A 25 Year Look Across the Spectrum with Kelly Bermingham & Jen Lucero

Kelly & Jen talk with John Merager, Fire fighter and Fire Prevention/Patrol Forest service and dad to a child on the autism spectrum to continue work of the September 26th project. The project is call to families to set their calendar for an annual reminder using our fire safety checklists. September 26th Project.  As BCBA's we have so much time assessing and working with families this checklist should be used in our parent clinical interview to determine their safety needs and readiness, and to help families develop an exit plan, a meeting place, a designated family member to get the child with autism out and to the meeting place. Use visual strategies, behavioral rehearsal and reinforcement procedure to practice your child respond to "Emergency, go with me now" SD. Support your family to go to the fire station and meet their team. See if they need training and support. Include fire safety and exit plan in the IEP instead of avoiding the sound. 

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 1! Kelly & Jen are baaaack and excited to announce they have partnered with Citepro, providing continuing education units for behavior analysts. This first episode, Kelly & Jen talk about the new ethic codes, and a look back at ABA from a historical perspective which often leads to the negative feedback some present about ABA. The new codes will surely help with this, as they include 4 major core principles that behavior analysts should follow regarding therapy: does it BENEFIT others, are we treating others with COMPASSION, DIGNITY & RESPECT, are we behaving with INTEGRITY and have we, as behavior analysts ensured our COMPETENCY.  Listening to our podcast sure will help expand competency!  Check us out for CEU's at: https://www.citepro.com/courses/podcastseptember

Ethics-Code-for-Behavior-Analysts-210902.pdf (bacb.com)

Jen & I talk all things ABA related including a parent's perspective on extinction procedures, mass trials and how we talk to kids on the autism spectrum with shortened words and sing-songy voices.  We found our voice and our tribe through this pandemic through this experience together. We have hired some young adults to help us come back in September better than ever!

Theautismdad.com joins us to talk about raising his 3 kids on the autism spectrum alone. We debate if there are higher rates of divorce in families with children with autism, and talk about the raw feelings it evokes. 

We started this podcast talking about quality of life- health, happiness, safety, independence and having a tribe. Well Beth and her son Thomas have done that. 

Kelly & Jen talk to New Vista School about their Career Academy that seeks innovative jobs based on passion and interest for their adults in Southern California.  Great model to copy! 

www.zuggyetc.com. These 4 young men and their long-term friend and caretaker started a business! We know that more than half of young adults with autism remain unemployed and unenrolled in higher education in the two years after high school. This is a lower rate than that of young adults in other disability categories, including learning disabilities, intellectual disability or speech-language impairment. Of the nearly 18,000 people with autism who used state-funded vocational rehabilitation programs in 2014, only 60 percent left the program with a job. Of these, 80 percent worked part-time at a median weekly rate of $160, putting them well below the poverty level. Not these guys!

Kelly and Jen invite two mom's from their autism tribe to share their experiences as moms, and the powerhouse women they are in their careers that were shaped by their kids! 

Kelly & Jen speak with Nicholas A. Maio-Aether, MSPSY, LBA, BCBA (he/him/his), Owner of Empowered: A Center for Sexuality LLC, a company that uses ABA strategies to teach and support many things related to Sex. 

Kelly & Jen talk to mom, Tracy about her journey with her (almost) 18 year old daughter with a diagnosis of IDD who very much wants to have sex, get married and maybe have children. Tracy has conservatorship over her daughter but is walking her along every step of the day toward this dream!