Home Training

Kirsten Kennedy *** Broadway Brooklyn, New York Home: 703-***-**** - Cell: 703-***-**** : *******.**************.*******@*****.***

Objective

I am an experienced ABA therapist working as a lead instructor in the homes that I currently work in. I have a bachelor’s degree from George Mason in psychology, and I am currently preparing to sit for the BcABA exam.

Summary of Skills

- Provide 1:1 and group ABA instruction to children on the autism spectrum in their home and community settings under the supervision of a BCBA

- Implement schedule training for children with autism in order to increase independence

- Implement ABA skill acquisition programs in order to increase verbal behavior and functional life skills.

- Implement behavior intervention plans (BIPs) to decrease aberrant behavior and increase appropriate behavior

- Collect and organize data each session to ensure the child's home based program is current and efficient

- Attend team meetings to review the student's progress and behaviors

- Train and direct new support staff in the implementation of ABA programs and behavior intervention plans

- Conducting and running discrete trial

Experience

Behavior Modification:

Lead ABA Instructor

Experienced in training other therapists

Running tabletop programs

Running programs focused toward independent life skills

Experience in working with non-verbal children

Experience with Pecs

Experience with Proloque

Experience with Speak For Yourself

Experience with running RIRD

Education and Coursework

‘

George Mason University 2006-2013

Fairfax, VA, USA

Graduated in 2013 from George Mason with a degree in Psychology

Took coursework and completed internship required to sit for the BcABA exam

Volunteer for the Humane Society of Fairfax and the Catherine Hannely Shelter

HS Diploma from Paul VI Catholic High School

Work History

Bridge Kids New York

October 2015- current

Currently I am working with Bridge Kids New York. I so far have one family in which I meet with twice a week, as well as assist in a social group. For the family that I do have sessions are done in home, and we are focusing on targeting and reducing specific behaviors as well as carrying out a schedule. At the social group, in which I assist, sessions involve working on the children of the group playing games with one another while waiting for and taking turns, making eye contact when speaking with their peers, commenting and opening up many opportunities for dialogue amongst their group of peers.

Autism Learning Center

January 2015- September 2015

ABA Therapist with a Caseload of 7 Families: throughout Northern VA

At ALC I have been given 7 different families that I run sessions with all in home. The current clients I run sessions with range from ages 2 to 9. Each client I currently work with has programs that I am running that are geared towards more play based activities, making eye contact, responding to their name, with more educational based goals set in each of their programs as well involving programs such as receptive instructions, receptive labels, expressive labels, and many more. Along with many different discrete trial programs being run in each home, language devices were heavily used with a few of my families such as speak for yourself and pecs. My sessions with each family run three hours, and in a typical day I have two to three sessions a day, and a monthly team meeting for each family throughout the course of each month.

Behavioral Directions Summer Clinic

June 30, 2014- August 11, 2014

Head Instructor of Clinic- Herndon, VA

I ran a summer clinic at the practice Behavioral Directions that lasted over the course of two months. There at the summer clinic I provided 1:1 instruction to different clients while carrying out behavior intervention plans.

ABA Therapist for Family Home

September 2012- January 2015

Free lance – Sterling, VA

I currently work for a family in Sterling, VA with one autistic child. I am currently the lead instructor for this family, where I run discrete trial throughout my entire session. Such programs being ran are focused on mainly social skills, including programs such as describing items, wh questions, how questions, name an activity by sequence, etc., while also focusing on reading programs as well as math. While running these programs a DRL and DRO are also ran along with such programs.

ABA Therapist for Family Home

January 2012- Current

Free lance – Sterling, VA

I currently work with a family in Sterling, VA with three autistic boys where I am the lead ABA instructor, in which I have provided training to former and current ABA therapists working for the home. While there the focus is geared towards building on daily living independent skills. While there procedures such as a DRO and RIRD are conducted throughout sessions.

Tutor for a child with aspergers

January 2011 to June 2011

free lance – fairfax, va

The child I tutored with Asperger’s was a young woman that was struggling in English, while trying to graduate from college. I tutored her for five months, where I helped her to graduate and ultimately graduate with straight A’s. Although English was a very sore subject for her, she now attends Northern Virginia Community College, where she is doing so well that she is even taking an honor’s English class. With a lot of patience, and a lot of hard work, I helped this young lady in receiving her diploma. This job taught me a great deal about patience, hard work, listening, and really communicating. As well as having Asperger’s this young girl also had hearing loss, and therefore learning to communicate with her and understand her, as well as helping guide her was challenging and yet very rewarding in the end.

Extra-Curricular Activities

I love to travel. Last year my boyfriend and I drove across the country. In two weeks we drove from the D.C. area to California, and stopped and slept in ten different major cities. We enjoyed the road trip so much that just recently in August we went to Ireland, where we drove across the southern part of it in one week and stayed in five different cities. Along with traveling, I love yoga. I started doing yoga a few years ago, and I have noticed a big change in my entire self from yoga. Yoga has helped center me, it has kept me focused and calm in even stressful situations, and ultimately really relaxed me. By doing this form of exercise I have become such a more patient, calm, and understanding human being. Reading is another love of mine. I never pass up reading a good book. I recently finished the book best selling novel Room, and I am about to begin my next book, Lincoln. My last big love is socializing. I love meeting new people and talking to people. Whether it be out at a movie, shopping, or even something as wild as sky diving, I love being around people.

Keywords

Behavior modification, DRO, DRA, DRL, RIRD, punishment procedures, tabletop programs, daily independent living skills, reinforcement procedures, proloque, non-verbal, autism, aba therapy

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