CE Instructors

Ahearn, William
Ph.D., BCBA-D^®

Bill Ahearn joined the New England Center for Children in August 1996 and serves at NECC as the director of research. He is also an adjunct faculty member in Western New England University’s master’s and doctoral programs. Bill was named the 2009 American Psychological Association – Division 25 awardee for Enduring Contributions to Applied Behavioral Research. Bill is on the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts’ board of directors and serves as its president. He is also past president of the Berkshire Association for Behavior Analysis and Therapy (BABAT) and currently serves BABAT as the chair of professional practice. Bill’s research interests include social skills in children with autism, verbal behavior, assessment and treatment of stereotypy, severe problem behavior and pediatric feeding difficulties. He is also interested in resistance to change, behavioral economics and conditioned reinforcement. His work has been published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Behavioral Interventions, Behavior Modification, The Lancet and Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, and he has written book chapters on teaching children with autism and pediatric feeding problems in children with autism. Bill is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and The Analysis of Verbal Behavior and is editor-in-chief of Behavioral Interventions. He has been principal investigator on an NIH-funded grant with Dr. William Dube.

BEHP1109: Best Teaching Practices: Research in the Trenches

BEHP1112: Stereotypy: There Are No Easy Answers

BEHP1220: Repetitive Behavior: Autism, Stereotypy and Anxiety: Supporting Adaptive Behavior is the Answer

Allen, Janis 

Janis Allen founded Performance Leadership Consulting following an 18-year business career. Her practice focuses on people, performance and culture change with measurable improvement in productivity, quality, cost and client satisfaction. She has previously worked as a plant human resource manager, corporate management trainer, performance trainer and consultant, as well as vice president of operations. 

Owner of Performance Leadership Consulting since 1990, Allen helps individuals and organizations implement performance leadership skills and teams using measurement, feedback systems and reinforcement that engage every employee. She has published six books for supervisors, employee communication and performance: Performance Teams: Completing the Feedback Loop; I Saw What You Did and I Know Who You Are: Bloopers, Blunders, and Success Stories in Giving & Receiving Positive Reinforcement; You Made My Day: Creating Co-worker Recognition and Relationships (with Michael McCarthy); Team Up! Compact and Effective Activities for Building Working Relationships; How to Engage, Involve, and Motivate Employees (with Michael McCarthy) and Ready? Set? Engage! Field Guide for Employees to Create Their Own Culture of Participation and Implement Innovative Ideas (with Michael McCarthy).

BEHP1231: Responsibility, Authority, and Delegating

BEHP1234: Performance Scorecards

BEHP1235: Five Steps to Engage 

Axelrod, Saul
Ph.D., BCBA-D^®

Saul Axelrod is a professor emeritus of education at Temple University. He received his doctorate from Florida State University in special education in 1970. His major interests include applying behavior analysis principles to behavioral problems exhibited by people with disabilities and increasing the academic development of children of poverty. Dr. Axelrod has served on the editorial boards of several journals, including Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Journal of Behavioral Education and Behavior Modification. He has written numerous journal articles and book reviews. He is an author or editor of Behavior Modification for the Classroom Teacher, Behavior Analysis and Treatment and How to Improve Classroom Behavior. In 2006, Dr. Axelrod was the first recipient of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board’s^® Michael Hemingway Award for Distinguished Service to Behavior Analysis. In 1991, he was elected fellow of the American Psychological Association. In 2007, he was elected fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis. In 2009, he received Florida State University’s Distinguished Alumnus Award, Distinguished Educator category. In 2011, Dr. Axelrod retired from Temple University, where he is now professor emeritus.

BEHP1108: Classroom Management Problems and Procedures for Solving Them

Blakely, Eb
Ph.D., BCBA-D^®

Dr. Eb Blakely received a Ph.D. in psychology with a specialty in applied behavior analysis from Western Michigan in 1988 and has co-authored 25 articles and one book. He has worked in the fields of developmental disabilities, mental health, behavioral pharmacology, experimental analysis of behavior, organizational behavior management and database design. In addition to his role as the senior behavior analyst at Quest, Inc., Dr. Blakely provides consultation to other agencies and is an assistant professor at Florida Institute of Technology in the Applied Behavior Analysis program.

BEHP1164: Function-Altering Effects of Verbal and Nonverbal Stimuli

Bondy, Andy
Ph.D.

Andy Bondy is president and co-founder of Pyramid Educational Consultants. Dr. Bondy is an innovative leader in the field of autism and applied behavior analysis.  For 14 years, he directed a statewide public school system for students with autism. He is co-author of the PECS Training Manual. He also wrote the Pyramid Approach to Education, a ranking manual that offers an integrated orientation to developing effective educational environments, blending applied behavior analysis with functional activities and creative communication strategies.

Dr. Bondy received his MA and Ph.D. from UNC Greensboro and completed his clinical internship in 1976 at the University of Kansas Medical Center.  Dr. Bondy has presented numerous papers, lectures and workshops in regional, national and international conferences and conventions on behavior analysis, PECS and The Pyramid Approach to Education. He has remained active in research and writing, and continues to develop new and innovative methods of helping children with autism and related developmental disorders.

BEHP 1126: Language of Emotions

BEHP1127: The Use and Benefits of PECS: The Picture Exchange Communications System

BEHP1128: The Pyramid Approach to Education: An Overview

BEHP1129: Skinner's Verbal Behavior and Its Relation to PECS

Bucklin, Barbara
Ph.D. 

Barbara Bucklin, Ph.D., is a global learning and performance improvement leader with 20 years of experience. She collaborates with her clients to identify performance gaps and recommend solutions that are directly aligned with their core business strategies. She oversees design and development processes for learning (live and virtual), performance-support tools, performance metrics and a host of innovative blended solutions.

Dr. Bucklin serves as president and is on the board of directors for the Organizational Behavior Management Network. She has taught university courses in human performance technology, the psychology of learning, organizational behavior management and statistical methods. Her research articles have appeared in Performance Improvement Quarterly and the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management. She presents her research and consulting results at international conventions such as the Association for Talent Development (ATD), International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI), Training Magazine’s Conference and Expo and the Organizational Behavior Management Network.

BEHP1212: Behavioral Approaches for Designing Instruction (Video Preview)

Champlin, Nancy 
M.S., BCBA^®

Nancy Champlin, BCBA, is the owner, founder, and chief executive officer of five ACI Learning Centers, located in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Nancy holds degrees in elementary education, learning disabilities and early childhood special education; she received her board certification in 2004. She has over 35 years’ experience working with individuals with autism and other developmental delays. She has developed teaching curricula that correspond with the ABLLS-R and the VB-MAPP and is the co-author of The Pretend Play and Language Assessment and Curriculum (PPLAC). She has lectured and trained professionals and parents locally and internationally in applied behavior analysis and has conducted and presented research on a behavioral approach to teaching play skills to children with autism.

BEHP1219: Teaching a Sequence of Play Actions and Corresponding Vocalizations Using PlayTubs™

Costello, Shauna 
M.A., BCBA^®

Shauna Costello earned her Master of Art in Behavior Analysis from Western Michigan University while studying under Dr. Jessica Frieder in May of 2015 and became board-certified that same year. Within six months of certification, she became the behavior analysis program coordinator of Total Education Solutions in metro Detroit where she focused on in-clinic, in-home and school consultation for children and young adults. Shauna has a background in college teaching at Oakland University in Rochester Hills, Michigan, in their BCaBA course sequence. She now works full-time for ABA Technologies as the professional development specialist creating online continuing education courses to disseminate the science and technology of behavior analysis.

Cudmore, Andrew 
Ph.D.

Dr. B. Andrew Cudmore has been a faculty member of Florida Tech for the last 19 years, while maintaining a market research consulting firm. This firm allows Dr. Cudmore to stay connected to industry and also provides work experience for his students.

Dr. Cudmore began his career in the oil industry as a market analyst (or consultant) for Petro-Canada, Norcen Energy Resources and the Ziff Energy Group. After making the transition to academia, Dr. Cudmore taught for 26 years, across six universities and two countries. He has been awarded seven educational grants, five external business grants, and two internal research awards. Dr. Cudmore has created more than 20 business courses on campus and online. He has a B.A. in Economics, an MBA in Finance and International Business and a Ph.D. in Marketing with a specialization in Consumer Behavior.

Dr. Cudmore considers service a high priority. He serves his university, his college, his students, his community (pro bono work for over 40 businesses, the majority of which were children’s charities) and his discipline. He has been a reviewer for textbooks, conferences, and journals such as MIT Sloan Management Review, Issues in Innovation, Journal of Business Disciplines, Journal of Engineering and Management Integration, Journal of Business Research and Journal of Business Ethics.

