From Acorn to Mighty Oak: Growing a Behavior Analysis Graduate Program at Caldwell College

1. From Acorn to Mighty Oak: Growing a Behavior Analysis Graduate Program at Caldwell College Kenneth F. Reeve, Ph.D., BCBA-D and Sharon A. Reeve, Ph.D., BCBA-D November 3, 2009 Presented at the Learning Processes and Behavior Analysis Doctoral Sub-Program Colloquium Series, Queens College, NY, November 4, 2009

2. Prologue In the beginning…we were adjuncts at Caldwell College Taught courses totally unrelated to ABA or autism Later, landed tenure track positions as an “experimental developmental psychologist” (Ken) and as a “special education professor” (Sharon) Was no ABA program at Caldwell, nor was there much support for behavior analysis In fact, many education, philosophy, theology, and psychology courses contained some harsh assessments about behaviorism, Skinner, reinforcement, etc. (We had student spies who would bring us the offending course syllabi!)

3. Prologue-cont. We learned about other professors who taught that Skinner raised his kids in an operant chamber How behaviorists believe that we do not think, are not responsible for our actions, and have no free will. In short, it was a non-receptive climate

4. Prologue-cont. We decided to try to shape the behavior of our students, administration, and the media to provide a fertile ground to grow our own program in behavior analysis Here is our story…

5. Purpose of Presentation To provide a task analysis of the complex behavior that might increase the likelihood of your developing your own ABA academic program and getting it heavily enrolled, recognized, and funded

6. Background Few professionals in our field receive training in developing academic programs, or in public relations, for ABA. Both are inextricably linked! Colleagues often advised us to steer clear of popular media sources because the media “just wouldn’t get the story right and more harm than good will come of it.”

7. Background-cont. Are many benefits to effectively communicating with those outside of our field regarding what we as behavior analyst do and have to offer. Through trial and error, by working with our college PR person, and by taking the advice of a select set of leaders in our field, we have been able to gain coverage in a variety of media sources (radio, TV, print, web). This helped us obtain materials for a very strong argument “selling” an ABA graduate program to our college.

8. Online Information Gathering Great thing about the digital age is easy access to information! First, set up something called Google alerts This is a service by Google that alerts you, via email, whenever any web sources mention keywords in which you are interested

9. Online Information Gathering-cont Many of the strategies we’ll describe today could be implemented because we were “tipped off” by Google Alerts Alerts might show us when someone is discussing something we wrote or said on a blog When we click the link, we can then comment on what is being said right in that blog On one occasion, some parents were debating merits of getting training in ABA and Caldwell College’s ABA program came up. Unfortunately, it was mischaracterized. We wrote in our own comments soon after received 4 grad school applications

10. Online Information Gathering-cont Keywords for Google Alerts: our names (both formal and informal versions) ABA, Applied Behavior Analysis (and any misspelling of same: Applied “Behavioral” Analysis) autism, autistic disorder, autism spectrum ABAI, Autism NJ, NJABA, NYSABA names of our autism school program affiliate sites vaccinations, chelation, DAN protocol, and…

12. Building Your Academic Program First you need to get hired! Of course, if you have the chops, apply for a position at one of the premiere behavior analysis programs, such as: If not…

13. …build your own at some small unknown college and put them on the map!

14. Building Your Academic Program Adjunct positions are plentiful (Tenure track positions are not!) Department Chairs are often looking for adjuncts to teach stats and experimental psy, so being open to these courses might help get your foot in the door Of course, teaching other available courses can work fine

15. Building Your Academic Program Once hired, look through the offered courses in your department Suggest a course(s) on ABA, autism, or developmental disabilities if the college doesn’t already have one Pitch the idea to the Psychology or Special Education department chairperson Offer to design the curriculum for the class

16. Building Your Academic Program If your idea is approved, you will need to present the course proposal to the university’s curriculum committee Ask your Chair to provide a model of a previously already approved course proposal (later you will ask for a program proposal!) Once the course goes “on the books,” teach the class, and teach it VERY well Alternatively, teach a course in child psy, child psychopathology, or abnormal psy and include include a module on autism Regardless of course, arrange a field trip to a quality autism program for your students!

