment. The Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) Practice Board responds.
Behavior News Migration
BAAM Behavior News items and announcement of immediate interest are being migrated to social media outlets including Facebook and Twitter.
This page will be reserved for reporting and archiving items of enduring importance or value.
Behavior News Archives
Walled Lake Schools to Pay in Dismissed Criminal Facilitated Communication Case
Parents accused of rape and abuse via the discredited method, Facilitated Communication, receive a $1.1 million settlement from Walled Lake Schools.
What is Facilitated Communication?
Facilitated Communication (FC), sometimes also called "Supported Typing," is a set of methods by which selection-, pointing-, or writing-based communication in one individual is simulated by another person who provides physical, gestural, or other cues for the selections. In most FC, the hand or arm of the individual is held and moved. But, in some forms, the facilitator holds the communication output device or provides non-physical cues. FC is not supported by scientific evidence. In fact, FC is the single most scientifically discredited intervention in developmental disabilities.
Including Michigan, 37 states, DC and the U.S. Virgin Islands have enacted autism insurance reform. In most instances, the coverage of applied behavior analysis services is included or required. Michigan is unique among the states to use public funding to support autism insurance.
Western Michigan University Psychology Receives $4 Million for Autism Research and Training
"The efforts funded by the new state money will move forward under the direction of Dr. Stephanie Peterson, chair of the Western Michigan University Department of Psychology, and Dr. Wayne Fuqua, professor of psychology, whose longtime focus has been on the use of behavior analysis for the treatment of autism."
Behavior Analysis Association of Michigan, Department of Psychology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI 48197