Dr. Cudmore’s research interest includes corporate social responsibility (CSR) and innovation, environmental protection, social marketing, ethics, sustainability, customer service, motivating behavior, technology in business and website usability, packaging and brand image. His work has been published in The International Journal of Marketing Studies, The Journal of Global Business Management, The Journal of Management and Engineering Integration, International Journal of Sustainable Development, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Journal of Management and Marketing Research, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Journal of Internet Commerce, Entrepreneur Executive, Healthcare Marketing Services, Journal of Accounting and Finance Research, Advances in Consumer Research, European Association for Consumer Research and Journal of Business Research. His research indices are: H-index 7; I10-index 6; H-G-index 10.25; 20 PRJs (peer-reviewed journals); 1,911 citations; 57 scholarly works.

BEHP1229: Marketing: A Model for More Ethical and Proactive Decision Making

Daniels, Aubrey 
Ph.D.

Dr. Aubrey Daniels is one of the founding fathers of organizational behavior management. Dr. Daniels received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 1964 and soon realized the value of applied behavior analysis in staff performance. Among his many accomplishments include founding the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management and founding one of the first OBM consulting firms, Aubrey Daniels International, Inc. (founded as Aubrey Daniels & Associates, Inc., in 1978).

BEHP1110: OOPS! 13 Management Practices That Waste Time and Money

DeLeon, Iser
Ph.D., BCBA^®

Dr. Iser DeLeon was the director of research development for the Department of Behavioral Psychology at the Kennedy Krieger Institute for 17 years and is also an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. As of August of 2014, he is an associate professor at the University of Florida.

Dr. DeLeon received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Florida in 1997. Before joining the Kennedy Krieger faculty, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in behavioral psychology and pediatrics at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins Department of Pediatrics in 1998. In additional to his appointments at Kennedy Krieger and Johns Hopkins, Dr. DeLeon has an adjunct appointment in psychology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and is codirector of the Applied Behavior Analysis master’s degree program jointly administered by UMBC and Kennedy Krieger. He is a board-certified behavior analyst, a former associate editor for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and a member of various professional societies, including the American Psychological Association, the Association for Behavior Analysis and the Maryland Association for Behavior Analysis, for which he served as president in 2001.

BEHP1041: Functional Assessment of Behavioral Disturbances Related to Diagnostic Features of ASD

BEHP1043: Advanced Topics in Functional Analysis

BEHP1044: Arranging Reinforcement Systems in Applied Settings: Lessons from Basic and Applied Research Part 1

BEHP1045: Arranging Reinforcement Systems in Applied Settings: Lessons from Basic and Applied Research Part 2

BEHP1092: Reinforcement-Based Interventions for Problem Behavior in IDD: Considerations for Adoption in the Natural Environment

Detrich, Ronnie
Ph.D.

Ronnie Detrich is a senior fellow at the Wing Institute, a nonprofit foundation with the mission of promoting evidence-based practices in education. Prior to joining the Wing Institute, he was clinical director of a large nonpublic school for students with significant behavioral challenges for 20 years. He has been providing services for children and youth since 1967. During that time, he has served as a direct service provider as well as director of programs such as a statewide autism program in South Dakota and a residential treatment program for adjudicated adolescents in West Virginia. All of his work has been characterized by implementing evidence-informed programs and data-based decision making. Most recently, his work has focused the role of evidence-based practice in education reform, the implications of evidence-based practice as a decision-making process, methods for assuring high levels of treatment integrity at scales of social importance and the dissemination and actual implementation of effective programs. He is a trustee of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, has served as the coordinator of the Practice Board for the Association for Behavior Analysis International and is on the editorial board of several peer-reviewed journals.

BEHP1211: Education Is a Public Health Problem: How Behavior Analysis Can Help  (Video Preview)

Flosason, Thor
Ph.D.

Dr. Flosason is currently the senior manager of retail sales training at the Kellogg Company in Battle Creek, Michigan. His team focuses on providing performance-changing learning experiences for retail sales representatives and their managers across the United States. The overall objective of these learning experiences is to enable the Kellogg sales force to successfully execute the standard sales call process in order to drive sales in the retail environment. Dr. Flosason holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Iceland and a master's degree in I/O psychology from WMU, as well as a Ph.D. in psychology (OBM track) from WMU.

BEHP1159: Learning in the Workplace

Freeman, Tom
M.S., BCBA^®

Tom Freeman earned a Master of Science in ABA from Florida Tech in 2000 and became a BCBA in 2001. He began his career in 1979 at the Fernald State School in Massachusetts, a large residential institution. After working in direct care for several months, he became a staff psychologist, and, for the next 15 years, provided/oversaw 24-hour clinical behavioral services for several caseloads of individuals with a wide variety of behavioral, medical and functional needs. From 1986 through 1995, he also helped conduct seasonal animal behavior research, primarily with wild humpback whales for the University of Hawaii Marine Mammal Lab. He moved to Florida in 1995, continuing in clinical work, and in 2001 was hired to serve as the local review committee (LRC) chairperson and area behavior analyst for the Agency for Persons with Disabilities in Daytona Beach, where he provided comprehensive oversight of Medicaid waiver-based behavioral services in Volusia and Flagler counties. He first worked with Dr. Martinez-Diaz in 1997 at Threshold Inc., in Orlando, Florida, and began assisting Dr. Martinez-Diaz in teaching certification coursework in 2000. He has been teaching with Jose ever since. He began working full-time for ABA Technologies, Inc., in 2010 and is currently the executive vice-president. He has produced a number of publications and presentations in behavior analysis, and is co-author of the chapter titled, “Ethical Considerations for Applied Behavior Analysis” in Cooper, Heron and Heward’s (2007) Applied Behavior Analysis, 2nd ed. He is deeply committed to sharing ABA with the world and is dedicated to helping students explore both the science and the heart of behavior analysis.

BEHP1054: ABA and Psychiatric Services

BEHP1194-2: Feedback Fundamentals for Supervisors

BEHP1202: Psychotropic Medication and Problem Behavior (Video Preview)

BEHP1213: Evolving Ethics in Practice: Team Processes, Communication, and Coordination of Services (Video Preview)

BEHP1214: Ethics and Professionalism: She said what?!

Friman, Dr. Patrick C.
Ph.D., ABPP

Dr. Patrick C. Friman is director of clinical services at Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home (Boys Town) and a clinical professor in the department of pediatrics at the University of Nebraska School of Medicine. He also served as director of clinical training and associate chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada at Reno and formerly held faculty positions at the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins' and University of Kansas' schools of medicine. He is an internationally recognized expert in the application of behavior analytic methods to behavioral medicine. One of his specialties is behavioral pediatrics, particularly focused on the successful treatment of common but potentially serious childhood behavior disorders such as habits, sleep problems, oppositional behavior and incontinence. He has published more than 180 articles and two books and is widely recognized as a preeminent lecturer and disseminator of the values and applications of behavior analysis to lay as well as scientific audiences. He has served as a reviewer or editorial board member for virtually every major behavioral journal and was the editor of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis from 2005 to 2007.

BEHP1042: Mainstream Behavior Analysis

Gadaire, Dana
Psy.D., LCSW, BCBA^®

Dana Gadaire obtained her master’s degrees in social work and clinical psychology prior to earning a doctorate from the University of Southern Maine in 2011. In the course of her studies, she has worked with some of the most respected researchers in the field of applied behavior analysis, including Dr. Tim Vollmer, Dr. Brian Iwata, Dr. Wayne Fisher and Dr. Bud Mace. These mentors have provided her with a wealth of knowledge in behavioral principles and their application to issues affecting individuals with special needs as well as society at large. The primary focus of her work has been the behavioral assessment and treatment of children with special needs, including autism spectrum disorders, anxiety and various other emotional and behavioral disorders. However, she also has experience working with typically developing children and their families and providing systemic supports in schools and child welfare agencies. Primary areas of interest include social skills training, behavioral parent training, school consultation and bullying prevention.

BEHP1099: Assessment and Treatment of Sleep Disturbances in Children

Gavoni, Paul F. "Paulie"
Ed.D, BCBA^®

An expert in coaching and organizational leadership, Dr. Paul (Paulie) Gavoni has worked in education and human services for more than 20 years, supporting the behavioral and performance needs of students, clients and staff. As director of school improvement for Positive Behavior Supports Corporation, Paulie is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who is passionate about applying organizational behavior management (OBM) strategies within schools and districts. His mission is to establish positive and engaging environments that bring out the best in educators so they can effectively bring out the best in their students. 

