Today we’d like to introduce you to Lynn Harting & Jessica Harting Thacker.
Hi Lynn & Jessica, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We are a mother-daughter team. Lynn has over 30 years experience as a small business owner in our hometown of Portsmouth, Ohio. Jessica is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with her master’s from Ball State University in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Therapy.
During Thanksgiving weekend 2021, we were talking about Jessica’s job. And she said that in Southern Ohio, there was nothing like the center where she was working; that services for children with an autistic diagnosis in the Southern Ohio community is severely underserved. She hoped to resolve this problem.
So that is what we have set out to do.
We have opened a Center for Autistic Children providing ABA Services. We also provide in-home and in-school services.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
People in our area have been so incredibly supportive. We have been able to purchase our building with the help of a local realtor and our locally owned-bank. Our contractor has been with us through the entire purchase and remodeling project.
The Portsmouth City School system has welcomed us into the schools to work with at-need children and to help train their teachers about Applied Behavior Analysis.
The area agencies have been very supportive in providing referrals. And our area pediatricians and other medical staff have also been very supportive in providing referrals.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We provide 3 different options for our therapy services –
1.) Center based (where the clients come to our center 3 – 6 hours a day in Portsmouth, Ohio)
2.) In-Home services (where the clients receive therapy in their homes 1 – 5 days a week)
3.) In-school services (where the contracted students receive therapy in the school 1 – 5 days a week).
We provide support and services to children and their support networks (parents, grandparents, teachers, guardians, and siblings). Our children are 2 – 14 years of age and have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. We use ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) Therapy to increase language and communication skills, Improve attention, focus, social skills, memory, and academics, and to decrease problem behaviors. Applied Behavior Analysis involves many techniques for understanding and changing behavior.
ABA is a flexible treatment: Can be adapted to meet the needs of each unique person
Provided in many different locations – at home, at school, and in the community
Teaches skills that are useful in everyday life
Can involve one-to-one teaching or group instruction
Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement is one of the main strategies used in ABA.
When a behavior is followed by something that is valued (a reward), a person is more likely to repeat that behavior. Over time, this encourages positive behavior change. First, the BCBA identifies a goal behavior. Each time the person uses the behavior or skill successfully, they get a reward. The reward is meaningful to the individual – examples include praise, a toy or book, watching a video, access to playground or other location, and more.
Positive rewards encourage the person to continue using the skill. Over time this leads to meaningful behavior change.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Our program is not “one size fits all.” ABA should not be viewed as a canned set of drills. Rather, each program is written to meet the needs of the individual learner.
The goal of any ABA program is to help each person work on skills that will help them become more independent and successful in the short term as well as in the future.
For us, success will be to help as many children and their “families” in our area as we possibly can to live full and happy lives.
Contact Info:
- Website: piecebypiecelearning.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/PieceByPieceLearningCenter
