Getting the Words Out: Peri

Monday, October 22, 2012

Modifying Behavior: The Process

Posted by Ashley, Special Educator & Peri, Licensed Psychologist and BCBA

How many times have you wished you could change the behavior of the people around you? Whether it be your spouse, your colleagues, your friends, or your children, most of us wish we could change someone's behavior at some point during our day! Well, we are here to share a little secret with you: you can change behavior! That is what the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is all about! The principles of ABA are founded in the idea that all behavior is learned and that all behavior can be modified. And, fortunately, these principles are not a secret! In fact, they are a science! We are here to share them with you! While we are closet (or maybe not-so-closet) nerds who enjoy reading ABA textbooks, we realize that most people do not! Our goal here is to take that information and break it down in a way that is useful to those of you who are not ABA nerds like us! Now let's get down to business...

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

What's this "PDD" thing all about?

Posted by Peri, Licensed Psychologist, Board Certified Behavior Analyst

As the psychologist of this group, I feel very strongly about addressing the role of a child’s diagnosis in early intervention, what it all means, and how if effects our families. In my beginning stages of working in Early Intervention, I spent a significant amount of time doing evaluations for young children; the purpose usually being to diagnose or rule-out Autism. Now as the director of the ABA center-based program, I rarely conduct evaluations because my current role is to provide clinical and administrative support for the program. Part of this role involves doing tours and intakes with families; and what I’ve found during this process has made me petrified for families beginning the evaluation process for early intervention. It frequently boggles my mind with the inappropriate (or mostly complete lack of) information that is provided to parents when their child receives a psychological evaluation. More times than not, parents walk into my school for a tour and say, “My child has PDD. What’s that?”

Our Mission

As professionals, our mission is to provide excellent and meaningful services in the world of autism, Applied Behavior Analysis, and Early Childhood Special Education. As colleagues, our mission is to drive and support one another. As bloggers, our mission is to share our process with other professionals, individuals, and families affected by autism. We have created this forum as a place where we can get our words out, and hope that we will inspire others to do the same. Change and progress often begin with conversation. Simply getting the words out—sharing a thought, asking a question, reaching out for help—is often the start of something wonderful. As we take this journey together, we reflect on our thoughts, experiences, mistakes and victories along the way. With every amazing child we work with, we become increasingly aware that they too are our teachers. This is a learning process for us all, and the best teachers are the ones who always remain students. It is our wonderful, talented, and unique children who inspire us to learn more. It is for them that we strive to be our best and to do our best. We do not have all the answers, but we are committed to the search. This is a place for us to share our journey and to invite others into our team. We hope that you will join us in getting the words out.