Beyond his work in education and human services, coach "Paulie Gloves" (as he is known in the MMA world) is also a prolific writer and highly successful professional striking coach in mixed martial arts. As an athletic leader and former golden gloves heavyweight champion of Florida, coach Paulie has successfully applied the science of human behavior to coach multiple fighters to championship titles at varying levels worldwide. With many successful fighters on his résumé, coach Paulie tailors his approach to fit the needs of specific fighters based on a fighter’s behavioral, physiological and psychological characteristics. Coach Paulie is a featured coach in the book Beast: Blood, Struggle, and Dreams at the Heart of Mixed Martial Arts and the featured Bloody Elbow article “Ring to Cage: How Four Former Boxers Help Mold MMA’s Finest."

Green, Nicholas
M.S., BCBA^®

Nick received his master’s degree in organizational behavior management at Florida Institute of Technology in 2015. Prior to obtaining his M.S., Nick worked with children and young adults with developmental disabilities for five years. In the clinical setting, Nick acquired experience working with severe problem behavior, managing and training staff on appropriate physical management procedures, and designing and implementing company policy regarding least restrictive alternatives and best practice. His main interest is using applied behavior analysis to improve the health and well-being of others. Specifically, he is interested in designing interventions to reduce physical inactivity in the workplace. Other interests include organizational behavior management, behavioral systems analysis and ethics. Nick’s clinical background and academic training at FIT has prepared him well to work with various populations and in different settings. He believes everybody has a right not only to to effective education and treatment, but also to an effective physical education.

BEHP1151: Why Physical Activity Matters and What to Do about It!

Gregory, Meagan
Ph.D., BCBA^®

Meagan Gregory earned her Ph.D in Behavior Analysis from the University of Florida in 2010 and has been a BCBA since 2004. Her current (2015) positions at Florida Tech are assistant professor in the School of Psychology and faculty supervisor at the Scott Center for Autism Treatment. Dr. Gregory possesses a great deal of research, clinical and teaching experience. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she worked for the Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI), which serves children and adolescents with developmental disabilities, on the neurobehavioral unit. While at KKI, she earned her master’s in human services psychology with an emphasis in applied behavior analysis. Dr. Gregory then moved to the University of Florida to pursue her Ph.D. under the advisement of Dr. Brian Iwata while working as a behavior analyst for a residential program for adolescents and adults with Prader-Willi syndrome. During this time, she also taught classes in ABA at the University of Florida. As the majority of her clinical and research experiences revolved around individuals with developmental disabilities and severe problem behaviors, Dr. Gregory considers this application of behavior analysis to be her specialty. She thoroughly enjoyed her formal teaching experiences, and looks forward to continuing to share her knowledge and enthusiasm for ABA with future students.

BEHP1077: Behavior Boot Camp: Making Your Classroom More Manageable

BEHP1083: Preference and Reinforcement Assessment

Grow, Laura
Ph.D., BCBA-D^®

Dr. Laura Grow is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at California State University, Fresno, and the director of the Fresno State Autism Center. She received her doctoral degree from Western Michigan University under the supervision of James Carr. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in the Early Intervention program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Munroe-Meyer Institute. Her research interests include comparing the efficiency of instructional strategies, minimizing or remediating faulty stimulus control and developing interventions for early language skills. She is also interested in assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior, parent and staff training and college teaching. Dr. Grow is a former editorial board member for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. She is a current editorial board member for Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice. Dr. Grow has presented at national and international conferences and has given invited talks to school districts and agencies providing early intervention services.

BEHP1199 Teaching Listener Behavior to Children with Developmental Disabilities   (Video Preview)

Hanley, Gregory P.
Ph.D., BCBA-D^®

Dr. Hanley has been applying the principles of learning to improve socially important behaviors of children and adults with and without disabilities for 25 years. He worked and trained at the Spurwink School, the Groden Center and the Kennedy Krieger Institute, earned his degree from the University of Florida, was tenured at the University of Kansas, and is currently a professor of psychology and director of the Behavior Analysis doctoral program at Western New England University and an adjunct professor of psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Hanley has published over 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals in areas such as the assessment and prevention of problem behavior, teaching tactics for young childrenp, and evidence-based values. Dr. Hanley is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (Division 25); past editor of Behavior Analysis in Practice (BAP); a past associate editor of The Behavior Analyst, the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA), and BAP; and incoming Editor of JABA.

BEHP1161: Practical Functional Assessment and Meaningful Treatment of Problem Behavior    (Video Preview)

Heward, William
Ed.D., BCBA-D^®

William L. Heward is professor emeritus in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. Dr. Heward has been a senior Fulbright scholar in Portugal, a visiting scholar at the National Institute of Education in Singapore, a visiting professor of psychology at Keio University in Tokyo and the University of São Paulo, Brazil, and has given lectures and workshops in 16 other countries. He has published more than 100 journal articles and book chapters and nine books, including Applied Behavior Analysis, 2nd ed. (2007, co-authored with John Cooper and Tim Heron) and Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education, 10th ed. (2013). Awards recognizing Dr. Heward’s contributions to behavior analysis and education include the Ellen P. Reese Award for Communication of Behavioral Concepts from the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, the Fred S. Keller Behavioral Education Award from the American Psychological Association's Division 25, and the Distinguished Psychology Department Alumnus Award from Western Michigan University. A past president and fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis International, Dr. Heward has research interests that include "low-tech" methods for increasing the effectiveness of group instruction and adaptations of curriculum and instruction that promote the generalization and maintenance of newly learned knowledge and skills.

BEHP1091: Why Be a Behavior Analyst?

BEHP1105: Six Common Teaching Mistakes and What to Do Instead

BEHP1106: Helping Students with ASD Succeed in General Education Classrooms

BEHP1107: Ten Faulty Notions about Teaching & Learning in Special Education

Houvouras, Andrew J., IV
M.S., BCBA^®

Andrew says, "The world is better because of applied behavior analysis. The world needs applied behavior analysis." Certified as a behavior analyst since 1998, Andrew graduated with an M.A. in Psychology from Marshall University. A BCBA for Brevard County Public Schools since 2001, Andrew specializes in the assessment and treatment of severe challenging behavior, serves as an expert witness for county due process cases and handles high acuity cases within the school system. A regular presenter at local, state and international conferences, an author of CE presentations and a published author, Andrew enjoys public speaking and spending time with his family swimming, surfing, stand-up paddle boarding, and coaching and playing sports. His interests include all aspects of ABA, including behavioral medicine, the application of ABA to individuals with autism spectrum disorders and the dissemination of ABA. He looks forward to every class he teaches and feels fortunate to be part of the program. "I hope students understand learning is lifelong and remember what B.F. Skinner said: "Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.'"

BEHP1148: The Behavior Analyst in Schools: Ethics, Rules and Reinforcement … Oh My!

BEHP1066: A Better Way to Teach: Behavioral Skills Training and Its Many Applications

BEHP1214: Ethics and Professionalism: She said what?!

Kibbe, Holly
M.S., BCBA^®

Holly Kibbe holds a Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology. She cofounded Establishing Operations, Inc., in 2003. As managing partner, she has created and copresents a series of workshops designed to train professionals to teach verbal behavior. She has been working with children with autism and other developmental and behavioral disorders for ten years. She has experience working as a behavior analyst for both children with autism and typically developing children with severe behavioral disorders and as a preschool teacher for children with autism. Holly began studying and working privately, applying the principals of behavior analysis to teach Skinner’s Analysis of Verbal Behavior, in 1998. She currently provides in-home and center-based consultation services for children with language delays, as well as a series of training workshops for professionals and parents all over the United States, Canada, Bermuda, Ireland, England and Wales.

BEHP1051: Teaching Children with Autism: Establishing Instructional Control

King, Allison
Ph.D, BCBA^®

Allison King’s passion involves getting creative with the science of behavior: connecting its concepts to other (sometimes seemingly unrelated) ideas, applying it to new areas and using that very science to improve how we share it and its innovations with the world. She is able to apply this passion at ABA Technologies, Inc., where she works as the manager of their professional development division. Allison received her Ph.D. in Behavior Analysis at Florida Institute of Technology, where she currently works as adjunct faculty to train upcoming behavior analysts. She spent the majority of her graduate career focusing on applications of behavior analysis to issues within businesses (organizational behavior management (OBM)). One of her most exciting (and eye-opening) experiences involved providing OBM consulting for a large health system. While there, she earned her Lean Green Belt certification for leading a project to reduce preventable patient falls, developed and taught the health system’s first OBM and behavioral lean workshops and coached hospital leaders on how to apply these methods to enhance patient experience scores to the top 10 percent. 

BEHP1152: Understanding the Observer Effect and How to Leverage Its Benefits

Kodsi, Neil D.
J.D.

