CentralReach Announces Partnership with Spectrum Support Scholarship Fund

Program aims to bring more autistic adults into the ABA industry

 

Fort Lauderdale, FL – April 19, 2021 – CentralReach, the market-leading electronic medical record (EMR), practice management, and clinical solutions provider for applied behavior analysis (ABA) and related behavioral health practices, is proud to announce its new partnership with the Spectrum Support Scholarship fund.

 

Founded by Joy Johnson, M.Ed, M.S., BCBA, LBA, the scholarship fund provides participating autistic adults with free Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) training, certification, and employment placement to bring more autistic adults into the ABA field to participate in the intervention planning and implementation for autistic children. And as part of the new partnership, CentralReach will deliver its 40-hour RBT course free to all participants.

 

“Joy and Spectrum Support are delivering on a wonderful mission that will further the inclusion movement with the ABA space and something that aligns directly with CentralReach’s values. It was a no-brainer for us to partner with her and give what we could to ensure autistic voices play a central role in the future of ABA,” said CentralReach CEO, Chris Sullens. “Given the growth the industry has seen to date and the increase in the number of both clinicians and RBTs delivering care, the industry will benefit greatly from programs like Joy’s and I am certain that this is only the start of the client-first approach.”

 

Johnson, who is autistic herself, has benefited greatly from ABA therapy but has also seen how outdated practices that some professionals enforce such as prohibiting a behavior that is used for self-soothing can cause greater harm. With more autistics in the field, ABA organizations can more quickly work towards sustainable developments that will validate autistic voices, eliminate harm, and place the autistic community values and perspectives as a priority in determining social validity and ethics of practices in everyday operations. 

 

“In my efforts and contributions to academia, I also vow to do all that I can to engage in research that focuses on the key stakeholders that are the currently overlooked -- Autistic people,” said Johnson. “It is my hope that the efforts to engage the broader autism community will have advantages that directly translate into research findings that spur concrete changes in clinical practices. The scholarship fund is just the start of this change and I’m thrilled that CentralReach is donating its RBT course to support this important initiative.”

 

Johnson is also actively working on educating and arming parents and children with the information they need to know to ensure care is provided in a manner that ensures the goals and treatments properly respond to the interests and entitlements of the autistic person in an effort to reduce the dissemination of misinformation around the ethical ambiguity of ABA.

 

For more information about the Spectrum Scholarship fund, visit https://joyfjohnson.com/.  

 

More information about CentralReach can be found at https://centralreach.com/.