Book Review: Writing skills for behavior analysts

Reinecke, D., Knihtila, C., Papazian, J., Heyman, C., & Bratton, D. (2025). Writing skills for behavior analysts. Routledge.

Reviewed by Kristina Mira, BS, MEd
Association for Science in Autism Treatment

There are many skills that we must continually sharpen throughout our lives to help us succeed both personally and professionally. One of these essential skills is the ability to communicate effectively through writing. Within the field of behavior analysis, writing plays a critical role, whether it’s communicating with caregivers and colleagues, advocating for policy change, or producing detailed literature reviews. Given this vast range of applications, access to practical, writing-focused tools is crucial for promoting the best outcomes. Dana Reinecke, PhD, BCBA-D and colleagues Charissa Knihtila, Jacob Papazian, Celia Heyman, and Danielle Bratton have developed one such tool that targets this specific area titled, Writing Skills for Behavior Analysts: A Practical Guide for Students and Clinicians.

This comprehensive guide offers practical advice on various applications of writing in the field, making it a valuable tool for aspiring, current, and experienced behavior analysts alike. Moreover, this text also includes several practice scenarios with response models, and self-reflection prompts at the end of each chapter. These exercises help readers to apply the content within their everyday life, going beyond just a textbook.

Behavior analysts often wear many hats and can find guidance and insight within this book to support those varied roles. Writing Skills for Behavior Analysts is divided into eight distinct chapters, focusing on strategies to sharpen skills specific to different applications of writing:

1. Writing as a human: This opening chapter discusses strategies to enhance interpersonal skills related to written communication. The authors present information on best practices regarding communicating on social media and developing an understanding of how content that behavior analysts write may be perceived by the public. Further, it outlines tips on how to incorporate more compassionate and empathetic language into written communication.
2. Writing as a student: This section focuses on recommendations for students of behavior analysis. The authors provide advice on email communication with teachers and peers, writing on and responding to discussion boards, preparing for, organizing, and completing written assignments, and appropriately responding to corrective feedback.
3. Writing as a clinician: Suggested techniques for clinicians are covered next, which include guidelines for writing assessments and reports, analyses, intervention recommendations and documentation of services.
4. Writing as a leader: Guidance is outlined on written communications with caregivers, non-behavioral colleagues, policy makers, funders, and medical providers. Also, the authors discuss compassionate-focused and individualized communication methods to employ based on one’s audience.
5. Writing as a supervisor: In this section, several techniques for improving written communication as a supervisor are presented including formatting supervision documentation, contracts, and evaluations. Advice on effectively providing written feedback to supervisees is also featured here.
6. Writing as a faculty member: Writing-based strategies for teaching faculty are presented next, including tips for developing a comprehensive syllabus, appropriate presentation of course content, and instructions for assignments. This section also explores best practices for delivering written feedback to students.
7. Writing as a researcher: Researchers in the field of behavior analysis have many writing-based responsibilities. Therefore, this chapter offers numerous strategies for this audience such as composing literature reviews, writing proposals and research justifications, and identifying projected outcomes. Grant writing tips are also reviewed, including searching for grants, writing proposals, and evaluation of resources available. Researchers are also often responsible for producing written documentation to disseminate their findings. Luckily, this guide offers several strategies on how to write effectively for conference presentations, webinars, and journal articles.
8. Writing as a non-human: The final section of this book covers recommendations for using artificial intelligence (AI) as a writing tool while still upholding ethical standards. First, the authors define various AI terminology and describe specific AI tools that are currently prevalent. Strategies are offered regarding best practices in selecting appropriate AI tools for different applications, and how to review and revise the AI-generated content to combine it with human expertise. The authors also suggest methods to stay updated on advances in AI technology to remain vigilant and knowledgeable when using these novel tools.

In summary, Writing Skills for Behavior Analysts is highly recommended as a supportive tool for anyone working within the field of behavior analysis to help guide their writing behaviors. This book is packed with useful strategies and practice activities that are largely relevant to practical applications across a variety of contexts, from students embarking on their behavior analytic coursework to experienced supervisors and professors in the field.

Reference for this article:

Mira, K. (2025). Book Review: Writing skills for behavior analysts: A practical guide for students and clinicians. Science in Autism Treatment, 22(2).

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