Mr. Kodsi is a seasoned trial lawyer with over 25 years of jury trial experience. He has tried numerous cases to verdict in both federal and state court. Prior to forming his own firm, the Law Offices of Neil D. Kodsi, he worked for large national or regional law firms, where he was one of the go-to trial lawyers for those firms for complex cases involving highly complicated expert testimony.

Mr. Kodsi also has frequently been asked to serve as pro-bono trial counsel in matters in which the State of Florida was denying health benefits to Florida Medicaid recipients. For example, in 2006, he served as pro-bono litigation counsel for a class of over 6,000 Florida Medicaid recipients and was able to successfully defeat a Florida state policy denying prescription medication coverage for particular medications for this class. This victory was acknowledged by the Miami Daily Business Review in 2007, awarding Mr. Kodsi and his cocounsel with the Most Effective Lawyer Award in their class-action category for that year.

In March 2012, Mr. Kodsi served as pro-bono trial counsel for a group of children with ASD seeking to defeat another Florida state policy—one that was denying coverage for behavioral therapy for the more than 8,500 autistic children in Florida covered by Medicaid. After a four-day trial in front of U.S. District Court Judge Joan Lenard, Mr. Kodsi and his co-counsel obtained an order requiring the State of Florida to provide this treatment for all children with ASD in Florida covered by Medicaid. In her order, Judge Lenard referred to this case as one of the most important cases she has heard in her 16 years on the bench. Mr. Kodsi and his cocounsel were also recognized by their peers in Florida and were awarded the Florida Bar Foundation’s Paul Doyle Children's Advocacy Award in 2013.

BEHP1140: Using the Law to Secure Health Benefits for Children with Autism

Kubina, Richard
Ph.D., BCBA-D^®

Dr. Richard (Rick) Kubina has a bachelor's degree (psychology) from Youngstown State University and a master's and a doctoral degree (special education) from The Ohio State University. Kubina is a professor of special education at The Pennsylvania State University and co-founder of Chartlytics. Kubina has published multiple research articles, books and book chapters on evidence-based education and measurement of student progress. He also served as the past editor of the Journal of Precision Teaching and  Celeration. Kubina consults with school districts and charter schools using precision teaching, effective practice methods and other measurably superior educational programs.

BEHP1208: What Is Precision Teaching? Learn the Four-Step Process of Precision Teaching and Its Link to Behavior Analysis  (Video Preview)

Lattal, Darnell
Ph.D.

For more than 30 years, Darnell has been dedicated to supporting clients in areas such as strategy implementation, behavioral systems redesign and leadership development. Her expertise lies in coaching individuals and organizations toward effective behavior change. In January 2015, Dr. Lattal assumed the role of executive director of the Aubrey Daniels Institute after having served the last year as chair of Aubrey Daniels International's board of directors and serving 14 years as the firm’s president and chief executive officer.

Outside of the workplace, Darnell’s professional contributions have included public school and university teaching, rural mental health practice, clinical private practice and working for the provost and president of a higher education institution. She has written several books on ethics and issues of management inside companies, including A Good Day’s Work: Sustaining Ethical Behavior and Business Success (McGraw-Hill, 2007) and Workplace Ethics: Winning the Integrity Revolution (Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 1993). She has served on the executive boards of two national groups dedicated to reducing violence in America. She continues to serve on numerous boards, publishes articles and blogs and is currently collaborating with Aubrey Daniels on a new book. Darnell’s greatest joy is in furthering the incredible power for bringing out the best that behavior analysis provides to others, including to her seven grandchildren.

Darnell received her Ph.D. in 1980 in clinical psychology and behavioral systems from WVU and migrated steadily toward addressing systemic changes to influence behavior. She worked for consulting firms in Chicago and Pittsburgh before joining ADI in 1997 as head of strategic consulting. In 1999, she was appointed CEO and president. She credits the employees present and future at ADI for the continuing success of the company.

BEHP 1197: The Wisdom Factor (Video Preview)

BEHP 1221: The Behavioral and Ethical Implications of Shame in American Culture: A Multidisciplinary Perspective

Layng, T.V. Joe
Ph.D.

T.V. Joe Layng has over 40 years' experience in the experimental and applied analysis of behavior, with a particular focus on the design of teaching/learning environments. In 1999, Joe cofounded Headsprout, which was acquired by Newell–Rubbermaid in the spring of 2011. At Headsprout, Joe led the scientific team that developed the generative instruction technology that formed the basis of the company’s patented early reading and reading comprehension programs, for which he was the chief architect. He currently serves as a partner at Generategy, LLC, an educational software publisher. Joe earned a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, where he collaborated with Paul Andronis and Israel Goldiamond on investigating the production of untrained recombinant, complex symbolic repertoires in pigeons from simpler behavioral components, a process the Chicago group described as contingency adduction. This research led to some of the key elements upon which generative learning/instruction technology is based. Also at Chicago, working with pigeons, Joe investigated animal models of psychopathology, specifically the recurrence of pathological patterns (head-banging) as a function of normal behavioral processes. He also has extensive clinical behavior analysis experience with a focus on ambulatory schizophrenia, especially the treatment of delusional speech and hallucinatory behavior. He taught Behavioral Models and Programs I and II in the clinical doctoral program at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology in the mid-1990s. From 1991 to 1996, Joe was the director of the academic support center, and then dean of Public Agency and Special Training programs at Malcolm X College in Chicago, where he established the award-winning Personalized Curriculum Institute for underprepared college students. Joe is currently a scientific advisor for the DOE-supported Center on Innovations in Learning and is a member of the board of trustees of TCS Education System, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Pacific Oaks College, and the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, where he is also member of the board of directors. He recently published the interactive iBook, Decisions and Judgments in Ambiguous Situations: A Conceptual Introduction to Signal Detection Theory.

BEHP1132 Topical and Systemic Presentation

BEHP1133 Some Instructional Dos and Don'ts

BEHP1134 The Hard Problem of Consciousness: Its History in Behavior Analysis

BEHP1135 Emotions and Emotional Behavior

BEHP1136 Toward a Contingency Analytic Account of Private Experience

Li, Anita 
M.S., BCBA^®

Anita Li is currently a doctoral candidate in the Psychology Department at Western Michigan University. She received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Florida in 2010 and her Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology in 2013. She has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst since 2013 and has worked with individuals with autism spectrum disorders in a variety of settings. In addition, she has also held consulting roles and teaching appointments at several universities.

Anita has presented more than 30 papers and workshops, including invited addresses, at both national and international conferences in behavior analysis. In 2015, she served as Western Michigan University’s student representative for the Association of Behavior Analysis International. In 2018, she was named the All University Graduate Research and Creative Scholar award recipient for her research contributions. Anita has published her research in several journals, including Behavior Analysis in Practice, Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, and Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice. Additionally, Anita has served as guest editor on two special sections of Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice devoted to the experimental analysis of behavior. Her research interests include applied behavior pharmacology and implications for practitioners, diversity issues and instructional design. She is currently a part-time instructor and coordinator for the Psychology Department, designing and overseeing the General Psychology course system that enrolls approximately 750 students per semester. She also consults for the University of Dayton in their development of a Master of Arts degree in Applied Behavior Analysis.

BEHP1223 Board Certified Behavior Analysts and Psychotropic Medications: Overview and Considerations for Current Practices

Lipschultz, Joshua L.
M.A., BCBA^®

Joshua Lipschultz graduated from Caldwell University with a Master of Arts in Applied Behavior Analysis. He is a board-certified behavior analyst, with experience in basic and applied research, working with individuals with autism ranging in age from 3 to 21, and implementing behavioral skills training solutions. Joshua has led organizational systems solutions in medical health facilities resulting in improved patient scheduling and nurse rounding behavior to increase patient satisfaction. The results of some of his work can be read in upcoming publications such as the Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities and J. Luiselli’s book, Behavioral Health Promotion and Intervention in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Joshua is currently a doctoral student in the Behavior Analysis program at Florida Institute of Technology.

BEHP1153: Help Your Staff Be the Best They Can Be: Behavior Skills Training

Lutzker, John R.
Ph.D.

John R. Lutzker, Ph. D. (University of Kansas), is director of the Center for Healthy Development and professor and associate dean of public health at Georgia State University. Among his previous positions was chief of the Prevention Development and Evaluation Branch of the Division of Violence Prevention in the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is the developer/founder of SafeCare.® He has published over 160 professional articles and chapters and six books and has made over 425 professional presentations, nationally and internationally. Dr. Lutzker is past-president of Division 33 of the American Psychological Association in which he is a fellow in five divisions. Among his awards are the Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award from the Department of Applied Behavioral Science at the University of Kansas, Outstanding Research Career Award from the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children and Visiting Scholar in Practice, Emory University School of Law, Georgia Child Welfare Legal Academy. He is on the editorial boards of Journal of Family Violence, Child and Family Behavior Therapy, Behavioral Interventions, International Journal of Child Health and Human Development, International Public Health Journal and Journal of Psychosocial Interventions. Among his media appearances, Dr. Lutzker has been interviewed on National Public Radio's Morning Edition and ABC’s Good Morning America, and he served as a consultant for 60 Minutes on CBS. His applied research involves the prevention of child abuse and neglect and parents with intellectual disabilities. He lives with his wife, Sandra, in Sandy Springs, Georgia.

