Presenter: Professor Karola Dillenburger BCBA-D

Keynote address delivered at International Conference on Global Education (ICOGE 2024) in Malaysia

The definition of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) is based explicitly on the aim to enhance socially important behaviour. ABA has been used very successfully to support a wide ranges of different populations, including those in general education, on the autism spectrum, experiencing intellectual disability, and working in organisations. Yet, across the world only few countries officially recognise behaviour analysts legally as an approved profession. Without professional recognition and regulation, anyone can call themselves a "behaviour analyst" and service users are not protected adequately. This can lead to misunderstandings and malpractice. In this presentation, I will outline some of the issues involved in this discussion and outline the ethical imperative for behaviour analysts to be professionally regulated.

 Professor Dillenburger is the Director of the Centre for Behaviour Analysis at Queen's University Belfast

 Link to talk