University of Florida
Project Title: Increasing Cooperation with Hair Grooming Activities in Black Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Janae’ is a graduate student at the University of Florida studying under the advisement of Dr. Timothy Vollmer. She earned her B.S. in Psychology at Spelman College in 2021 and is presently working toward her M.S. in Behavior Analysis.
The SABA Innovative Student Research Grant in DEI will support her research to increase cooperation with hair grooming procedures in Black children with autism. To date, there are only seven articles that directly target hair grooming, and with only one Black participant. The racial/ethnic background of the participants in 6 of these 7 studies is unknown, yet it is known that many Black individuals have different haircare needs than individuals from other groups. Additionally, the available task analyses and procedures for this skill lack cultural sensitivity and have little to no empirical validation, thus highlighting the need for research in this area across different racial backgrounds.
One of the main goals of Janae’s research is to use a participatory research approach toward the development of the task analysis and treatment procedures. The inclusion of caregivers (at multiple points during treatment) is imperative, particularly if a BCBA is not trained on the potential cultural differences when treating hair grooming. Only 5.06% of all BCBAs and BCBA-Ds are Black/African American (www.BACB.com). It is unlikely that all Black BCBAs work in autism intervention. A non-Black BCBA, with little to no experience with thicker hair types would be unlikely to know the intricacies of hair grooming for a child with thick hair. If they go to the literature, BCBAs would find steps such as “comb hair from the back of the neck to the crown” or simply “comb the hair.” These are not sufficient and may even be inappropriate steps for grooming thicker hair. This project will improve the way that behavior analysts approach the development of hair-care interventions and other culturally sensitive interventions.
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