BEHP1100: Using Applied Behavior Analysis to Prevent Child Maltreatment with High-Risk Families

Mace, F. Charles "Bud"
Ph.D., BCBA-D^®

Dr. F. Charles Mace graduated with a doctorate in psychology from the University of Arizona in 1983 and was certified as a BCBA. He is currently a professor of psychology at Nova Southeastern University, as well as the executive director of the university’s autism institute at the Mailman Segal Institute for Early Childhood Studies. Previously, he served as a professor and the director of research for the psychology program at the University of Southern Maine, as well as the director of the Achieve! laboratory school for children with emotional disabilities. Additionally, Dr. Mace has held faculty positions at Lehigh University, Rutgers University, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the University of Wales. At each university, Dr. Mace developed clinical programs for children with developmental disabilities that served as nationally recognized sites for research and postgraduate training. He has published over 100 research papers and book chapters; two of his papers are ranked as citation classics, having been cited well over 100 times each. Dr. Mace’s research has concentrated on the functional analysis of severe behavior disorders, behavioral momentum and the matching law; he also serves on the editorial boards of several leading research journals and was the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) from 1999 to 2001.

BEHP1016: Why People Often Make Bad Choices and What to Do about It

BEHP1031: Achieve!

BEHP1040: Translational Research: Matching Theory and Its Applications

Martinez-Diaz, Jose
Ph.D., BCBA-D^®

Jose Martinez-Diaz, Ph.D., BCBA-D, is professor, associate dean and founder of Florida Tech's School of Behavior Analysis. He also is the founder and program director of the ABA Online professional development program at Florida Tech, CEO of ABA Technologies, Inc., and an adjunct professor at Penn State's Department of Special Education.

Jose served as an officer and board member of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) for seven years and is now senior consultant for the BACB. Jose also serves as a member of the board of directors for the Association for Professional Behavior Analysts (APBA) and for the Behavioral and Cognitive Psychology Specialty Council. He also is a member of Florida's Behavior Analysis Peer Review Committee. Jose is a past president of the Florida Association for Behavior Analysis, which awarded him its highest honor, the Charles H. Cox Award for Outstanding Service and Advancement of Behavior Analysis in Florida in 2005.

Jose earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, with an emphasis in behavior analysis and therapy, from West Virginia University. His publications include a chapter on ethics in Cooper, Heron, and Heward, Applied Behavior Analysis, second edition, and an article on autism spectrum disorders in the National Health Review

BEHP1012: It Is Not All About Reinforcement, or Is It? Discriminating between Motivating Operations and Discriminative Stimuli

BEHP1125: Jerry Shook - Visionary and Founder of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board

BEHP1179: Evolution of the BACB Ethical Guidelines and Standards to the Code

McCarthy, Mike 

Mike McCarthy has trained and consulted with teams, supervisors and managers at BMW, 3M, Ford Motor Company, Black & Decker, Eaton Electric, Georgia Power Company, the State of Tennessee, SkyChefs and many others. He has been a manager with Accenture, assisting clients with change management, and senior consultant with Aubrey Daniels International and Tarkenton & Co.

For three years, Mr. McCarthy was the editor of Performance Management Magazine, researching and writing about leadership, quality, and process improvement concepts and applications. He is the author of Sustain Your Gains: The People Side of Lean-Sigma and co-author of You Made My Day, a book about coworker recognition.

BEHP1232: Eight Foundational Skills

BEHP1233: How to Begin Lean

BEHP1236: Leading Lean Six-Sigma

Meyer, Emily
M.S., BCBA^®

Emily Meyer earned her master’s degree in organizational behavior management from Florida Institute of Technology’s School of Behavior Analysis in December 2012 and became a BCBA that same year. Before her introduction to behavior analysis, Emily received her bachelor’s degree in education (with a major in varying exceptionalities) through the University of North Florida. Her professional career began in 2004, serving as a public school special educator for four years, during which time she earned her first master’s degree in education. As a teacher, Emily served children with disabilities in kindergarten through third grade by co-teaching in inclusive classrooms. This environment gave Emily the opportunity to collaborate with professionals in various disciplines including administrators, psychologists, behavior analysts, general and special educators, as well as the parents of the children she taught. Upon her introduction to Jose and his courses in behavior analysis, Emily realized how the understanding of this applied science could have positively impacted her abilities as a teacher. Since that time, Emily has been excited to share the “good news” of behavior analysis with other professionals, especially those working in the field of education. Emily uses her experiences in education to help explain the concepts of behavior analysis to a range of audiences from various backgrounds. This ability is invaluable in her current position as curriculum and performance specialist for ABA Technologies Inc., where she gets to work behind the scenes in creating the online courses and in applying behavior analysis in a business setting.

BEHP1205: Ethics in the Real World

Montgomery, Jan
M.S., BCBA^® Lead Co-instructor

Jan Montgomery graduated with a Master of Science in Psychology with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis from North Dakota State University and became board certified in 2000. Her career has included work at a head injury rehabilitation program where she directed a secure locked unit for violent offenders, chairing LRC committees, consulting with group homes for individuals with developmental disabilities and providing behavior workshops for caregivers and professionals. From 1997 through 2008, Jan worked with dependent children and their caregivers, beginning with a pilot project with the Positive Parenting group. This pilot project was headed by Dr. Michael Stoutimore, based on Dr. Glenn Latham’s work. Jan was elected and served as president of the Florida Association for Behavior Analysis from 2009 to 2010, and her presidential speech highlighted the ongoing need for behavior analysts to work with individuals with mental health diagnoses. The opportunity to work in the areas of developmental disabilities and traumatic brain injury, and also with children, caregivers and professionals in the child welfare system, has given Jan a wide range of experience in training. Her specialty interest areas in ABA include working with the parents of children with problem behaviors and, more recently, she became certified in organizational behavior management. Jan finds it particularly exciting to teach behavior analysis to students who will go on to use their knowledge to change lives.

BEHP1205: Ethics in the Real World

Mosk, Mark
Ph.D.

Dr. Mosk earned his B.A. from UCLA, and completed his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada, in 1982, during which time he was recognized for his expertise in applied behavior analysis and attention training in the treatment of autism. He has served on the faculty for several academic institutions, including UCLA, as both a researcher and educator. From 1985 to 1988, Dr. Mosk developed and served as the director of the Life Skills Center, a model demonstration program for the California Department of Mental Health. Since 1985, Dr. Mosk has focused his professional practice primarily in the areas of forensic and consulting psychology, with an emphasis on behavioral assessment methodologies.

Dr. Mosk holds the copyright on the Functional Capacity Assessment Profile©, a psychological instrument used to objectively quantify individuals’ behavior patterns. He founded Managed Care Measurement in 1993, a software company that serviced the healthcare industry. Mosk has served as a consultant to numerous Fortune 500 companies and business organizations in the United States and Canada, including those in the manufacturing, distribution and healthcare sectors. He has worked with various law enforcement agencies in assisting them to address a wide variety of organizational and management issues.

BEHP1102: The ABCs of Starting a Private Practice

BEHP1104: Forensic Matters: Shark-Infested Waters

Myers-Kemp, Kristin
Ph.D., BCBA-D^®

Kristin Myers-Kemp graduated with a Master’s of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology in May of 2005 and received her BCBA the same year. After spending several years “in the field” Kristin returned to FL Tech to pursue a Ph.D under Dr. David Wilder. Kristin received a Ph.D. in Behavior Analysis in July of 2011. Upon graduation Kristin returned to her previous position as the Director of Curriculum Evaluation and Improvement for ABA Technologies, Inc in conjunction with FL Tech’s own ABA Online Program. She has worked for the University of Florida Behavior Analysis Services Program, providing training on Behavior Intervention Plans to caregivers, as well as writing Behavior Intervention Plans and overseeing their implementation. Kristin has also acted as a liaison for dependent children receiving treatment in DCF programs, community providers and other partners to develop, access, and network behavioral resources for children and families. She has been a co-instructor for the ABA Online Program since 2007 although most of her time is dedicated overseeing the curriculum rather than teaching. Her research interests include behavior analysis in education through educational programs, including maximizing effectiveness of education through curriculum design, the effect of effort on behavior and childhood compliance.

BEHP1192: Behavioral Skills Training for Supervisors

Neff, Bryon
Ph.D., BCBA-D^®

Bryon Neff received his Ph.D. in Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology, a Master of Science in Behavior Analysis from the University of North Texas and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Illinois. He currently works with ABA Technologies, Inc., as a curriculum development specialist and is assisting Florida Tech in the dissemination of the new hybrid Master of Arts in Professional Behavior Analysis. Since 2009, Bryon has taught several different courses in behavior analysis for Florida Tech. Bryon is also employed by Optimal, a consulting firm that focuses on streamlining processes and improving business results for human service agencies. Previously, he worked for the University of South Florida. While at USF, he supervised and coordinated the Behavior Analysis Services program, a statewide program that employed over 60 BCBAs and provided consultative and behavior analytic services to Florida’s foster care system. Bryon coauthored several training curricula designed to teach behavior management skills to parents and professionals. He also chaired a local peer review committee and had a key role in facilitating statewide projects for Florida’s Department of Children and Families, such as revising behavior analysis practice standards for the child welfare system and providing recommendations for legislative change. Furthermore, Bryon has published several peer-reviewed journal articles and has presented at numerous state and national conferences.

BEHP1111: Playing Catch-Up: A Review of Recent Publications in The Behavior Analyst

Neff, Stacie
M.S., BCBA^®

Stacie Neff graduated with a Master of Science in Behavior Analysis from University of North Texas in 1997 and became a BCBA in 2001. While working for the University of South Florida/Department of Children and Families, she was one of six behavior analysts involved in developing and implementing Florida’s child welfare Behavior Analysis Services program, and participated in creating the training curriculum, “Tools for Positive Behavior Change.” Stacie has also participated on the multidisciplinary committee through the Department of Children and Families while working for Families First of Florida. Also, while working with the Department of Children and Families, she revised and created new materials for four curricula used statewide by the Behavior Analysis Services program and created and conducted statewide recertification for all members of the program. She has taught teachers, parents, foster parents, adoptive parents, residential staff, behavior analysts and both graduate and undergraduate students. Stacie currently teaches parenting skills to a variety of audiences and has conducted several workshops and presentations in her area. Teaching is one of Stacie’s favorite things to do, and she considers teaching and training her specialty.

BEHP1039: Interpersonal Skills for the Behavior Consultant

Newman, Bobby
Ph.D., BCBA-D^®

Bobby Newman is the director of Room to Grow and executive director of Long Island Operations for Proud Moments. He is a board certified behavior analyst,
licensed psychologist, and New York State licensed behavior analyst. Bobby is the first author on eleven books regarding behavior therapy, the philosophy of behaviorism, the autism spectrum disorders, and utopian literature. He has published over two dozen articles in professional journals, as well as numerous popular magazine articles, and has hosted two series of radio call-in shows. Bobby trains staff and works directly with students in the home. He provides parent training and support services. A popular speaker, Bobby also provides direct treatment, staff training and consultation around the world and has been honored for this work by several parents and professional groups. Bobby is past president of the New York State Association for Behavior Analysis and the Association for Science in Autism Treatment. Bobby is also a certified personal trainer and marathoner and is an ambassador for the Great Sportsmanship Programme.

BEHP1181: 20 Twenty Do and Don't Strategies for Sex Education for people with ASD  (Video Preview)

BEHP1182: The Ethics of Promoting Your Practice

BEHP1184: Technology and Self-Management for Building Independence

BEHP1238: The Right to Effective Treatment and Skinner’s The Ethics of Helping People

BEHP1239: B.F. Skinner and His Involvement in Humanism: An Underappreciated Aspect of ABA History

BEHP1240: Understanding the Why Behind the Rule: Ethical Frameworks and Practice Guidelines

Pham, Mai-Lin
M.S., BCBA^®

Mai-Linh Pham earned her Master of Science in Organizational Behavior Management from Florida Tech in May 2010 and became a BCBA later the same year. While attending classes in Melbourne, she worked as a curriculum assistant for the school, where she developed assessment tools, performed content analyses and created learning activities and testing materials. Before that she worked as a behavior technician for Autism Early Interventions Clinics in Tampa, and, during her time at the University of Florida for undergrad, she worked as a research assistant at the behavior analysis lab at Sidney Lanier. She considers OBM to be her area of expertise and is especially interested in mainstream applications of ABA, such as in education, business and politics. She presently (as of 2015) works at the Behavior Analyst Certification Board as a senior program specialist.

BEHP1069: Basics of Learning Efficiencies: What It Is, How to Calculate It and Why You Should Care

Postma, Nicole
MS, BCBA^®

Nicole Postma is a BCBA who received her Master of Science in Organizational Behavior Management from Florida Institute of Technology and received her undergraduate degree from Western Michigan University. She has been working in the field of behavior analysis for over 10 years. She received extensive training in OBM, both at the undergraduate level, under Dr. John Austin, and at the graduate level, under Dr. Eric Fox and Dr. David Wilder. She received the Chris Anderson research grant through the OBM Network for her master’s thesis that expanded further research in behavior-based safety. Following graduate school, she interned with Continuous Learning Group. In recent years, she has worked in various health and human services settings conducting staff management and training and direct services with adults with disabilities and neurotypical children in foster care and has also worked as a coordinator for the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities. Currently, Nicole works as business development manager for PBS Corp. helping teams around the country build school contracts for school improvement and promoting OBM practice within leadership.

BEHP1206: Working Ethically and Effectively Within the School System: The Dos, Don’ts and Ethical Considerations Every BCBA Should Know  (Video Preview)

Reed, Christi
M.S., BCBA^®

Christi became a BCaBA in 2000 while providing in-home verbal behavior programming to children with ASD. During her first 10 years in the field, she worked on teams overseen by Dr. Vince Carbone in which she developed a passion for verbal behavior. She earned a Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology in 2002 and became a BCBA the same year. Christi has an extensive background in applying ABA methods in a variety of areas such as homes, schools, companies and the courtroom as an expert witness in the field of ABA. Christi was the clinical director of a verbal clinic in Hawaii for four years. She now works full-time for ABA Technologies, Inc. and teaching for Florida Tech. Ongoing support and protection of the integrity of the field by training and teaching people to have better standards of practice and the ability to develop effective and high-caliber programming to help learners live better lives are what motivates Christi in her practice and her teaching.

BEHP1205: Ethics in the Real World

BEHP1214: Ethics and Professionalism: She said what?!

Roane, Henry S.
Ph.D., BCBA-D^®

Dr. Roane is the Gregory S. Liptak Endowed Professor in Child Development in the Department of Pediatrics at SUNY Upstate Medical University. In this capacity, Dr. Roane serves as the chief of the Division of Development, Behavior and Genetics (CDBG). Dr. Roane received his Ph.D. in Psychology with an emphasis on applied behavior analysis from Louisiana State University in 2000. He completed a predoctoral internship at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Dr. Roane is a former associate editor for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) and Behavior Analysis in Practice and serves on the editorial board of JABA, the Journal of School Psychology, Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, Research in Developmental Disabilities, and the Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Dr. Roane previously served on the board of directors for the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB) and presently serves on the board of directors for the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Dr. Roane directs two outpatient clinics that serve children with ASD. The CDBG provides an average of 1700 patient encounters per year. His other outpatient clinic, CNY Medical Practice, provides services for children with ASD and co-morbid behavior disorders (e.g., self-injury, aggression, feeding disorders). CNY Medical Practices sees approximately 100 outpatient visits per week, all of which are funded through private insurance and Medicaid.

 BEHP1137: Feeding Disorders

Robertson, Corey L.
M.S., BCBA^®

Corey Robertson graduated with a Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis and Organizational Behavior Management from Florida Institute of Technology in 2006 and became a board-certified behavior analyst in 2007. He began his career in 1998 as an exceptional education teacher for the Orange County Public Schools, working two years at the elementary level and two years at the middle-school level. He has since worked as a behavior analyst for a number of organizations, working in homes, schools and community settings with parents, teachers and staff to improve the lives of children and adults with and without disabilities. He is also interested in organizational behavior management as it applies to human services. Corey is passionate about teaching and enjoys interacting with students from all types of backgrounds, from all over the world. His experiences in different applications and settings of applied behavior analysis has given him a well-rounded perspective and has contributed to his knack for explaining things in a way that is easy to understand and remember.

BEHP1067: So You Wrote the Perfect Behavior Plan, Now What? or Performance Management in Human Service Settings

BEHP1178: Beyond Supervision: Mentorship and Leadership in Behavior Analysis

BEHP1214: Ethics and Professionalism: She said what?!

Rodriguez, Manuel "Manny" 
M.S., BCBA^®

An accomplished practitioner in the field of organizational behavior management (OBM), Manny has worked with organizations across the globe. Highly regarded by his customers and colleagues alike, he has earned a reputation for supporting organizations to achieve bottom-line business results. His experience spans various industries such as human services, nuclear power, government, oil and gas, chemical, transportation and telecommunications within the Fortune 1000. Manny provides expert advice to leaders on establishing concrete plans for improving results through behavior change. He is especially skilled at facilitating teams to execute strategic plans and preparing leaders to engage employees to reach their maximum potential. Manny presents regularly at national and international conferences and facilitates various educational events for all audiences on the subject of OBM. Manny has authored various articles, has been a guest lecturer at multiple universities and a frequent invited speaker for organizations, and is co-author of the books OBM Applied! A Practical Guide to Implementing Organizational Behavior Management and Quick Wins! Accelerating School Transformation through Science, Engagement, and Leadership. He is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and supports the ongoing need for the dissemination of and education in applied behavior analysis. Manny also volunteers his time as the executive director of the OBM Network, supporting the international network of professionals in the field. Manny earned his master’s degree from Florida Institute of Technology, and a dual bachelor’s degree from Florida State University.

Rowland, April 
M.S., BCBA^®

April Rowland earned her undergraduate degree from Ringling College of Art and Design in 2009 and her Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology in 2016. She works on the curriculum and instruction team for ABA Technologies, Inc., and has been a co-instructor for the FIT ABA Online program since 2016. 

April primarily works on applying the principles of applied behavior analysis to the development of instructional and training materials. She has been involved in research projects on assessing feedback preferences of employees, examining the effects of rules on the efficacy of reinforcer magnitude and teaching creativity using fluency-based instruction.

BEHP1214: Ethics and Professionalism: She said what?!

Ruiz, Sal 
Ph.D., BCBA^®

Salvador “Sal” Ruiz is a BCBA who has been using the standard celeration chart (SCC) for six years. Sal has worked with students from ages 5 to 27, including typically developing students and learners with developmental disabilities. Sal has worked in various setting using the principles of behavior analysis and precision teaching. 

Sal’s background includes working as a paraprofessional, a direct care staff member and a behavior specialist. Sal obtained a B.A. from William Paterson University in sociology and worked as a paraprofessional in a self-contained high school for students with developmental disabilities. While earning his certificate in behavior analysis from Penn State University, he worked as a behavior analyst in New Jersey public schools. After earning his master’s in psychology at The Chicago School, he began preparing to apply for a Ph.D. in Special Education at Penn State University. Working as a research assistant for Dr. Kubina, he has conducted research in the areas of challenging behavior and skill building. He has also presented his work at a variety of local and national conferences. 

Sal applied his training in precision teaching and behavior analysis to treating challenging behavior in the public-school setting. His work led him to pursue a Ph.D. to contribute to the literature in behavior analysis. He currently supervises those seeking BACB certification and conducts research at Penn State University. 

Sal now lives in State College, Pennsylvania, where he is completing his Ph.D. Sal has been supervising those pursuing BACB certification and conducting research in the areas of visual analysis and decision-making. Sal is an active member of the Standard Celeration Society and ABAI. 

Sal’s career focuses on measurement, visual analysis, the treatment of challenging behavior and supervision. His current interests are the functional analysis celeration chart, challenging behavior, functions of behavior and training.

BEHP1210: Current Issues with Visual Analysis of Data: How Errors in Graph Construction Can Lead to Errors in Decision Making

Schissler, Melissa
M.S., BCBA^®

Melissa Schissler, BCBA, is the director of research and development for ACI Learning Centers. She has her master’s degree in applied behavior analysis (ABA) with an emphasis in autism and received her BCBA credential in 2012. Melissa has almost 10 years’ experience working with children diagnosed with autism and other developmental delays. She has conducted research on establishing and expanding appropriate play skills and has presented her research at ABAI and state ABA conferences. In 2017,  Melissa and Nancy Champlin, CEO, published the Pretend Play and Language Assessment and Curriculum (PPLAC): A Behavioral Approach to Targeting Play Skills. 

BEHP1218: Examining Independent and Sociodramatic Pretend Play Skills in Typically Developing Children

BEHP1219: Teaching a Sequence of Play Actions and Corresponding Vocalizations Using PlayTubs™ (Video Preview)

Schlinger, Henry "Hank," Jr.
Ph.D., BCBA-D^®

Henry D. (Hank) Schlinger, Jr. received his Ph.D. in Psychology (Applied Behavior Analysis) from Western Michigan University under the supervision of Jack Michael. He then completed a two-year National Institutes of Health-funded post-doctoral fellowship in behavioral pharmacology with Alan Poling. He was a full tenured professor of psychology at Western New England University in Springfield, Massachusetts, before moving to Los Angeles in 1998. He is now professor of psychology and former director of the M.S. program in Applied Behavior Analysis in the Department of Psychology at California State University, Los Angeles. Dr. Schlinger has published more than 65 scholarly articles and commentaries in more than 20 different journals. He also has authored or co-authored three books, Psychology: A Behavioral Overview (1990), A Behavior-Analytic View of Child Development (1995) (which was translated into Japanese) and Introduction to Scientific Psychology (1998). He is a past editor of The Analysis of Verbal Behavior and The Behavior Analyst and is on the editorial boards of several other journals. He also serves on the board of trustees of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies.

BEHP1164: Function-Altering Effects of Verbal and Nonverbal Stimuli   (Video Preview)

BEHP1165: Conditioning the Behavior of the Listener: Implications for Rule-Governed Behavior

BEHP1166: A Behavioral Approach to Consciousness

BEHP1167: Hearing, Listening, and Auditory Imagining

BEHP1168: A Critical Look at the Concept of Reinforcement

BEHP1215: The Importance of Analysis in Applied Behavior Analysis (Video Preview)

BEHP1216: Reflections on Verbal Behavior at 60 (Video Preview)

Sundberg, Mark L.
Ph.D., BCBA-D^®

Mark L. Sundberg received his doctoral degree in applied behavior analysis from Western Michigan University (1980), under the direction of Dr. Jack Michael. Dr. Sundberg serves on the board of directors of the B. F. Skinner Foundation. He is the author of the Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (the VB-MAPP) and the co-author of The ABLLS, Teaching Language to Children with Autism or Other Developmental Disabilities and A Collection of Reprints on Verbal Behavior. He has published over 45 professional papers, including a chapter titled “Verbal Behavior” in Cooper, Heron and Heward (2007). He is the founder and past editor of the journal The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, two-time past president of the Northern California Association for Behavior Analysis, past chair of the publication board of ABAI and a member of the committee that develops the BACB task lists. Dr. Sundberg has given over 500 conference presentations and workshops, and taught 80 college courses on behavior analysis, verbal behavior, sign language and child development. He is a licensed psychologist in private practice who consults for programs and classrooms that serve children with autism in the San Francisco Bay area. His awards include the 2001 Distinguished Psychology Department Alumnus Award from Western Michigan University.

BEHP1024: B.F. Skinner's Analysis of Verbal Behavior, Part 1

BEHP1025: B.F. Skinner's Analysis of Verbal Behavior, Part 2

BEHP1026: Applications of Verbal Behavior: Language Assessment

BEHP1027: Applications of Verbal Behavior: Language Intervention

Szabo, Tom
Ph.D., BCBA-D^®

Dr. Tom Szabo is a professor at Florida Institute of Technology, an internationally recognized ACT trainer, board-certified behavior analyst, and co-chair of the board of the international NGO Commit and Act. Tom is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, where he studied under Steven C. Hayes and W. Larry Williams. Over the last 10 years, Tom has focused his practice on teaching people ways to ignite behavioral flexibility in their personal lives and with others in clinical practice, schools, boardrooms, shop floors and community centers. He is particularly interested in teaching people ways to use the PsyFlex model (aka ACT) to support individuals with high-functioning autism and their families. With the Commit and Act Foundation, Tom has trained therapists in Sierra Leone working with individuals who’ve committed acts of gender-based violence, and he is currently conducting funded research on ways to reduce intrafamilial violence. With his students, Tom investigates behavioral flexibility training and clinical RFT. He has published empirical and conceptual papers and several book chapters.

BEHP1190 Relational Frame Theory and Behavioral Flexibility Training

Therrien, Kelly
M.S., BCBA^®

Kelly Therrien, M.S., BCBA, is an experienced behavior analyst who has dedicated her work to improving the workplace through organizational behavior management. Kelly has worked with organizations across the United States and Canada, with leaders spanning various industries, such as human services, nuclear power, oil and gas, nonprofit and franchise enterprises.

Currently, Kelly is the product manager for professional development with ABA Technologies, Inc. In this role, Kelly oversees various professional development products aimed at dissemination of the science of human behavior.

Prior to joining ABA Technologies, Kelly worked as a senior consultant and project manager at ALULA, an organizational behavior management consulting firm. In this role, she oversaw a project team to deliver strategic client engagements for a multimillion dollar account. Prior to her project manager role, Kelly served as a member of ALULA’s operations team, playing a vital role in its consultant readiness and delivery function. She provided leadership in ALULA’s consultant training and development method experience and assisted in the selection, onboarding and development of new consultants for ALULA’s accounts, bringing her behavioral science expertise to experienced performance consultants.

Kelly holds an M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis with an emphasis in Organizational Behavior Management from Florida Institute of Technology. She also holds a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Business from Florida State University.

BEHP1222 Introduction to Organizational Behavior Management: Behavior Analysis in a Business Setting

Torsiello, Karin
M.S., BCBA^®

Karin Torsiello is a board-certified behavior analyst with a master’s degree in applied behavior analysis from Florida Tech. She is the president of Behavior Basics, Incorporated, a consulting firm in Florida. Karin has previously served as the senior behavior analyst with the Behavior Analysis Services program through University of South Florida and in partnership with the Department of Children and Families.

Karin’s current role includes clinical supervision; curriculum development; conducting behavior management training for parents, expectant teenage mothers and prisoners awaiting reentry into the community; providing in-home consultation services for caregivers and children; consultation with multidisciplinary committees to review cases of children who are displaying maladaptive behaviors; research; and training of graduate students pursuing certification as behavior analysts.

Karin’s professional passion is working within the child welfare system of care serving children and families in all aspects of their treatment.

BEHP1186 Getting to Know Children in Foster Care

BEHP1187 Anger and Aggression

BEHP1188 Train the Practitioner

BEHP1189 Train the Practitioner: The Next Level

Trahan, Maranda
Ph.D., BCBA-D^®

Dr. Maranda A. Trahan is a board-certified behavior analyst. Since 2003 she has developed and implemented behavioral programs for a variety of individuals with challenging behaviors. She now specializes in behavioral assessment, caregiver training and program development for older adults with dementia. Dr. Trahan graduated in 2004 from Louisiana State University with a B.S. in Psychology. She continued her education in behavior analysis and therapy at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, where she received her master of science in 2007 and doctorate in 2010. Dr. Trahan completed her three-year postdoctoral fellowship in geriatric medicine and gerontology at Johns Hopkins University in August 2013 and then started a private practice, Trahan Behavioral Services, to provide trainings and consultations for difficult dementia symptoms.

 BEHP1143: Decreasing Behavioral Symptoms of Dementia

 BEHP1144: ICYMI: ABA in Dementia Care - 2014 Literature Review

Tu, Joyce C.,
Ed.D., BCBA-D^®

Dr. Tu received a Doctor of Education in Educational Psychology, specializing in applied behavior analysis, from West Virginia University. Dr. Tu has over 14 years' experience providing trainings and supervision for behavior consultants to provide services to both school districts and regional center clients. Services include training and workshops to teachers, instructional aides and parents on implementing behavioral procedures, discrete trial teaching methodology, the picture exchange communication system, functional/behavioral assessments, generalization training, verbal behavior and task analysis when teaching complex behaviors. Her specialization and research interests are in the area of verbal behavior. She has several publications in peer-reviewed journals in that specific area.

Dr. Tu works internationally and has developed several classrooms that provide services to children with autism in China. She has presented a number of times to both national and international professional organizations. Dr. Tu was a part-time lecturer at Florida Institute of Technology. She also serves on the board of directors for the California Association for Behavior Analysis and the board of directors of Best Buddies.

BEHP1075: Teaching Social Skills to Individuals Diagnosed with Autism 

Twigg, Cherish
M.S., BCBA^®

Cherish Twigg holds a Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology. She cofounded Establishing Operations, Inc., in 2003. As managing partner, she has created and copresented a series of workshops on verbal behavior. Cherish began her consulting career in 1999. Since that time, she has consulted for dozens of families with children with autism across the United States and Canada, as well as in the United Kingdom. She provides in-home and center-based consultation services and training workshops for children and professionals throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, England, Ireland, Bermuda and Wales.

BEHP1051: Teaching Children with Autism: Establishing Instructional Control

Van Houten, Ron
Ph.D.

Dr. Van Houten received his BA from SUNY at Stony Brook and his MA and Ph.D. from Dalhousie University, where he received training in the experimental analysis of behavior. He is currently (2015) professor of psychology at Western Michigan University. Dr. Van Houten has published extensively in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis on a wide variety of problems, including the education of inner city youth and children with learning disabilities, the treatment of children and adults with developmental delays, the treatment of clinical problems in children, traffic safety, energy conservation and aviation safety. Currently, Dr. Van Houten is a member of the Transportation Research Board and a member of the National Committee for Uniform Traffic Control Devices. He is a past associate editor for JABA and a fellow of ABAI. Dr. Van Houten also chaired the ABAI Task Force on the Right to Effective Treatment. He is also an avid pilot, flying power aircraft and gliders and a flight instructor.

BEHP1113: Behavior Analysis and Traffic Safety

Vargas, Julie
Ph.D. 

Dr. Julie S. Vargas is an author and educator and is the oldest daughter of B. F. and Eve Skinner. Dr. Vargas founded the B. F. Skinner Foundation in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and currently serves as its president. She received a bachelor’s degree in music from Radcliffe College, a master’s degree in music education from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in educational research from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Vargas was a faculty member at West Virginia University from 1966 to 2004, where she worked with prospective and practicing teachers and published three books on contingency management in education. She was also one of the founding editors of The Behavior Analyst and a former president of the Association for Behavior Analysis International. Dr. Vargas is dedicated to disseminating the applications of the natural science of the behavior of organisms.

BEHP1207: The Ethics of Replacing Free Will with Behavioral Science  (Video Preview)

Wine, Byron
Ph.D., BCBA-D^®

Dr. Byron Wine is the chief operating officer at the Faison Center, as well as a visiting assistant professor at the University of Virginia. He is also the executive director of the OBM Network. After completing his doctoral degree from Temple University, he worked as a curriculum specialist and faculty member before joining the Faison Center. Dr. Wine has published over 30 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, primarily in the area of organizational behavior management. Currently, he serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management and Behavior Analysis in Practice.

BEHP1114: Essentials of Organizational Behavior Management (OBM)

BEHP1116: Behavior-Based Safety

BEHP1118: Training in OBM

BEHP1121: Performance-Based Pay

BEHP1138: Behavior Analysis Basics for OBM

BEHP1162: How to Train, Evaluate, and Manage Staff

BEHP1227: Decreasing Turnover in Human Services

Wyatt, W. Joseph
Ph.D.

W. Joseph is professor emeritus at Marshall University in West Virginia. He received his doctorate in clinical psychology from West Virginia University. Prior to his years as a full-time faculty member, Dr. Wyatt was in full-time clinical practice for more than 10 years. He is author of numerous presentations at the meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis International and other meetings, and is the author of many publications. For more than 20 years, he published and edited Behavior Analysis Digest International. He is board-certified in forensic psychology and has provided expert testimony more than 100 times.

BEHP1049:Behavioral Practice in the Forensic Area

Zuluaga, Carlos
M.S., BCBA^®

As a member of our team, Carlos is very excited to help disseminate behavior analysis around the world. He is proud to be part of a profession that is dedicated to understanding behavior and improving people’s lives. Carlos has been a co-instructor for our Applied Behavior Analysis professional development program since 2010. He loves teaching our online courses because it allows him to share his passion for behavior analysis with both students and colleagues.

Before joining ABA Technologies, Inc., Carlos was a lead therapist at QuestKids, an early intervention agency, for seven years. During this time, he learned to conduct a number of skill assessments such as the Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB- MAPP), develop verbal behavior programs, teach a variety of skills to children with developmental disabilities, train caregivers and provide supervision.

Carlos is currently working on a conceptual paper on the different effects of consequences on both behavior and antecedents and is developing an Excel version of the Standard Celeration Chart. Additionally, Carlos helped translate sections of the VB-MAPP into Spanish and has developed Spanish presentations on verbal behavior. Carlos has been a board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) since 2007 and received his master’s in applied behavior analysis from Florida Institute of Technology in 2006.

Carlos’ master’s thesis, an evaluation of the high-probability instruction sequence with and without programmed reinforcement for compliance with high-probability instructions, was published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis in 2008.

BEHP1098: No Me Enseñes Trucos. Enséñame Habilidades.