A few years ago I was trying to think of a good name for a private practice and out of the blue the name LEARNING LAB popped into my head. I knew right away it was perfect because it captures every aspect of what I do. To begin with, what most people don't realize is that the science of behaviour analysis is actually the study of learning. Even as adults, every day in small ways our behaviour is shaped by our environment and our brains are learning something as simple as "yesterday when I added a tip to the jar before the barista made my coffee I got a heart on top". Young children's brains are wired for learning, they interact with the world in an effort to figure out, "how does this thing work?"
Children are especially in tune with learning LANGUAGE, which is what the L in LAB stands for. Language learning typically takes place so quickly for children that we don't notice it's happening, or even that we are teaching them language! Language learning is quick because the next question children have about the world is, "how do I get what I want?" Using language to ask for what you want is the most efficient method of actually getting what you want. Most of us take language for granted, until it's missing.
When language is missing, there is an alternative that allows us to get what we want: behaviour. For example, babies cry to get their needs met. Without the skills necessary to ask for a diaper change, babies cry and we try to figure out what they need. Crying is a behaviour that signals to a caregiver " something is wrong and you need to fix it!"As children get older, they usually discover that language is the most efficient and specific way to get their needs met. It's a lot easier to say or sign "milk" and get a bottle that it is to cry and hope that your parent comes over and figures out what you need. But for many children, language doesn't develop as effortlessly as it seems to for neurotypical kids, so they continue to use behaviour to get their wants and needs met. Often this behaviour is effective for the child but challenging for the parent.
As you may have guessed, the B in LAB stands for behaviour. Learning, Language and Behaviour is the name I chose for my practice because those are the areas I focus on as a behaviour scientist. The word LAB captures the science part of what I do. I love the science of behaviour because it allows me to make a hypothesis about why a behaviour is or is not happening, use evidence-based strategies to increase or decrease a target behaviour, and take data to know if my hypothesis is correct and my strategies are effective. I like to imagine myself in a white coat running little experiments in a lab, but the reality is that behaviour science is best practiced in context.
Behaviour cannot be predicted, analyzed, or changed outside of the context within which it typically occurs. For example, my coffee ordering behaviour typically occurs in the context of a coffee shop not a hardware store. This is where many intervention programs fail, they do not account for the context, and in early intervention, parents are the most important part of the context. This is the main reason I chose to provide services directly to parents, in an online format, using video observations, anecdotal information, as well as quantitative data collected by families.
I started Learning LAB to help families who are parenting in the context of children who are not sharing the expected trajectories for learning, language, and behaviour, whatever the reason. I do not need a diagnosis to tell me why your child cannot ask for what he wants and needs at the age of 3 in order to help your child learn how ask for what he wants and needs at the age of 3. Believe it or not, you already have the prerequisite skills AND time to teach your child how to get their needs met in the most adaptive way possible. Not all kids will be able to use verbal language, not all learning is quick, but in my experience, it is always possible to replace challenging behaviours with more adaptive ones.
My goal as a consultant is to help families create a context for their child to learn, to teach parenting strategies that are effective for all learners but especially neurodiverse ones, and develop positive behaviour patterns that allow families to thrive, no matter what the context.
As a scientist, I love research! I use evidence-based methods in my practice and am especially passionate about keeping up with new research in the fields of applied behaviour analysis, contextual behaviour science, autism, and mental health. I do not follow one particular approach, rather I pull from a variety of evidence-base methods and then put on my imaginary lab coat and take my own data to make sure what I have recommended works in the context of your child and family.
Check back here for blog posts where I discuss new research that excited me because it reflects and reinforces what I've seen working in the field over the past 30 year.
Cheers!
Pam
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