Co-Founder of ONTABA, Gerry Bernicky, and the Growth of ABA (Ep. 3) becomes clinically important the moment a team has to turn good intentions into reliable action inside clinic sessions and day-to-day service delivery, community routines and natural environments.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via Ontario Association for Behaviour Analysis
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Join Free →Gerry Bernicky is a behaviour clinician based out of Toronto with over 30 years of experience. First starting as an IT in 1988 in community agencies, and scaling the position ladder, ultimately implementing OBM services for community agencies to improve their delivery of support for residents. In 1995, Mr. Bernicky joined an acquired brain injury program in a hospital as an integral part of a team helping Canadians return to Canada from US treatment centres, and delivered ABA services in a hospital setting. He then went on to become an independent clinician, providing IBI clinical oversight to home-based IBI programs. He has also worked within the many re-creations of the current OAP program. Currently, Mr. Bernicky is the director of the TRE-ADD program, the School Support Program and the Training ASD services. Mr. Bernicky has also been heavily involved with ONTABA and was one of the founding members. He is a past president of the ONTABA board and was a member of the team that facilitated the alternative pathway for BCBA in Ontario. He also helped organize the first, and only, ABAI conference outside of the US, which took place in Toronto and has helped other ABAI-affiliated chapters become established sharing his experience as a founding member of ONTABA. Mr. Bernicky has presented over 60 times at ABAI and other professional conferences across North America, and was a key player in establishing a small ABA conference for staff development, ABAJAM. Mr. Bernicky has also supported the first expansion of the BST program at George Brown College and supported the original course content for the coursework which led to an autism and behavioural sciences college certificate. He also taught part-time at George Brown College and helped develop and teach the first OBM course in the college.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1 | General |
| COA | 1 | — |
Jaime Santana is an experienced provider in the field of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), delivering effective services to his clients. With an undergraduate degree in Psychology from York University and a Masters in Applied Disability Studies with a focus on ABA from Brock University, Jaime understands the importance of ensuring that programming is tailored to the needs and existing skill set of his clients. Jaime has focused his career on working with youth and adults, since he understands the importance of providing quality services to this underserviced, and often forgotten about, population. Jaime’s work has also focused on teaching functional academics, community skills, social skills, vocational skills, and daily living skills that help promote and establish independence and productivity in his clients, while ensuring that this is all based on the preferences and goals of the client. Jaime is also a firm believer in precision measurement and effective teaching, which is why he uses precision teaching and the standard celeration chart to deliver and track the progress of services. He wants to ensure his clients, supervisees, and other clinicians benefit from these as well. Jaime believes in and advocates strongly for compassionate care, and delivering services that are values driven. Due to this, Jaime has developed his skill with Acceptance and Commitment Training interventions that would help his clients overcome the impacts of anxiety. Over the years, Jaime has also dedicated his time to advocate for a needs-based, evidence-based Ontario Autism Program, to ensure that children and youth receive the services they need to thrive in their communities, and take control of their lives, ensuring success and independence, whatever that may mean and look like for the individual. Jaime is the current President for the Ontario Association for Behaviour Analysis (ONTABA), the largest ABA professional association in Canada. Through his role as president, Jaime has met directly with provincial ministries to advocate for change. Furthermore, Jaime was part of multiple working groups that supported the development of documents and guidelines for the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario leading up to the regulation of behaviour analysts in Ontario. Through advocacy, volunteering, and dedication to the field of ABA, Jaime has had the opportunity to learn, develop, and refine his skills under the supervision and mentorship of some of the brightest ABA minds in Ontario, and he hopes to continue his path of learning, development and growth, all in the hopes that this will lead to more successful interventions for his clients and their families. In 2021 Jaime’s efforts were recognized by ONTABA, and he was one of 3 recipients for the President’s Award for Service Excellence.
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
279 research articles with practitioner takeaways
239 research articles with practitioner takeaways
194 research articles with practitioner takeaways
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All behavior-analytic intervention is individualized. The information on this page is for educational purposes and does not constitute clinical advice. Treatment decisions should be informed by the best available published research, individualized assessment, and obtained with the informed consent of the client or their legal guardian. Behavior analysts are responsible for practicing within the boundaries of their competence and adhering to the BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts.