PHOTO: Dr. Kenneth Reeve and Dr. Sharon Reeve

Dr. Sharon A. Reeve, BCBA and Dr. Kenneth F. Reeve, BCBA, have been teaching fulltime at Caldwell College since 2001. They are the proud parents of two little boys, Billy (age 4), and Harry (age 2). Both Sharon and Ken earned their Ph.D.s in behavior analysis from the City University of New York.

Ken and Sharon are both Associate Professors in the Psychology Department. Sharon also coordinates the Post-Baccalaureate and Master of Arts Graduate Programs in ABA. . They serve on the advisory boards of a number of organizations involved with autism treatment and consult for various early intervention programs. Sharon’s research interests concern the teaching of social skills with children with autism while Ken’s are in the areas of concept formation. Ken and Sharon are also co-authors of a popular book about ABA, Behaviorspeak: A Glossary of Terms in Applied Behavior Analysis.

Training the New Autism Specialists
by Dr. Kenneth Reeve and Dr. Sharon Reeve

“My 2-year-old child doesn’t talk anymore.”
"My little one isn’t interested in interacting with anyone anymore.”
“My child seems so obsessed with the most trivial objects in his environment.”

These statements and many like them have crossed our paths numerous times in our years working in the field of autism treatment. Autism is a serious developmental disorder that affects a child’s ability to communicate, form relationships with others, and to respond appropriately to his or her surroundings. When we started working with children with autism in graduate school nearly two decades ago, almost no one had heard of the disorder. Now we hear about autism in the media almost every day. This may be due to the fact that the number of reported cases of autism has been increasing at an alarming rate in recent years. Though it is difficult to determine an exact number, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that as many as one in 150 children in the USA may have the disorder. More alarming, however, is the news that New Jersey has the highest incidence rate of autism in the country, with about one of every 94 children being diagnosed.

To those of us who work in the area of autism treatment and education in New Jersey, these numbers are actually not surprising. First, New Jersey leads the country in the number of educational assessments conducted for our children, thus promoting earlier and more accurate detection of autism. New Jersey is also home to some of the best autism awareness and advocacy organizations, such as the Center for Community and Outreach Services for the Autism Community (COSAC). Finally, some evidence suggests that many parents of children with autism are drawn to the Garden State to enroll their children in the highly regarded schools for autism, thus inflating the numbers.

Whatever the cause for the increase, what is clear is the dire need for autism specialists with appropriate training. Given our background in this area, we approached the administration of Caldwell College in 2004 with the idea of developing graduate training in an evidence-based intervention for autism known as applied behavior analysis or ABA. Based heavily on principles of learning uncovered in scientific research studies, ABA dramatically increases the amount of skills that children with autism can learn by breaking tasks down into more easily learned components and by providing a great deal of feedback to the child about how they are doing. A number of research studies have repeatedly shown that as much as 50% of children enrolled in an intensive ABA program may “recover” to such an extent that they no longer meet the diagnosis of autism.

For ABA to be effective, however, school programs must be staffed by highly trained professionals. More and more, schools for children with autism are hiring “BCBAs”, or Board Certified Behavior Analysts, to fill these positions. To become board certified, individuals must take extensive coursework in applied behavior analysis, do a lengthy practicum experience supervised by another BCBA, and pass a rigorous certification exam. The national certification in behavior analysis was developed by an independent professional organization, the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Inc.

Both the Post-Baccalaureate ABA program and the Masters Degree Program in ABA at Caldwell College provide students with the coursework necessary to sit for board certification. We are proud to have been able to develop the only Masters degree program in ABA in New Jersey. The coursework in the graduate ABA programs covers content areas related to principles of learning and how to successfully apply them to children with autism, ethics and professional standards, conducting research, and additional content such as addressing language and social deficits, and evaluating various treatments.

Since these graduate programs in ABA began, our enrollments have increased to over 75 students in just 2 years making it one of the largest graduate programs at Caldwell College. This has allowed us to hire two additional specialists in ABA and autism treatment as faculty members, Dr. Patrick Progar and Dr. Tina Sidener. In addition, a number of our students havenow completed their coursework and gone on to become board certified in behavior analysis. They are currently working in both public and private school programs for children with autism, serving as consultants for school districts, and working as independent home-program consultants.

On a weekly basis, we must receive about 5-6 calls inquiring about the availability of our graduate students to work for various autism programs. Clearly the need for these professionals is not abating in the least. By providing graduate study in ABA at Caldwell College, we should be able to contribute to the long-term solution of providing effective interventions for children with autism. It is our hope that, someday, no child with autism will be left behind.

For more information about autism, applied behavior analysis, and certification in ABA: