New grant project aims to expand ABA services in the school system for children with autism

OCTOBER 19, 2020 — A new grant-funded project from UTSA is geared toward addressing the lack of access to applied behavior analysis (ABA)-based education for children with autism and the availability of Board Certified Behavior Analyst® (BCBA) professionals in the classrooms.

Project ABA Teacher, which is being funded by a $475,000 grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, aims to help more special education teachers become certified BCBA professionals and incorporate ABA into teaching practices within the San Antonio community.

“We see the need across San Antonio, the state of Texas, and nationwide for more personnel that are able to provide behavior analytic services in schools and various settings,” said Hannah MacNaul, co-principal investigator and assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology. “The need is very large, and training is one way to bridge the gap and provide services to children and students in need. This project stems from what we see in our local communities as well as the challenges we hear from our colleagues across the state and nationwide.”

“If all teachers had a basic foundation in behavior analytic principles, that would be amazing.”

BCBA professionals are certified to use ABA, which is the use of scientific processes to influence someone else's behavior.

“Behavior analysts provide behavioral intervention based on contingencies that are ongoing in our environment to program certain reinforcers or rewards to be delivered contingent on appropriate behavior,” MacNaul said. “We teach appropriate skills to replace challenging behavior and promote learning of positive behavior such as social skills and academic skills.”

Project ABA Teacher’s first cohort of 12 students started this fall and aim to serve more than 850 children with autism through the telehealth outpatient program at UTSA’s downtown campus.

Project ABA currently offers two tracks. The first is the Master of Arts in Educational Psychology with an ABA concentration and the second is the ABA Certificate Program. The first track encompasses coursework that is required from the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) and the practical experience of 2,000 supervised hours. Those on the certification path are following the course sequence from the BACB.

“We have 12 teachers currently enrolled in the program completing their coursework. Some came into the grant program with previous coursework already completed,” MacNaul said. “Others are brand new starting their master's degree and some currently have master's degrees in related fields like special education, and they're doing the additional course sequence through the ABA Certificate Program to meet the requirements to become a BCBA.”

Kaitie Smith, who is already a full-time teacher, is one of the 12 in the program.

“The ABA Teacher program gives currently employed, full-time teachers the opportunity to gain their required supervision hours without needing to quit their jobs, or work an additional part-time job outside of school hours,” Smith said. “The program made it possible for me to continue teaching while concurrently making progress towards becoming a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst, so I jumped on the opportunity as soon as the application dropped.”

Smith is currently working with clients through the Autism Treatment Center via teletherapy under the supervision of MacNaul and starting to implement what she's learned so far in her own classroom.

“We have supervision once a week, and are beginning the process of in-class observations via Zoom, where Dr. MacNaul observes my implementation of ABA principles in my classroom, and then we discuss later,” Smith said. “I'm very excited for the development and progress that will occur over the next year, thanks to ABA Teacher.”

Once she is a certified BCBA, Smith hopes to use her knowledge from her coursework and the teletherapy to better serve her students.

“I would eventually love the opportunity to teach these same principles of behavior to adults seeking their teaching credentials. ABA makes life easier in the classroom, because it works,” Smith said. “If all teachers had a basic foundation in behavior analytic principles, that would be amazing.”

MacNaul added that Project ABA Teacher will benefit the San Antonio community as a whole.

“In San Antonio, it can be somewhat difficult to access behavior analytic services. One of the main ways in which students receive additional services if they are at risk or are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder is through the school district, and as such, teachers oftentimes serve as our first line of defense,” MacNaul said. “By preparing these teachers and providing them with the extra experience and training to work with these populations, it's our hope that we'll be able to serve a lot of children in the setting that they're already spending most of their day.”

Project ABA Teacher is expected to take place for the next two years through the use of the $475,000 grant, awarded to MacNaul and Leslie Neely, associate professor of educational psychology and Behavior Analysis Program coordinator. The grant is currently supported and managed by UTSA’s Bank of America Child and Adolescent Policy Research Institute (CAPRI).

— Valerie Bustamante