During Autism Acceptance Month, we’re spotlighting this behavior intervention developer, who is devoted to helping her students cope with stress — and even find joy. 

<p>During Autism Acceptance Month, we’d like to expand awareness around the positive impact of behavior analysis and intervention for students with autism and to celebrate one of our own, Jacqueline M., who is devoted to helping her students thrive.</p><h2>Helping Students with Autism Find Joy, Even During Times of Stress</h2><p>In the face of school closures due to the pandemic, Jacqueline has dedicated herself to ensuring her students have strategies to cope with stress – and even find some happiness. Here’s a success story she recently shared regarding a student who has autism:</p><p>“One win I've had with a student is being able to see her smile from the beginning of the session. We have been able to connect and work on strategies to get through this pandemic. At the start of the school year, she was visibly sad and per parent and student report, depressed about the school closures and feeling lonely. As the year has progressed, I have seen her start our sessions with a smile and excited to talk about her week and work on her behavior goal together.”</p><p>This is just one example of the work our professionals are doing to improve the lives of young people with autism. We’re proud to work with Jacqueline and honored that she has chosen Cross Country Education!</p><h2>Behavior Analysis and Intervention for Autism</h2><p>Behavior intervention developers like Jacqueline make a huge difference in the lives with students who have autism. The statistics show there is a demand for behavior intervention professionals and that they are effective in improving students’ lives.</p><p>1 in 54 children in the U.S. have been identified with autism spectrum disorder (<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CDC</a>) Early intervention supports healthy development and benefits across the lifespan (<a href="https://www.autismspeaks.org/autism-statistics-asd" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Autism Speaks</a>) Applied behavior analysis (ABA) has yielded the most promising results of any research area to date in the treatment of autism spectrum disorders (<a href="https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/50086184/j.rasd.2011.03.01420161103-20024-14u1dbc.pdf?1478204644=&amp;&amp;response-content-disposition=inline;+filename=Applied_behavior_analysis_in_Autism_Spec.pdf&amp;&amp;Expires=1618263126&amp;&amp;Signature=VBNYSC7pTjgxaBXnXRzsVhCORRos5Ft081syARolKk-rhGptk4pkk-2lBAiQDhm2GcBmJV6jAwPtQAG7-fLvaLlYzvomS~X7Qf4FAzRnAthw3IObtly9FXVdaGPvGgknxq1HhNmuV8HSY~aiSJ1YsWdeIObOODRYEnOj35YULRpO3D-SBe3wOC5bD3JUqYcRBKX4Cq0kv4vhawRMjn6O9OkjYLP9Ymk4EShvohCW~xc6NOn4z~BXs8LfAYfWqRA~b81c5NIeF35DOMOFM40LGQtmVF5onJwf6euTOPJx9cEtVBh0AmnhbZypCbCG3uHuRjlQIsCFTFq~LImgS~8GAA__&amp;&amp;Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Matson et al.</a>).</p><h2>Autism Acceptance Month</h2><p>To learn more about how you can expand awareness and acceptance around autism, visit <a href="https://www.autismacceptance.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">autismacceptance.org.</a></p><p><br></p>

Celebrating Behavior Intervention Developer Jacqueline M. During Autism Acceptance Month