Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Strickland.
Jennifer, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
As a behavior analyst, I have had opportunities to gain experience in private clinics, public agencies, and school districts. I always wanted to create my own clinic where I could provide the kind of service I believed my clients deserved. I met our co-founder, John Pugh, while working in the school district. Our backgrounds and expertise were diverse. He specialized in severe behavior and myself in early childhood. Together we were able to start an Applied Behavior Analysis clinic that serves a wide array of children and adults on the autism spectrum.
Today, at just 7 years old, Behavior TLC is one of the larger ABA clinics in the Houston area. We have two clinic locations and a private school, Grand Oak Academy. All of our staff are certified by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. We provide one-on-one ABA intervention to clients ranging from birth to adulthood. We focus on comprehensive skills including language/communication, behavior reduction, vocational training, self-help skills, and school readiness. We invite the families to be highly involved and offer parent and sibling trainings as often as once per week.
My goal with Behavior TLC is always to provide the highest quality ABA service possible and to make a difference in the lives of our clients and their families. I am so proud to see each department of Behavior TLC grow and develop as we better serve the needs of our ABA and autism community.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Behavior TLC’s journey has of course not been smooth or easy. There have certainly been bumps in our path.
When we very first opened our doors we leased a tiny space in an office building with several other businesses. The population of clients we work with are not quiet and often are working through very difficult adjustments. One day, a mother was walking her 4 year old son to our office and he had a meltdown in the lobby. This child had just been diagnosed, was walking to a new place in a large building, and did not have the language to communicate his anxiety and frustration. Our office neighbor rudely scolded the mother to get her kid to be quiet, there were people trying to work. I was furious. This mom is doing her best and bringing her son to Behavior TLC so we can help him work on this exact behavior and a stranger felt it necessary to embarrass her and scare the child. We knew then we needed to grow big enough to have a storefront with no neighbors so our families would feel safe and cared for while on our property.
Our therapy is behavior analytic and is a covered medical necessity for people with autism. That means we work a lot with health insurance. Over the last few years it has grown more difficult to get our clients coverage as the insurance companies try to tighten their belts. This puts our clients out of services they desperately need to help them speak, use the restroom independently, go out into the community, make friends, and increase their overall quality of life. In Texas, Medicaid does not cover ABA at all. It is heartbreaking how many children could be more independent or have meaningful relationships if they had access to ABA therapy. We continue to work hard every day fighting for our clients’ rights to effective treatment.
Of course there are small struggles each day but it only motivates us to work harder to create a comprehensive therapy environment for each of our families.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Behavior TLC – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Behavior TLC is an Applied Behavior Analysis clinic. ABA is the most researched and most empirically effective treatment for those on the autism spectrum. ABA is a scientific method of observing and collecting data to be able to change behavior. Through data collection and analysis we are able to teach new skills and reduce problem behavior.
At Behavior TLC, we provide one-on-one ABA intervention for clients of all ages, all diagnoses, and all severity levels. We focus on assessment of skills and behavior to provide the most effective and comprehensive treatment. Skills target language and communication, self-help, fine and gross motor, feeding, and independence. We work on reducing problem behaviors such as aggression, self-injurious behaviors, disruptive behaviors, elopement (running away), and anything that is impeding the client’s ability to interact with their family or community.
We also have a school program called Grand Oak Academy. Grand Oak Academy specializes in educating those students on the spectrum whose needs are not being met by the school district. These students are in a classroom ratio of one staff to three students. Each classroom is taught by a certified teacher who is also dually certified in ABA along with support staff who are also certified behavior therapists. A full curriculum is covered while also providing the behavior support each student needs to be successful learners.
What sets Behavior TLC apart from others is without a doubt our staff. Our employees from case managers to Lead Therapists to technicians and the administrative team are people with character, compassion, and love for the field of ABA as well as our clients and their families.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Behavior TLC just completed two large expansions at both the Clear Lake and Northwest Houston locations. We are looking forward to settling in to those spaces and reducing our extensive waiting lists with our new classrooms and staff.
Future goals will be to expand Grand Oak Academy. The need in our area for a private school that caters to the unique needs of our autism community our so great. Our students often get lost in the public schools as there is not always a good fit classroom for them. Grand Oak Academy is able to provide that individualized education along with promoting those deficit behavior skills such as social communication.
Contact Info:
- Address: Clear Lake:
1001 Pineloch Drive, Suite 600, Houston, Texas, 77062Northwest:
11240 FM 1960 Rd West, Suite 209, Houston, Texas 77065 - Website: www.behaviortlc.com AND www.grandoakacademy.com
- Phone: 281-461-6888
- Email: jstrickland@behaviortlc.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BehaviorTLC/ AND https://www.facebook.com/BehaviorTLCNorthHouston/ AND https://www.facebook.com/grandoakacademy/
Image Credit:
Empire Creative Marketing ( http://empiread.com/ )
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