Episode description

Welcome to Session 103 of The Behavioral Observations Podcast!

What you’re about to hear is my follow up interview with Dr. Kim Berens from Fit Learning. I spoke with her way back in Session 44, which went out in January of 2018.

This interview was conducted at the First Annual Tate Behavioral Conference, which was held in Springfield, Massachusetts, back in October of 2019. As an aside, during the interview itself, I reference our location as Springfield, New Hampshire… which was probably stuck in my mind because it’s two towns over from where I live. So to be clear, this did take place in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Kim and I covered a ton of ground in this podcast, and, as you’ll see, she doesn’t hold back from sharing her opinions. In particular, we talk about her views on Board Certification of Behavior Analysts, and why she let hers lapse, how Fit Learning is using mindfulness activities to improve learning in their students, as well as her take on the American educational system.

With regard to the latter, she references a book she has written on the subject. At the time of the conference, she was not able to share the title, but now I’m able to announce that the book will be called, Blind Spots: What you don’t know you don’t know about American Education. I don’t have a specific release date yet, but I think she’s shooting for the book to be available sometime in the fall of 2020.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to thank the folks who made this all happen, and that’s Christina Tatreau, Kelley St. Clair, and the rest of the awesome people at Tate Behavioral. They were awesome hosts, and they put on an amazing and informative event. When I was down in Springfield, I had a chance to meet many of their employees, and it seems like they’ve really developed a positive culture. To learn more about them, check out tatebehavioral.com.

Today’s episode is sponsored by the following:

• The University of Cincinnati Online. The UC Online program can be a rewarding way to advance in your career. Gain the cutting-edge knowledge and skills so you can help others while increasing your career options and earning potential. For more information, please visit behavioranalysisuc.online for more information.
• Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings and podcast-specific discounts over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.
• GoLotus. GoLotus is an easy to use, intuitive practice management platform. From scheduling, to notes, to data collection and more, they do it all. And with no contracts or obligations. Find out more about what they have to offer at golotus.com/register. And If you do sign up, tell them use the coupon code Matt2019 and you will get 25% off for the first 3 months.
• Last but not least, Session 103 is brought to you by the ACT for HFA workshop that’s being held in Santa Ana, CA on February 7-9th in Santa Ana, CA. Check out connections-behavior.com/events/act4hfa for more info, and if it’s something you want to attend, use the promo code podcast 25!