PATHWAY TO LEARNING

Kelly became interested in a career in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) when her young son diagnosed with ASD received ABA at age 3 years old and made significant gains in all areas of his development. She decided to change her career path and left the Nursing Degree to study Psychology. As part of her undergraduate placement Kelly worked in her local Special Educational Needs School 4 days a week working with pre-schoolers. She has been working as an ABA therapist since 2017 and has supported children within the community and in a SEN school setting with children aged between 2 to 10 years of age who have been nonverbal.

​

Kelly graduated with her MSc in Applied Behaviour Analysis at Ulster University Coleraine in 2019 with a distinction. Her dissertation examined the use of a predictive stimulus accompanied with delayed reinforcement to decrease inappropriate behaviours whilst increasing appropriate waiting behaviours with a child with ASD. Kelly is currently working towards her independent fieldwork hours supervised by Evelyn to become a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst. To date Kelly has acquired experience in dealing with challenging behaviours, PECs, Makaton, toilet training, pica, token economy systems, early sound production, and the Early Start Denver Model.

​

Kelly’s interest areas are PECs, verbal behaviour, Makaton, NET, DTT and behaviour management. She is dedicated to building on her knowledge and skill areas within the field of ABA by allocating time to researching, attending training events and supervisions. She strives to be an asset to the field of ABA and to empower the lives of children with ASD having first-hand personal experience of its benefits as well as professional experience.  She has been working as an independent PTL associate since 2020 and covers the Mid-Ulster area.