Helping Find the Right Pieces to Your Puzzle – Behavioral Learning Center, Inc.

 Let’s face it, learning new things doesn’t come easy to many people, young or older.  While toddlers and young learners have one set of difficulties, adults may have other areas of concerns.  This is where Behavioral Learning Center, Inc. (BLC) comes in.  BLC provides behavior analytic services to children and adults with developmental disabilities and related conditions. Intervention is provided to their clients across school, home, and community environments depending on their needs and that of their caregivers. A functional behavior analysis is conducted by a BLC Senior Program Manager then an individualized treatment plan is created to address behavioral excesses and skill deficits.
“I read a quote at an early age that stuck with me, ‘If a person can’t learn by the way we teach, we should teach them the way they learn’. I knew I wanted to use that quote as my mantra for helping others,” says founder Danielle Sheehy.
Founded in 2007 by Clinical Directors and Board Certified Behavior Analysts Danielle Sheehy and Jody Stiegemeyer, Behavioral Learning Center, Inc. was established to provide numerous services to children and adults with developmental disabilities and related conditions.  BLC offers five programs including Discrete Trial Training (DTT), Intensive Applied Behavior Analysis, Adapted Skills (AST), In Home Parent Education and Social Skills Groups.  You can find more detailed information on each program on their website, www.blcca.com.  You may also complete a 16-hour parent education group class required by the North Los Angeles County Regional Center for parents wishing to receive intensive behavioral services and a current schedule of the classes available online.
“The goal of opening our own agency is to provide top quality services to children with developmental delays, particularly diagnosed with autism. Because both Danielle and I worked in the field as BTs ourselves, we knew that we could relate to our clinical team and always keep perspective on how challenging, yet rewarding, the field is,” says co-founder Jody Stiegemeyer, M.Sc., CCC-SLP, BCBA.  “We always wanted to stand behind an agency that we ourselves would go to if we had a child on the spectrum. For this reason, we customize each therapy program with the intention to provide the highest quality of service to be provided to our own child.  This is what always drives us to achieve better and to go further in providing the quality within our services.”
According to research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in 88 children in 2008 was identified as being on the autism spectrum. That’s up from one in 110 just two years earlier and one in 150 in 2002.  And now in 2016, the current report released showed that one in 68, among eight-year-old children, were identified with ASD.  And as more research is completed, it will open doors for services like those provided at BLC to become more widely available for those in need.
In fact, one Cornell University explained that the more an individual becomes successful at a skill, the less work your brain must do to repeat that function. Over time, the skill becomes automatic and you don’t need to think about what you’re doing. This allows your brain to move on to learning another skill or tool.  Programs like the Discrete Trial Teaching, are essential to tackling this type of learning.  In the program the facilitator breaks down complex skills or tasks into smaller and more manageable components so that the child is better able to learn and master the skills. Once skills are mastered, the behavior intervention team will target generalization and maintenance in order for these skills to maintain across various people and settings.
Behavioral Learning Center is also expanding their family.  They are currently looking to fill three positions in the Santa Clarita, San Fernando and Antelope Valley areas.  If you are available Monday through Friday, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. as well as Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and are a qualified Behavioral Technician/ABA Instructor, a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst or a Social Skills Facilitator, BLC wants to hear from you.  Experience is a plus.  For more information, and how to apply, please visit http://blcca.com/employment.html.
Behavioral Learning Center, Inc. have three locations to serve their clients: Santa Clarita Valley, 28245 Ave Crocker, Ste. 220 in Valencia, 661-254-7086; Antelope Valley, 1007 West Avenue M-14, Ste. C in Palmdale, 661-947-9554; and San Fernando Valley, 13400 Riverside Dr., Ste. 209 in Sherman Oaks, 818-308-6226.  You may also learn more online at www.blcca.com.