The Future of ABA: Naturalistic, Collaborative, and Life-Ready at The Farm by Pediatrics Plus belongs in serious BCBA study because it shapes whether behavior-analytic decisions stay useful once they leave a clean training example and enter animal care routines, enrichment planning, staff consultation, and welfare review. For this course, the practical stakes show up in stronger welfare decisions, better staff uptake, and clearer use of behavior analysis in zoological settings, not in abstract discussion alone.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via Oklahoma Association for Behavior Analysis
Take This Course →Including ethics, supervision, and topics like this one. New live CEU every Wednesday.
Join Free →As the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) advances, the future demands innovative models that remain rooted in evidence-based practice while expanding into functional, holistic, and collaborative care. The Farm by Pediatrics Plus is a forward-thinking approach that delivers ABA in a real-life farm setting alongside occupational, physical, and speech therapy. This multidisciplinary, naturalistic model integrates Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBI) and other evidence-based ABA therapy strategies into meaningful daily activities — cooking, gardening, animal care, nature walks — that promote skill acquisition, generalization, and social validity from the very first session.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 0.5 | General |
Mary Garlington, MA, BCBA, LBA, MS, OTR/L Senior Vice President of Clinical Lines at Pediatrics Plus Mary Garlington is a board-certified behavior analyst and occupational therapist with nearly two decades of experience serving children with special needs. Since beginning her career in 2007 as an occupational therapist, Mary has worked across outpatient clinics, developmental preschools, public schools, and home- and community-based settings, providing comprehensive care to children with a wide range of developmental challenges. In 2016, Mary expanded her expertise by becoming a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), focusing her practice on children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). She currently serves as Senior Vice President of Clinical Lines, where she provides executive leadership across all clinical disciplines, including ABA, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, developmental preschool, and nursing services. In this role, she drives strategic vision, clinical excellence, and interdisciplinary collaboration across the organization. Mary is deeply committed to empowering families and clinicians with the knowledge and tools they need to support children with ASD. She has consulted extensively with professionals and caregivers and has presented workshops on autism treatment and best practices in both developmental and ABA therapy. Her passion lies in mentoring others and fostering collaborative, strength-based approaches that promote meaningful progress for every child. Outside of her professional life, Mary is a proud mom to two sons, ages 11 and 15. She finds joy in cheering them on at baseball and football games—often loudly from the stands, much to their embarrassment. Her personal experiences as a parent enrich her perspective and fuel her dedication to supporting families through all the seasons of life.
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
280 research articles with practitioner takeaways
279 research articles with practitioner takeaways
252 research articles with practitioner takeaways
You earn CEUs from a dozen different places. Upload any certificate — from here, your employer, conferences, wherever — and always know exactly where you stand. Learning, Ethics, Supervision, all handled.
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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.