Dr. Berenice de la Cruz, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA has worked with people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities since 2001 in school, home, clinic, and community settings as a teacher, therapist, supervisor, director, and professor. Dr. de la Cruz has extensive experience providing didactic and hands-on training to caregivers, students, and professionals servicing people with disabilities. She received her Ph.D. in 2009 from The University of Texas at Austin in Special Education with a specialization in autism and developmental disabilities and a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology in 2004 from The University of Texas at El Paso. Dr. de la Cruz became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in 2006 and a Licensed Behavior Analyst in Texas in 2018 when licensure became available in Texas. She has been an active member of the San Antonio community since 2010, along with her husband and their two children.

Dr. de la Cruz has been an Assistant Professor at A&M-SA since 2020. Dr. Berenice de la Cruz is the inaugural Program Coordinator for the Applied Behavior Analysis undergraduate and graduate program in the College of Education and Human Development, which launched in Fall 2022. Before joining A&M-SA, Dr. de la Cruz was an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University’s ABA program and the CEO and owner of an ABA company. Dr. de la Cruz was part of the leadership team since the inception of Autism Lifeline Links (ALL), a coalition of nonprofits aimed at connecting families to services in the community. She regularly presents in English and Spanish at state, national, and international conferences. 

Dr. de la Cruz has been an Executive Council member for the Texas Association for Behavior Analysis (TxABA) since 2021 and is currently the President of TxABA. She is an Advisory Board member for the TxABA Public Policy Group (PPG). Through the legislative work with TxABA PPG, ALL, and other agencies, licensure was granted by the state of Texas to behavior analysts in 2017. Furthermore, on July 15, 2019, ABA was added as a Medicaid benefit for persons under age 20 with a diagnosis of ASD. Dr. de la Cruz continues to work with TxABA PPG and other groups to ensure that the ABA Medicaid benefit is implemented in a way that is accessible to all families. Dr. de la Cruz has been a board member of the Autism Society of Texas since 2022 and is currently the Secretary. She is a founding member of the Mexican Association for ABA Practitioners (Organización Mexicana de Practicantes de Análisis Conductual Aplicado; OMPAC) and serves on OMPACs ethics committee. 

Research and Practice

Dr. de la Cruzs research and practice focus primarily on advocacy, ethics, and evaluating the application of ABA by parents, teachers, and other professionals to support neurodiverse individuals in the home, school, and community. 

Public Policy Advocacy. Public policy advocacy is another area of focus of Dr. de la Cruzs research and clinical practice. She has worked with the TxABA PPG since 2016 and serves as an advisory board member. This work has led to legislative changes that have positively impacted the lives of those in Texas. Dr. de la Cruz recently finished her service as co-editor of a special issue on Public Policy Advocacy in Behavior Analysis in Practice. She hopes this work will inform more behavior analysts about how to get involved in public policy advocacy. Currently, she is studying ethical challenges faced by providers servicing individuals with developmental disabilities in Mexico. This information will inform the ethics code in Mexico led by OMPAC.

Supporting Professionals and Caregivers. Dr. de la Cruz has been supporting professionals and caregivers for over 20 years. Her research evaluates the application and cultural adaptation of ABA when used by parents/caregivers, teachers, and other professionals to support individuals with developmental disabilities in the home, school, and community. She has conducted a longitudinal study on behavioral consultation in early childhood settings. In 2021, Dr. de la Cruz began to establish partnerships with South Bexar County school districts and A&M-SA to provide ABA training and supervision to school personnel. Dr. de la Cruz is currently collaborating on a research and community grant with the University of Oregon to implement and evaluate a new program that increases support for students with traumatic brain injury. The project seeks to increase support for parents/caregivers, school personnel, and the community and inform legislative action. She and her colleagues developed a curriculum to support parents of early childhood students. Learn more about Traumatic Brain Injury System of Supports. 

NSF Undergraduate Research Experience on AI and ASD. Dr. de la Cruz is a faculty mentor for a Research Experience for Undergraduate Students funded by the National Science Foundation(NSF). The program is headed by Texas State University in collaboration with Texas A&M-San Antonio to engage undergraduate students in innovative Smart and Connected Health and Communities research. Students explore areas like AI-driven emotion recognition for children with ASD, enhanced firefighting systems, and tech-assisted sports assessments for spinal cord injuries. Projects apply machine learning, AI, and IoT to real-world challenges, such as developing AI-powered smart homes for individuals with ASD and improving chronic ankle instability diagnosis. Students also study advanced computer vision for object tracking in engineering. This interdisciplinary experience prepares participants for advanced STEM studies and careers. Dr. de la Cruzs project utilizes AI to support conversation in individuals with ASD. Interested students can learn more and apply on the website. 

