Dr. Rita Honan is a Senior Lecturer in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities and Director of the Masters of Science Course in Counselling Psychology within the Psychology Department at Trinity College, Dublin. One of her areas of expertise is behavior analysis, particularly as it relates to children and adults with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and intellectual disabilities. Dr. Ian Grey is a part-time teaching/research lecturer who also has a background and keen interest in applied behavior analysis and developmental disabilities.
Drs. Honan and Grey will utilise the grant to initiate a course of training for undergraduate students that will ground them academically in the theories of learning and behavior analysis. This will be supplemented with instruction in autistic disorders and other developmental disabilities, and the application of ABA to these populations. It is envisioned that students would be required to interview to be included in this training and subsequent ‘paid’ work experience, and that this would be the beginning of an applied behavioural psychology learning track within the Department.
The training will be done in collaboration with two County Dublin agencies:, Beechpark Services for children with autistic disorders and their families; and Stewart’s Hospital School to offer both support to children and families and training to the undergraduates, who would function as home support workers. In this role, the Trinity students would be supervised in the development of behavioural support and education programmes and their implementation.
ABA is becoming increasingly visible and requested in Ireland with regard to the education of children with autism, and Europe as a whole is becoming more ‘behavioural.’ Drs. Honan and Grey look forward to using the grant to incorporate behavior analysis into the current focus of the Department.
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