17. Building Your Academic Program If the course goes well, you can begin to leverage your success Ask interested students (about 20 should do) to write to the college President and Academic Dean requesting a BCBA certificate program in ABA If there are local behavior analysts, ask them to join the letter writing campaign as well

18. Building Your Academic Program If the Dean and your Chair support the development of a BCBA certificate program in ABA formal proposal, then you will now be charged with its development They will ask for a market analysis – are there enough students to support the program? They will ask for a resources analysis – is there money in the budget to support additional adjuncts? Library holdings? Lab space? Are there other adjuncts available?

19. Building Your Academic Program They will also ask for any academic articles supporting ABA (this one is easy). Now ask for that program proposal model! You will also be responsible for developing syllabi for any courses in your program (ABAI has a great syllabi bank) You will also be responsible for developing admission requirements for students The college Publication Dept. will want your input on brochures

20. Building Your Academic Program The college may be agreeable to hiring a consultant to look over your program materials You should ask for this because it is better to find errors earlier rather than later! The consultant will provide a written report either supporting or rejecting your program proposal

21. Building Your Academic Program You will also be responsible for obtaining approval from the Behavior Analyst Certification Board for your certificate program Each course must be “broken out” according to hours for each content area

22. Building Your Academic Program Isn’t this all a LOT to do? How long will this take? Will they pay me for this? How do I make sure that I can pull this off? Apart from the nuts and bolts of developing the program within the college, there are dozens of additional strategies you can use to support your program’s start and later growth These strategies will involve outreach on your part into many domains

23. Reaching Out to State ABA Chapters and Autism Organizations You would be amazed at the number of important connections you can make here while serving the professional and parent communities Often, you will serve on committees that might affect public policy (e.g., use of restraints, autism insurance legislation) and that might gain the attention of news sources Often these organizations will let you advertise your program for free or at reduced cost

24. Reaching Out to Politicians Keep an eye on web pages of local politicians to see if there is any autism legislation pending If there is, try to get in touch with them and offer services as expert (Again, you might get a chance to change public policy) Also helps to check the web pages of quality advocacy organizations like Autism NJ (formerly COSAC) which keeps an ongoing description of autism/ABA related legislation on its page

25. Reaching Out to Politicians-cont. Invite yourself to any press conferences government officials are giving related to autism You can often get invitations by giving your credentials to the official’s assistant (We currently have relationships with a number of local officials as a result of this tactic) Recently we attended NJ Governor Jon Corzine’s signing of autism insurance legislation Introduce yourself to the important attendees If you run a quality autism treatment program, or consult for one, invite public officials to visit (We had Congressman Rodney Frelingheuysen take us up on this invitation)

26. Reaching Out to Local Libraries Offer to give a talk at your local library about autism treatment (Especially likely to get a positive answer during April: Autism Awareness month) Talks we gave were highlighted in local newspapers. People then called the college to inquire about our ABA program Volunteer to assist with autism/ABA book collection (make sure to add this book!) 

27. Reaching Out to Local Libraries Write a resource pamphlet for your local library about autism (We did this and were then asked to work on a grant with the library on how persons with autism could better access library resources) This led to our being asked to give talks at that library and others in the surrounding towns.

28. The World of Public Relations Much of what we will now describe is covered in a chapter we contributed to in Jon Bailey’s new book

29. The World of Public Relations Engaging in PR seems to be an activity with a very lean and variable schedule of reinforcement! But if you stick with it long enough it does pay off Although ABA has had many successes in areas other than autism, much of what we are asked to speak to is directly related to autism As such, gear your discussions to autism issues if that is likely to get your foot in the door for a story

30. Your College’s PR Person Introduce yourself and ask for a meeting (media people are there to promote the college and they will be happy to hear about a good story to promote) The college’s Office of Development (or Institutional Advancement) often oversee the media person so it might help to speak with them as well Discuss how autism treatment issues can be used to market the college Volunteer yourself for autism/ABA news stories Email your PR person about any stories you find in Google Alerts Volunteer for college speaker bureau Write article for student newspaper about autism/ABA

31. Working With Reporters Once your college PR person knows you, they will try to pitch news items to reporters in the popular media You can expect to get calls to go to a TV or radio station, or interview by phone, at a moment’s notice In preparation for working with reporters, learn how to give sound bites Come up with user friendly 20-s descriptions of what autism is, what ABA is, what evidence-based treatment means, why ABA is medically necessary, why it should be funded through health insurance, etc.

