Direct translation isn't enough — and when behavior analysts treat it as if it were, treatment fidelity quietly collapses. Co-presented with Betania Locatti, MEd, this session reframes code-switching as a behavior-analytic intervention: altering verbal stimuli so they evoke equivalent relational responding, preserve behavioral function, and align with culturally relevant reinforcement histories — not just substituting words. We ground the reframe in Skinner's Verbal Behavior, rule-governed behavior, and Relational Frame Theory (RFT — the behavioral account of how language and cognition form derived relational networks), then walk through our systematic adaptation model for BACT-C, a six-session ACT-based caregiver training delivered at the Chicago Care Hub for Latine families. Cultural constructs like familismo, respeto, and personalismo are treated here as contextual variables — not stereotypes — that shape reinforcement allocation, stimulus control, and therapeutic alliance. We close with treatment-fidelity safeguards (what stays invariant, what may vary), the clinical risks of literal translation as intervention-interfering variables, and how the BACB Ethics Code positions this work squarely within scope of competence and harm prevention.
Location: IL-ABA Online Presentation
Session materials: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XdovdFy7bcJPN9BWDSSynemTwKGl1zMg?usp=sharing
