42nd Annual ABAI Conference: Chicago, IL

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Submitted by: Rebecca Drew, BCBA

Taking place in Hyatt Regency Chicago, the 42nd Annual ABAI conference kicked off Friday, May 27th and ended on Tuesday, May 31st. The conference spanned across 4 floors and 3 hotels, covering topics relevant in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Though most often discussed as a service for children with autism, ABA is used and studied in a variety of areas, which were represented at ABAI, such as animal behavior, education, organizational behavioral management, developmental disabilities, and experimental analysis of behavior.

An overwhelming number of workshops and sessions were available at competing times, leaving attendees to decide between some very informative topics. In addition to sightings of some prominent people in the field, Dr. Jon Bailey and Dr. Aubrey Daniels, presenters included prominent speakers as well, Dr. Vincent Carbone discussing his 2010 study on mand training and echoic prompting; Dr. Greg Hanley spoke about sleep problems with children with autism, reviewing research to indicate that though most often treated by pharmaceuticals, there are in fact no medications FDA approved to treat pediatric insomnia and instead enthusiastically encouraged the audience to look at some sleep problems as a skill deficit to be treated with a comprehensive ABA intervention plan.

There were also hundreds of poster presentations highlighting different areas of research in the field and over 100 Exhibitors showcasing their educational and career opportunities. Reaching Milestones was fortunate to have representatives attend to exhibit our organization’s benefits and opportunities, as well as attend presentations addressing new research in the field of ABA in relation to the children we serve. Attendees traveled from all over the world, stopping at our booth to inquire about our company and share their experiences with ABA in Italy, Peru, Brazil, United Kingdom, New York, California, and so many more.

We are already looking forward to the 43rd Annual ABAI Conference now!