{"id":91,"date":"2018-12-06T15:51:33","date_gmt":"2018-12-06T20:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/online\/?p=91"},"modified":"2020-06-19T15:40:51","modified_gmt":"2020-06-19T19:40:51","slug":"graham-finds-purpose-in-aba-therapy-when-she-sees-its-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/online\/2018\/12\/graham-finds-purpose-in-aba-therapy-when-she-sees-its-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Graham Finds Purpose in ABA Therapy When She Sees Its Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

After finishing her bachelor\u2019s degree, Melissa Johnson Graham was, in her own words, \u201clooking for a path and a purpose.\u201d That path brought her back to her hometown of Muncie, Indiana, and she found purpose when she began working at a local applied behavior analysis (ABA) clinic as a behavioral therapist.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was there I fell in love with ABA therapy after seeing the significant impact it had on behavior and how drastically it improved the quality of life for the kiddos and their families,\u201d says Graham, who today is executive director of Muncie\u2019s Engaging Minds Autism Services.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunities are struggling to keep up with the demand because so many families are in need,\u201d she says. \u201c[As of 2018], Delaware County [where Engaging Minds is based] has 1,952 individuals living with autism and 310 school-age children living with autism.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2012, Graham met the parents of two boys with autism living in Kokomo, about 60 miles northeast of Muncie. Because of the lack of quality ABA therapy in their city, the family was driving four hours each day to find the intensive treatment they needed. After identifying the extensive need in their county, the parents founded Engaging Minds with Graham\u2019s assistance in Kokomo.<\/p>\n

Graham worked in that clinic as an ABA therapist for two years before returning to Muncie in 2014 to launch a second Engaging Minds as executive director and begin her master\u2019s in applied behavior analysis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy primary goal is to support the people who make this happen,\u201d says Graham. \u201cThat includes the staff, the clients and their families. We consider each person family, and we strive to treat them as we would our own families.\u201d<\/p>\n

When she first became aware of this need and the fact that ABA therapy is the only scientifically proven, research-based effective treatment for autism, Graham enrolled in Ball State University\u2019s master\u2019s degree in applied behavior analysis with an emphasis in autism. The program is offered fully online.<\/p>\n

Studying online meant she could continue working full time in the field and get hands-on experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would not have been able to manage both work and on-campus courses at the same time,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Graham liked the idea that Ball State faculty worked in the Muncie area.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of my professors were local and worked right here in the community,\u201d she says. \u201cI was able to learn ABA from those individuals impacting the families right here in my own hometown.\u201d<\/p>\n

The master\u2019s degree that Graham earned gave her the course work requirements to become eligible for the Board Certified Behavior Analyst Examination (BCBA) and graduate-level certification in behavior analysis. BCBAs are independent practitioners who supervise BCaBAs. Ball State has one of the largest master’s degree programs in ABA in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After finishing her bachelor\u2019s degree, Melissa Johnson Graham was, in her own words, \u201clooking for a path and a purpose.\u201d That path brought her back to her hometown of Muncie, Indiana, and she found purpose when she began working at a local applied behavior analysis (ABA) clinic as a behavioral therapist. \u201cIt was there I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":156,"featured_media":92,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[23,22,68,7],"class_list":["post-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-and-faculty-stories","tag-aba","tag-applied-behavior-analysis","tag-bcba","tag-masters"],"yoast_head":"\nGraham Finds Purpose in ABA Therapy When She Sees Its Impact - Ball State Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Beginning her master\u2019s in applied behavior analysis, Melissa Johnson Graham served a community with more than 300 school-age children diagnosed with autism.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/online\/2018\/12\/graham-finds-purpose-in-aba-therapy-when-she-sees-its-impact\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Graham Finds Purpose in ABA Therapy When She Sees Its Impact - Ball State Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Beginning her master\u2019s in applied behavior analysis, Melissa Johnson Graham served a community with more than 300 school-age children diagnosed with autism.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/online\/2018\/12\/graham-finds-purpose-in-aba-therapy-when-she-sees-its-impact\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ball State Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-06T20:51:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-19T19:40:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.blogs.bsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/11\/06155051\/OSL_2018-607.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jack W. 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