Autism Treatment | Autism Behavior Services, Inc.

Colleen

Colleen earned her B.S. in Biological Sciences and her B.A. in Psychology in 2005 from the University of California, Irvine. As an undergraduate Colleen worked in the Lab for Cognitive Brain Research, and found she had a passion for studying language and learning.

After college, Colleen started working as a behavior therapist with the Lovaas Institute in 2005. She instantly fell in love with each and every one of her clients, and found a passion for helping families tackle the challenges of autism. This passion drove Colleen to continue on in the field. She began supervising ABA programs in 2008, and went on to earn her M.A. in Applied Behavior Analysis in 2013. Colleen is now a Board Certified Behavior Analyst with over 10 years of experience in homes, schools, and the community.

Over the years, Colleen gained experience with Discrete Trial Teaching, Natural Environment Teaching, Picture and Textual Exchange Communication Systems (PECS and TECS), task analyses, toilet training, behavior reduction procedures, parent training, crisis prevention, CPR, frustration tolerance programs, executive functioning, self-management strategies, and more. Colleen regularly attends national and state-wide conferences for applied behavior analysis, reads professional journals to stay on top of current research, and participates in training sessions related to autism and ABA.

Colleen believes that behavior intervention should focus on providing therapy that meets the values and goals of each child and family. She loves working with kids, seeing them learn and grow, and fostering continuing education for staff and parents. Her passion in the field continues to be verbal behavior, including language acquisition and development.

In her free-time, you can find Colleen baking pastries and other sweets, hiking or backpacking, and playing word games.