Cultural Sensitivity & ABA

The decision to begin ABA is often a challenging decision for families. When beginning ABA there are many elements to consider. With in-home ABA, this often times means, someone is coming into your home for several hours per week, sometimes up to 40 hours. The goal is to help your child and your family find strategies to navigate through your daily lives in a new, more positive or more productive way. While the therapists and clinicians that come into your home are skilled and trained in ABA, they will need you to teach them your home culture and the expectations of your home and for you family. 

Behavior Analysis is a field that required a constant continuation of learning. The Behavior Analyst Certification Board requires that behavior analysts maintain certification through continued education units, across several professional areas of development to ensure that BCBA’s stay current in the every changing field of applied behavior analysis. The newest version of the BACB compliance code mandates that behavior analysts must participate in professional development related to cultural responsiveness and diversity. This will require BCBA’s and those working in ABA to consider personal bias, and seek further development in those areas. This will also better prepare BCBA’s to be flexible and adaptable to the individual needs of each family they serve. 

You can view the complete Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts at www.BACB.com

One of the unique and beautiful things about Applied Behavior Analysis is that it can be applied to any setting where lie organisms exists. Human behavior, in particular, happens across every culture. This may however mean that the person that comes into you home is from a different cultural background and may not be familiar with your culture.

Some things you may want to communicate to your ABA team may include things like; taking your shoes off during at the door, scheduled meal times, home languages, or, any culture specific ritual that may happen during sessions or impact the function or location of services. Your ABA team should never impose their personal values on your home, child, or the ABA services being provided. The objective of informing them of any cultural difference, is for you to feel respected in your own home. This also does not mean you have to share every aspect of your lives with your ABA team, only things you feel comfortable sharing, or things that are necessary.

It may be wise to bring up any specific things during your initial assessment or one on one sessions with your Behavior Analyst. This is specifically important for things like language or gender preferences, so that sessions can begin with the appropriate therapist and changes to providers are minimized.

 If you notice something happen in the session, or if a treatment is suggested that conflicts with your culture, or values, communicate this right away to your treatment team. Remember, ABA is adaptable, and all treatments should be individualized to your child.

There may also be holidays that you observe that are not considered national holidays in the region where you live. If this is the case, try to plan ahead of time by reviewing your ABA schedule, and reviewing the holidays that confit with treatment. Often times, it is up to the family how they would like to handle scheduling or rescheduling holidays. If your ABA team is working during those days or holidays, this may be a great opportunity for your ABA team to observe the client partaking in family or traditional activities, or generalize goals to a new safe environment. 

Your ABA team should be partnering with you on every goal that is identified for your child. So the culture specific things may arise naturally. It’s okay to say, this is how we usually do it. If your Behavior Analyst suggests doing things a different way, that you aren’t comfortable with, for any reason, let them know that. 

There may be times that families have to consider traditional norms, family comfort, and what genuinely works best for the child. Times, where the treatment may conflict with cultural expectation, but it addressed a critical area of concern for your child. This is an uncomfortable place to be in for the entire treatment team, and your ABA team should consider all other available options first. If this were to be the case, your ABA team should address the issue with care. The treatment that is decided should be communicated clearly to all of the stakeholders in your child’s treatment (parents, teachers, babysitters, extended family that may observe session). This will ensure that treatment is consistent across all settings your child may engage in the behavior. If this treatment has been in place for a while, and you are not seeing a change to the behavior, continue to speak to your treatment team about the intervention. 

If your treatment team changes, you may have to discuss some of the culture specific things again, and possibly retrain the new members on your home culture. You new team members may have questions on why certain treatments were chosen, or why other treatments have been omitted. Be honest with your treatment team, they are there to help.

If you’re unsure about what to discuss with your ABA team, it’s okay to tell them that as well. Your BCBA should be able to guide the conversation, or they may suggest that as things come up with your child’s programming, it can be addressed at that time. 

If you feel like your ABA team is not hearing your concerns, reach out to the supervisor, if that option is available. Alternatively, the Behavior Analyst Certification Board is the governing body for behavior analysts. While they don’t assist with treatment planning, or direct clinical treatment, they can assist with any ethical or culturally ambiguous questions. www.BACB.com, 7950 Shaffer Parkway, Littleton, CO 80127.

PBS.org has some great resources on teaching culture and diversity to small children, if you would like additional resources on how to have open, honest and gentle conversations about culture, diversity, tradition, and differences. Small children begin to develop self awareness skills between 1 and 3 years old, which means they begin to understand the likeness and differences of others. We can celebrate those differences by first acknowledging them with our children.