By Stella Nyagwencha

The Department of Psychology in the School of Humanities & Social Sciences in collaboration with the University of Nevada Reno graduated 29 students who successfully completed the certificate course in Applied Behavior Analysis technician training course. The program dubbed the Kalel program is a brain child of Ms. Sanaipei Ntimama and was borne from her desperate desire to find a therapist for her child (Kalel). She worked tirelessly to make sure that the program kicked off at the University with the help of Dr. Laura Barcelos Nomicos from the University of Nevada – Reno and the Psychology Department.

The University of Nevada, one of the leading Applied Behavior Analysis providers in the world has been offering training in behavior analysis at off-campus locations since 1995. Their aim in doing so has been to provide training in regions where it is not currently available or is inaccessible to fully employed human service workers. To date hundreds of students, and many more children, across the globe have benefitted from their programs.

The Kalel Program is the first of its kind to be offered in Africa. The first portion of the course is offered online for 15 weeks followed by an in-person intensive instruction. The program is designed to teach students how to use the basics of behavior analysis to work with children and adults with develop¬mental disabilities. The training covers measurement and assessment of behavior, skill acquisition, behavior reduction, documentation and reporting and professional ABA ethics.

The team behind the program: Ms. Sanaipei Ntimama (Founder, parent & advocate) Dr. Laura Barcelos Nomicos (Director – Global Institute for Behavior Analysis, University of Nevada – Reno), Dr. Stella Nyagwencha (Psychology Department Chair–USIU-Africa), Dr. Josephine Arasa (Psychology Department–USIU-Africa) and Ms. Lynnette Nzioki (Principal Academic Advisor–USIU-Africa).

For more information on the course, kindly contact Lynnette Nzioki on 0730 116626 or send an email to aba.kalel@usiu.ac.ke