Candidate Statement

Henry Roane PhD, BCBA

I have been involved in the field of behavior analysis for the past 14 years, beginning with my undergraduate research participation at LSU under the supervision of Dr. Tim Vollmer and Dr. Dorothea Lerman. Following my time at LSU, I completed my post-graduate work at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. I recently left my position at the Marcus Institute in Atlanta to assist in the development of the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders (CASD) at the Munroe-Meyer Institute (MMI). At present, I serve as the Director of the Severe Behavior Disorders Program at the CASD. My work involves using functional analysis to identify the variables that maintain a child’s destructive behavior (e.g., self-injury, aggression) and to use this information to develop effective interventions for those behaviors and to train caregivers in the implementation of those interventions. Through my work history, I have been supervised by and learned from many notable behavior analysts including Wayne Fisher, Cathleen Piazza, Michael Cataldo, and John Lutzker.

I have been a productive researcher in the area of applied behavior analysis. I have published over 40 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, most in the areas of severe behavior disorders, developmental disabilities, and the application of behavioral economic principles to behavioral treatments. I have been on the Board of Editors for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA), I am an Associate Editor for that journal, and I have serve as an ad-hoc reviewer for many other behavioral journals. I have also actively presented at the annual ABA meeting since 1995 as well as many regional behavior analysis conferences. I have been involved in training students in the field through my membership on various thesis committees, classroom instruction, and my supervision of trainees for BCBA certification as well as APA certification. Finally, for the last 3 years I have held leadership positions within the MMI and at the Marcus Institute, and I enjoy being involved in that level of decision making. 

To date my primary role with the BACB has involved offering to assist in question writing and evaluation. However, I have worked on a state level to promote the work of behavior analysts in Georgia and Nebraska. In Georgia, I helped develop a graduate training program through Georgia State University for a Masters program with a concentration in behavior analysis. More recently, I have worked with officials from the State of Nebraska to promote BCBA services. Currently, Nebraska does not offer reimbursement of services delivered by a BCBA or a BCABA. Recently, Dr. Fisher and I have worked with state officials to develop the recognition and reimbursement of services provided by BCBAs. For example, we have hosted a number of state and federal legislators at our program to help them understand the services we provide. More importantly, we have recently written sections of current proposed state legislation to provide early intervention services for children with autism. Within this bill we were required to develop minimum requirements for service providers in the state. We used the BCBA credentialing requirements as our guideline for this bill. In effect, the guidelines have been written such that only someone who meets the minimum requirements for a BCABA or a BCBA can be a provider for reimbursable autism services in Nebraska. In addition, I am currently involved in the development of a master’s program in Behavior Analysis at the University of Nebraska, Omaha.

I would like to assist in promoting the recognition of behavior analysis particularly to those individuals who are involved in policy making (e.g., government officials, school personnel). I frequently interact with insurance companies, most of whom have little knowledge of the benefits of behavior analysis and who often consider behavioral treatments to be “experimental therapies”. Thus, it is important to educate the public and potential consumers of behavior analysis services. Increasing third-party reimbursement will allow for better service provision, will draw in more well-trained practitioners, and will increase the need for training programs, which should promote additional growth in the field. Similarly, I believe it is necessary for behavior analysts to become effective at disseminating their information to laypersons and professionals from other disciplines. I have given a number of talks in recent years to caregivers to explain the basic approaches employed by behavior analysts and in the coming months, I will present to college and high school students. The basic design with this approach is to increase awareness to improve not only the acceptability of our field but also to encourage outside participation and interaction with the field. Finally, I see a need for members of my peer group to take a role in the course and future development of our field. It is therefore important for more early- to mid-career behavior analysts (like myself) to become involved in the BACB to ensure the sustainability of the BACB.