Our Mission Statement
It is our mission to provide our clients with the skills to enjoy an independent and fulfilling life imbued with meaningful relationships. We ensure that our interventions are as effective and relevant as possible by collaborating with the clients’ stakeholders, drawing from the latest research and applying the scientist-practitioner model. Additionally, the end-point of all interventions is a demonstration of the desired outcome with the relevant caregivers in the natural environment.
About Us
ABC, a developmental disability care in Tennessee, endeavors to help children and young adults alike overcome their daily challenges due to their health condition. We aim to provide individualized Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy for children and young adults with autism across the spectrum by using the latest research to inform therapy procedures and providing high-quality, ongoing training to our behavior therapists.
High-Quality Supervision
Intensive initial and ongoing training is provided for our RBTs to refine and maintain their skills. Additionally, RBTs earn a bonus hourly pay rate calculated monthly based on the quality of their performance. Supervising BCBAs provide the RBTs with weekly feedback using an observation checklist to help them prepare for a monthly video submission of their performance which is reviewed by the leadership team. This high-expectation, high-pressure environment is attractive only to those RBTs with a strong drive to learn to be the best therapist possible. RBTs receive additional support during our weekly clinical review meetings where they can ask more in-depth questions of BCBAs in a distraction-free environment and where they can role-play scenarios to sharpen their skills.
Our Values
1. Collaboration is vital to our success! Your BA (Behavior Analyst) will work closely with parents, teachers and other caregivers to determine and prioritize behavior goals and effectiveness of your child’s behavior therapy. This will ensure that the Behavior Support Plan (BSP) takes into consideration:
- Unique differences of your child
- Parent values
- Family culture
- Practical constraints
2. Positive Reinforcement:
ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) Therapy sessions are designed to be fun, whether they are focused on skill acquisition (social language, or academic) or reducing problem behaviors. Play time with your BA and other positive reinforcers are used to keep your child motivated to work hard. For reducing problem behaviors, socially appropriate alternative behaviors will be taught that will allow your child to get their needs met or cope with difficult situations.
3. Whenever possible, natural reinforcement will be used to motivate behavior changes. When arbitrary reinforcement (e.g. candy) is used, a plan to systematically transition to natural reinforcement will be developed by your BA.
4. Evidence-Based. Advances in ABA Therapy are continually generated by ongoing research in autism and behavior. Your BA studies and evaluates newly published research to ensure that, if a new development would be therapeutically relevant to your child and his/her situation, it will be incorporated into your child’s BSP and therapy curriculum.
Meet The ABC Team
Our specialized team of healthcare professionals is dedicated to providing the intervention needed to better their patients’ condition. As such, we at Advanced Behavior Consultants make sure that the people we employ are qualified for the position. They have undergone extensive hiring process and they are carefully screened, trained and verified to ensure their individual capabilities.
Meet the members of our team.
Curtis J. Harris MS, BCBA, LBA | Director
Kayla Wynn, M.S., BCBA
Brittany Hicks, M.A., BCBA
Nicole Lanier, BCaBA, LABA
Clairre Strickland, B.S., Senior RBT
Marivelle Ray, RBT, B.S.
Precious Sanders, RBT
Sheryl Daubon, RBT
Brian Peters, M.S., Masters Level Mental Health Clinician, PsyD Candidate
Anne-Marie Harris, Practice Manager
Practice Coordinator, Now Hiring
Position Overview: Enhance clinic operations by streamlining scheduling, communication, and patient care coordination.
Job Functions: Foster an environment inspiring growth and progress, prioritize professional development, and fuel connections between families, staff, and professionals.
What is ABA?
Behavior Analysis is the scientific study of behavior. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is the application of the principles of learning and motivation from Behavior Analysis and the procedures and technology derived from those principles, to the solution of problems of social significance. Many decades of research have validated treatments based on ABA.
The Report of the MADSEC Autism Task Force (2000) provides a succinct description, put together by an independent body of experts:
Over the past 40 years, several thousand published research studies have documented the effectiveness of ABA across a wide range of:
- populations (children and adults with mental illness, developmental disabilities and learning disorders including, but not limited to Autism Spectrum Disorders)
- interventionists (parents, teachers and staff)
- settings (schools, homes, institutions, group homes, hospitals and business offices) and
- behaviors (language; social, academic, leisure and functional life skills; aggression, selfinjury, oppositional and stereotyped behaviors)
Applied behavior analysis is the process of systematically applying interventions based upon the principles of learning theory to improve socially significant behaviors to a meaningful degree and to demonstrate that the interventions employed are responsible for the improvement in behavior (Baer, Wolf & Risley, 1968; Sulzer-Azaroff & Mayer, 1991).
DEI Statement
Advanced Behavior Consultants is committed to ensuring we cultivate an environment that promotes cultural diversity, as well as neurodiversity. We believe our mission can only be fulfilled if our clients, families, and staff feel respected, included, and valued because of their differences—not despite. Below are some ways we ensure diversity is imbued within our company culture:
- We nurture an environment in which employees at all levels of our organization feel empowered and encouraged by their peers, supervisors, and the ABC Leadership team to attain higher education, professional development, and career opportunities in which to contribute to the field of ABA from the perspective of diverse life experiences. ABC provides employee tuition benefits with online in the field of Psychology, as well as a robust and high-quality BCBA internship program to provide required experiences toward Board Certification in the field of Behavior Analysis. We realize that an inclusive therapy team can provide a diverse perspective and voice to clients.
- We provide services to clients regardless of gender, cultural, linguistic, economic, religious, and racial background. ABC staff have access to and, when necessary, utilize translation services for oral and written communication. As providers working in our client’s homes, if we are to be successful, we must collaborate with parents and caregivers to align ABA interventions for each client with their family culture. During intake, our BCBAs will ask questions about communication preferences, including the need for translation services and other communication support services, house expectations, and rules of conduct respectful of the family religion, family structure, family dynamics, and family values.
- We value neurodiversity as a natural form of human diversity and a vital part of the inclusive human mosaic. We reject the medical view of autism that categorizes motivational, cognitive, and sensory differences as symptoms of a disorder. All neurotypes have their own strengths and challenges. We believe that to thrive as a human being, a person must be seen and appreciated, especially by those who are there to help them. We harness our clients’ strengths and interests to teach them adaptive skills that promote self-determination and autistic flourishing. We are mindful that our stance on neurodiversity is a journey, requiring continual self-evaluation as we listen and learn from the populations whom we serve.
- Clients of all socio-economic backgrounds have need to access quality ABA services. We accept multiple payment options to allow for equity of access to care for client families experiencing economic hardships and low-income circumstances, including private insurance, Tricare military insurance, and Tennessee Medicaid BlueCare coverage. Client caregivers experiencing economic hardship have access to extended payment plans for co-payments and cost-shares upon request. When no insurance coverage is available for needed services, administrative staff will provide community resources to caregivers for applying for economic support in the form of grants and other financial opportunities.