Episode 333 - (ETHICS) (LISTENER CHOICE) Risk Assessment w/ Dr. Stephanie Peterson, Dr. Rebecca Eldridge, + Dr. Neil Deochand

Meet Your Podcast Guests

Dr. Stephanie M. Peterson, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Western Michigan University. She previously served as chair of the Department of Psychology for eight years. She also serves as the executive director of the Western Michigan University Kalamazoo Autism Center. She earned her doctorate in special education at the University of Iowa in 1994. Previously, she taught at Gonzaga University, Utah State University, the Ohio State University and Idaho State University. Her primary research interests are helping to decrease chronic severe behavior problems in children with developmental disabilities. Specifically, she studies choice making in the treatment of problem behavior, functional communication training, reinforcement-based interventions for children with problem behavior, concurrent schedules of reinforcement in the treatment of severe problem behavior, functional analysis of problem behavior and teleconsultation. She also has interests in applications of behavior analysis to educational interventions and teacher and behavior analyst training. She has served on a variety of editorial boards, including the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and Behavior Analysis in Practice, and recently rotated off as the editor in chief of Behavior Analysis in Practice. She also served as a senior editor for Education and Treatment of Children for many years. She currently serves on the publications board for the Association for Behavior Analysis International, which oversees the seven journals operated by the association. She served two three-year terms on the board of directors for the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. For nearly 10 years, she has served and continues to serve as a subject matter expert for the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, most frequently serving on the disciplinary appeals committee. In the recent past, she was appointed by the governor of Michigan to the Michigan Board of Behavior Analysts, Michigan’s licensing board for behavior analysts. She served as the president of the board for two years. Neil Deochand received his PhD. in Psychology from Western Michigan University. He has worked as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in clinical and quality assurance roles. He is an Assistant Professor at Mississippi State University, where his Applied Behavior Innovation Laboratory focuses on how our behaviors influence health outcomes. Neil has received grant funding to prototype devices that intuitively deliver music-based conjugate feedback to improve exercise. His research focuses on integrating behavioral technology in our devices, whether they are for physical activity or encouraging ethical decision-making to support ABA practitioners. Dr. Becky Eldridge, BCBA-D is a mentor, consultant, and coach at Becky Eldridge Consulting, LLC, and a Research Specialist with the STAR (Supporting Transformative Autism Research) program at the University of Virginia. She earned her Ph.D. in behavior analysis from Western Michigan University in 2017 and has worked in a range of clinical leadership roles supporting autistic individuals and their families across home, school, hospital, clinic, and community settings. Becky is passionate about empowering new behavior analysts and strengthening compassionate, evidence-based practice. Her professional interests include FBA, FCT, practitioner decision making, telehealth, and interdisciplinary training. She serves on the Editorial Board for Behavior Analysis in Practice, and has previously held leadership roles in both AzABA and MiBAP.