Degrees 

Ph.D. August 2009
The University of Texas at Austin (UT)
Major: Special Education
Specialization: Autism and Developmental Disabilities
Dissertation: Use of a self-monitoring treatment package to support teachers in developing and implementing self-monitoring interventions for children with developmental disabilities
Dissertation Committee: Herbert J. Rieth, Ph.D. (Co-Supervisor), Jeff Sigafoos, Ph.D. (Co-Supervisor), David P. Wacker, Ph.D., Karrie A. Shogren, Ph.D, & Mark F. O’Reilly, Ph.D.

M.A. July 2004
The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)
Major:  Clinical Psychology
Thesis:  An investigation of the 5-methoxytryptamine and valproic acid rat models of autism
Thesis Advisor:  Donald E. Moss, Ph.D.

B.S. May 2002
UTEP
Cum Laude, University Honors Degree, & Departmental Honors
Major: Psychology
Minor: Statistics
Thesis: Symbolic and realistic threats: The cognitive processes that underlie them
Thesis Advisor: Michael A. Zárate, Ph.D.

Le, T., Kunze, M., de la Cruz, B., & McCart, M. (2025). Supporting Preschool Children with Concussions or Traumatic Brain Injuries in Early Childhood Classrooms. Early Childhood Education Journal, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-025-01876-0

de los Santos, M., Hernández-Eslava, V., Guerra, M. A., Lozano-Ramirez, F. L., Enriquez, J., Martinez, A. P., & de la Cruz, B. (2025). Applied Behavior Analysis in Mexico: Efforts and Challenges in Public Policy, Advocacy, and Regulation. Behavior Analysis in Practice Special Issue on Public Policy Advocacy, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-024-01031-y

de la Cruz, B., Bourland, G., Johnson-Patagoc, K. M., Dillen, J., Thommen, R., Fritz, J. & Crone, R. (2025). The Road to Licensure of Behavior Analysts in Texas: History, Lessons Learned, and Recommendations. Behavior Analysis in Practice Special Issue on Public Policy Advocacy, 1-14. https://doi-org.tamusa.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s40617-024-01030-z

Kunze, M., & de la Cruz, B. (2023). A Longitudinal Study of Behavioral Consultation in Inclusive Preschool Classrooms. Head Start Dialog: The Research-to-Practice Journal for the Early Childhood Field, 26(1), 35-46. https://doi.org/10.55370/hsdialog.v26i1.1461

Kunze, M., & de la Cruz, B. (2023). Behavioral Consultation in Inclusive Preschool Classrooms. Head Start Dialog: The Research-to-Practice Journal for the Early Childhood Field, 26(1), 57-63. https://doi.org/10.55370/hsdialog.v26i1.1567

de la Cruz, B., Cannella, H., Son, S.-H., Edrisinha, C., Sigafoos, J., & Robinson, D. (2007). Author productivity and publication trends in autism-specific journals from 1997 to 2004. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 21(4), 245-250. https://doi-org.tamusa.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/10883576060210040601

Olive, M. L., de la Cruz, B., Davis, T. N., Chan, J. M., Lang, R. B., & Dickson, S. M. (2007). The effects of enhanced Milieu Teaching and a Voice Output Communication Aid on the Communication of Three Children with Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 37(8), 1505-1513. https://doi-org.tamusa.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0243-6

Sigafoos, J., O’Reilly, M. F., Cannella, H., Edrisinha, C., de la Cruz, B., Upadhyaya, M., Lancioni, G. E., Hundley, A., Andrews, A., Garver, C., & Young, D. (2007). Evaluation of a video prompting and fading procedure for teaching dish-washing skills to adults with developmental disabilities. Journal of Behavioral Education, 16, 93-109. https://doi-org.tamusa.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s10864-006-9004-z

Cannella, H., Sigafoos, J., O’Reilly, M., de la Cruz, B., Edrisinha, C., & Lancioni, G. E. (2006). Comparing video prompting to video modeling for teaching daily living skills to six adults with developmental disabilities. Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 41(4). https://www.jstor.org/stable/23879661

Zárate, M., Garcia, B., Garza, A., & Hitlan, R. T. (2004). Cultural threat and perceived realistic group conflict as dual predictors of prejudice. Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology, 40(1), 99-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1031(03)00067-2

Book/Book Chapters/Other Publications

de la Cruz, B. & Bourland, G. (2025). Introduction to the Special Issue on Public Policy Advocacy in Behavior Analysis: Chronicles from Behavior Analysts to Guide Future Public Policy Advocacy Action. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-025-01049-w

Sigafoos, J., O’Reilly, M. F., & de la Cruz, B. (2006). How to Use Video Modeling and Video Prompting for Teaching Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Austin, TX:  Pro-Ed.     

Blume, A. W., & Garcia, B. (2005). Relapse prevention among diverse populations. In G. A. Marlatt & D. M. Donovan (Eds.), Relapse Prevention: Maintenance Strategies in the Treatment of Addictive Behaviors, (2nd Ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

Blume, A. W., Morera, O. F., & Garcia, B. (2005). Assessment of addictive behaviors in ethnic-minority populations. In D. M. Donovan & G. A. Marlatt (Eds.), Assessment of Addictive Behaviors (2nd Ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

https://www.name-coach.com/berenice-delacruz