Dr. Tara Fahmie, associate professor of Psychology at CSUN, recently received a training grant from the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) to disseminate function-based assessments and interventions for problem behavior in India.
In mid-July this year, she visited the city of Chennai in south India to train parents of children with special needs and professionals in handling challenging behavior. She worked with community stakeholders to introduce the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and function-based assessments for problem behavior using a manualized training developed in close collaboration with Maithri Sivaraman, one of the few certified behavior analysts in Chennai. CSUN students had the opportunity to contribute to the development and evaluation of training materials as well, through small grants from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the BUILD Poder program at CSUN.
For Fahmie, who regularly teaches CSUN students about evidence-based treatments for problem behavior, this week-long trip was eye-opening. This trip was the first time that Fahmie had to adapt behavior-analytic training for it to be culturally relevant to this sub-group in India. Over the course of the week, Fahmie worked with stakeholders at the National Institute of Empowerment for Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD), an initiative of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in the Government of India. She conducted trainings for groups of professionals in the clinical psychology, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and special education departments. The trainings were also attended by parents of children with disabilities including ASD, ADHD, and intellectual disability. The training included both content review and individual role-play based coaching.
After the training had concluded, Fahmie also attended a meeting with the Director of NIEPMD, Mr. Himangshu Das, to discuss the possibilities of introducing short-term and long-term courses in ABA and function-based assessments for problem behavior at NIEPMD. This meeting began with feedback from a few participants of the manualized training on its usability and feasibility of implementation. Some stakeholders asked for Fahmie and Sivaraman’s increased involvement in the development of behavior intervention plans for individual clients and more intensive training programs.
Tara Fahmie also initated a meeting with Vidya Sagar, a centre for special education in Chennai which also serves as a resource for research and training for students to earn their Bachelors degree in special education (B.Ed). The B.Ed program at Vidya Sagar will now include the manualized training as part of their curriculum. The need to include crisis management skills as part of the training was highlighted during the meeting.
The involvement and collaboration between Fahmie and Sivaraman together with the local team has been key in making the training relevant and acceptable for the Indian culture and has also highlighted the importance and necessity of collaboration in the dissemination of evidence-based treatments outside of one’s native culture.
