Our guest, Ryan O’Donnell, went off to college in 2009 not knowing what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He found that he really enjoyed psychology classes & the science of behavior, so he stuck with that. And of those classes, he got the most out of studying behavioral science and pursued that through a Masters Degree.
During college he did some work with adults that had intellectual disabilities, which helped him see that the methods he was learning really did work. He got a lot of positive feedback from the work, and was glad to be making a difference in clients’ lives. That job also gave him his 1st exposure to autism.
When Ryan became a behavior analyst, he worked for 3 years with public schools and as an organizational behavior manager at a startup. He was one of the founders of Lodestone Academy, a program for autistic children in the Orlando area.
Ryan felt that there was a general lack of understanding of what BCBAs do… both the techniques and the outcomes. When he tried to explain his work to people outside the field, he found it difficult to do without using scientific jargon. That’s when he started looking into creating podcasts and videos.
The aim of Ryan’s media content varies. The podcast, Why We Do What We Do, focuses more on general psychology for a general audience. The Controversial Exchange podcast is indeed controversial and is meant for professional behaviorists.
Ryan runs a live event called ChattCon which is a discussion of the convergence of animal behaviors, human behaviors and technology. It’s beneficial to both parents of autistic individuals and professionals who work with them. The Daily BA video is directed to behavior analysts.
Ryan does some contract work with the Global Autism Project, and is in touch with other behavior analysts who are active with the group. He encourages people who do international work to commit to staying in a location for a week and really work with the professionals there. A one-day seminar doesn’t cut it.
Ryan recommends values clarification exercises to determine what you want to pursue and how to allocate your time. Also, stop to reflect weekly on whether you’re doing those things. If not, what can you do better next week?
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