Dear Don Ethics Panel (Nov 2023) - recorded

Tyra Sellers

Tyra P. Sellers is the CEO of the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts. She earned a B.A. in Philosophy and M.A. in Special Education from San Francisco State University, a J.D. from the University of San Francisco, a Ph.D. from Utah State University, and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst^®.

Her professional and research interests focus on professional ethics, training and supervision, assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior, and variability.

Dr. Sellers has over 20 years of clinical experience working with individuals with disabilities in a wide variety of settings. She has held positions as an Assistant Professor at Utah State University and as the Director of Ethics at the Behavior Analyst Certification Board^®.

She is honored to have been the recipient of professional recognitions, such as OBM Network’s “Innovation Research Award” (2022); Utah Association for Behavior Analysis Student Committee “UtABA Mentor Award” (2019); Association for Behavior Analysis International Student Committee “Outstanding Mentor Award” (2019); Utah State University “Special Education 2014-2015 Teacher of the Year” by vote of undergraduate students.

She has published several journal articles, co-authored four book chapters, co-authored the book titled Building and Sustaining Meaningful and Effective Relationships As A Supervisor and Mentor and the workbook titled pair titled The New Supervisor Workbook and The Consulting Supervisor’s Workbook. She currently serves on the editorial boards for several peer-reviewed journals.

Darren Sush

Darren J. Sush, PsyD, BCBA-D (he/him/his), is a licensed clinical psychologist and a board-certified behavior analyst (doctoral) with close to 20 years of experience developing and providing services based in applied behavior analysis (ABA) for children and adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and developmental disabilities.

Dr. Sush is Head of Autism and Psychology with Evernorth Behavioral Health, a Cigna corporation, and is the co-author of A Workbook of Ethical Case Scenarios in Applied Behavior Analysis: First and Second Editions. He is an Adjunct Faculty member in the Applied Behavior Analysis program at Pepperdine University, and an Associate Professor in the Applied Behavior Analysis and Clinical Psychology programs at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, teaching doctoral and master’s courses in ABA and psychology.

Within his practice, he has specialized in providing therapy for parents of children with ASD and developmental disabilities. He has also presented at regional and national conferences, has made appearances on several media outlets and podcasts, and has written for Psychology Today online, focusing on resources and mental health for parents of children with ASD and developmental disabilities.

Mary Jane Weiss

Mary Jane Weiss, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LABA is the Dean of Institute for Applied Behavioral Science and Director of the Ph.D. Program in ABA at Endicott College, where she has been for 12 years. She also does research with the team at Melmark.

She has worked in the field of ABA and Autism for 38 years. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Rutgers University in 1990 and she became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in 2000. She previously worked for 16 years at the Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center at Rutgers University.

Her clinical and research interests center on defining best practice and humane ABA techniques, integrating compassionate care and cultural responsiveness into ABA service delivery, exploring ways to enhance the ethical conduct of practitioners, training staff to be optimally effective at instruction and at collaboration, and maximizing family members’ expertise and adaptation.

She serves on the Scientific Council of the Organization for Autism Research, is on the board of Association for Science in Autism Treatment, is a regular contributor to the ABA Ethics Hotline, is on the editorial board of Behavior Analysis in practice, and is an advisor to the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies.