Every year, the UW ABA program invites a scholar from another university or part of the country who we believe is doing exciting or thought-provoking work in Applied Behavior Analysis to come visit our program. The scholar meets with faculty, talks with students, and showcases their own scholarly work through a presentation to both students and BCBAs from the broader Puget Sound community.
Three BACB CEUs available: $40
This year, we are glad to have Dr. Shahla Alai-Rosales with us on April 5th, 2025 to present Context, Culture & Collaboration: Supporting the Well-being of Young Autism Families in Behavior Analytic Practice.
Shahla Alai-Rosales, PHD, BCBA-D, CPBA-AP is a Professor in the Department of Behavior Analysis at the University of North Texas. She has taught courses in Texas, Europe and the Middle East on a variety of topics, including ethics, early autism intervention, parent training, behavioral systems, applied research methods, technology transfer, behavior change techniques, and cultural diversity. Shahla has published and presented research on social justice, ethics in early intervention, play and social skills, family harmony, and supervision and mentoring. Shahla has more than four decades of experience working with families and has trained hundreds of behavior analysts. She has received awards for her teaching (SGA ‘Fessor Graham Award), her work with families (Onassis Scholar Award), and for her sustained contributions (UNT Community Engagement Award, TXABA Career Contributions Award, the GSU Lutzker Distinguished Lecturer, the ABAI Donald M. Baer Distinguished Lecture, and the 23-24 University of Kansas ABS Outstanding Alumni Award). She was a member of the Behavior Analysis Certification Board, the ABAI Practice Board, the ABAI DEI Board and an Associate Editor for Behavior Analysis in Practice. She currently serves on the board of directors for APBA and the advisory board for ASAI. Shahla is co-author of Building and Sustaining Meaningful and Effective Relationships as a Supervisor and Mentor (LeBlanc, Sellers & Alai, 2020) and Responsible and Responsive Parenting in Autism: Between Now and Dreams (Alai-Rosales & Heinkel-Wolfe, 2022). Shahla lives in Denton Texas and is honored to be a mother and grandmother to three amazing humans!
Context, Culture & Collaboration: Supporting the Well-being of Young Autism Families in Behavior Analytic Practice
Tremendous strides have been made in how a family is positioned in supporting autistic children. Parents have gone from being blamed, marginalized and excluded from therapeutic and educational involvement to being welcomed, centered and included. The purpose of this presentation is to provide a context for parenting in autism, with a focus on family ecology, quality of life, current research, and culture. The presentation also explores some eternal and contemporary parenting concerns and how these relate to autistic children and to the applied behavior analyst. Finally, suggestions are made for how to engage in productive collaborations that decenter alienation and stigma and center collaborative learning in the context of valued family well-being and neurodiversity, relationship development, and love.