32. Working With Reporters Great book!

33. Working With Reporters Within your town or city, research online archives of newspapers Are there are any stories on ABA, autism? If so, contact the reporters who did these stories, compliment them on their past stories, then pitch some new stories to them (that is what we did with our New York Times story)

34. Working With Reporters Video tape yourself giving sound bites and ask colleagues to critique you Although many colleagues will say you are being too sloppy with terminology, you will be much more likely to get into a story if you can give a sound bite For example, say something like “In ABA, we break skills down into easily learned parts, give kids lots of guidance and positive feedback while they’re learning, and make frequent observations to make sure what we do is effective”

35. Working With Reporters Media people have told us that reporters prefer to have people with prior media experience as interviewees Therefore, when you speak to reporters, include in your bio all your media activities, with specifics, such as “interviewed by WFFM 1020 AM regarding vaccine controversy on August 10, 2007” Write a bio for popular consumption with bulleted accomplishments and what you can do: “can talk about effective autism treatments” “can debunk fad treatments from real ones” “can provide description of ABA treatment”

36. Working With Reporters When you establish a relationship with a reporter, offer to give them professional advice about contacts and resources in the field (Someone always has a relative with autism) NEVER blow off an appointment with a reporter. A PR colleague of ours said that you are placed on the black list if you do that

37. Working With Reporters Unfortunately, most reporters will not let you see a story prior to its appearance to check for errors If a reporter screws up a story and you appear badly, do not let this stop you from continuing to fight the good fight We have now appeared in print, radio, and TV a number of times and have never been completely happy with the results It seems, though, that the more we effectively translate ABA to a popular audience, the less likely it is to be mischaracterized

38. Benefits of Appearing In Print Once you get something about you and/or your program published in print media (newsletter, magazine article, newspaper article, etc.), use copies as a “takeaway” or “leave behind” This is material you give to anyone who is interested in what you have to say but who cannot spend a long enough time with you (reporters on the run, gov’t people on the run, etc) Have this material in a nice folder with a business card and your bio In the “early days,” we wrote an article on autism and ABA for our Caldwell College alumni magazine This was our standard takeaway piece until we were featured in the New York Times and New Jersey Monthly magazine

39. Our Current Takeaways and Leave Behinds

40. Our Current Takeaways and Leave Behinds

41. Our Current Takeaways and Leave Behinds

42. Our Current Takeaways and Leave Behinds

43. Miscellaneous Support Behavior Write articles for popular autism magazines like Spectrum Go to Amazon.com and make lists for recommended readings (called a “Listmania”) One reporter we spoke to had read Ken’s posted list on recommended ABA and autism sources Set up your own webpage or blog that has links to resources and descriptions about what ABA is for a popular audience Include a popular bio of yourself for any interested news media people to see (and to use to refer to you in any stories they do on you!) If you belong to a university, they might allow this on your faculty webpage, or allow you to link to it

44. More Miscellaneous Support Behavior Present talks to as many parent/support groups as you can (locate many of these through Google) Parents are often starved to hear from a professional! Some parents might have contacts in radio, TV, newspapers Prove yourself worthy and you may get recommended for a story Give out your bio when you do these presentations Bring pamphlets about your academic program

45. More Miscellaneous Support Behavior Offer a workshop for parents and young professionals on ABA topics: behavior management, setting up an autism program, self-control strategies, etc. Usually your college will allow you to collect funds for this and split the proceeds with the college

46. More Miscellaneous Support Behavior Ask whether your college’s media support will develop a YouTube video with you about your program

47. More Miscellaneous Support Behavior Ask whether your college’s publications department will develop an informational brochure to help parents

48. More Miscellaneous Support Behavior Hold a “brown bag” for your college colleagues to inform them about what you do Speak to your college’s Psychology Club (or Special Education Club) to get students involved in autism and ABA

49. Funding Sources for Your Academic Program In the end, it all comes down to finances To maintain a quality program, there must be adequate funding Adequate enrollments are key! There are also a number of grass roots methods to raise startup and maintenance funds: Parent and professional workshops, bringing in guest speakers, fundraisers, walkathons, etc. Ultimately, you will need to pursue grants through Institutional Advancement in your college We have obtained nearly $900,000 from congressional grants You will also want to pursue corporate donations!

50. Expanding Your Academic Program Develop the program incrementally: single autism and/or ABA course BCBA certificate program (about 18 credits) ABA Master of Arts program (about 48 credits) ABA Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program (about 90 credits) On-campus clinic and lab space as program grows