The Staff
The Director: Myra-Jade Lui, BCBA
I began training in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) in Toronto, in 2002. I was fortunate enough to start out in a rich and gratifying environment working as an instructor in a program that used a variety of evidence-based interventions such as Precision Teaching and Direct Instruction. The main focus of the program was teaching verbal behaviour using Skinner's analysis. This experience allowed me to see just how diverse an ABA program can be, and how teaching language could be so interesting, worthwhile, and enjoyable for both the learner and the teacher. I became fascinated with the very tangible results reached in children with autism using the principles of ABA and in particular Skinner's Analysis of Verbal Behaviour. I naturally decided to specialize in this field, seeking and obtaining my board certification as an Assistant Behaviour Analyst (BCaBA) in 2007 and then as a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) in 2011.
In 2008 I opened ASD Montreal in response to the growing need for quality ABA services in Montreal. I had worked as a consultant for some years previously for both the public and private sector, and saw so many problems associated with programs that were not supervised carefully, or implemented by serious and well-trained instructors. This is why I work hard to create quality services within our clinic, and how we are able to create and implement high quality programs for their children that look at functional language skills and improve their overall quality of life. In addition to this, as a practitioner who has been certified by the board parents can trust that their program is supervised by an individual who follows ethical codes of conduct and best practice as stated by the Behaviour Analysts Certification Board (BACB).
*Myra's past contracts include the West Montreal Readaptation Center, Lisette Dupras, Clinique-ABA, and the Miriam Home. She is currently consulting with the Miriam Home's center-based ABA program, (Learning to Learn) as the Clinical Supervisor. She is also a board member of the Quebec Association for Behaviour Analysis (QcABA), and is a regular contributor/writer for the bi-annual newsletter. To date she has worked with over 100 children with ASD.
Clinical Supervisor: Kirsty Robertson
Kirsty started her work as an ABA instructor/therapist with the West Montreal Readaption Center (CROM) in 2005 while she was a student at Concordia University. She continued this work after graduating in 2006 with a BA in Psychology (Major Psychology, Minor Applied Human Science). It was during this time that she met Myra who (who recognized her talents immediately!), and shortly after was invited to join the growing team of ASD Montreal. Throughout her career she has worked with roughly 50 children with autism both as an instructor/therapist and as a supervisor. She will complete her graduate level coursework in Applied Behaviour Analysis at the Florida Institute of Technology by the end of 2011 and continues her training as a Behaviour Analyst.
Kirsty has extensive experience with not only direct service for children with autism, but also supervisory responsibilities that include: evaluating children using the ABLLS-R and the VB-MAPP, developing and ensuring the correct implementation of Verbal Behaviour programs, the collection and analysis of data, parent training and consultation, training new instructor/therapists, shadow training, developing procedures to decrease problem behaviours (without the use of punishment), using the Direct Instruction curriculum for children with autism and other learning disabilities, and standard celeration charting. She recently attended Dr. Vince Carbone's Advanced Consultant's workshop in White Plains, NY.
The Instructors
ASD Montreal prides itself on the high quality of our instruction. As described before, this comes from ongoing supervision by a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst and constant supervision of the Clinical Supervisor, as well as from the extensive and continuing training of the instructors. Instructors have undergone a comprehensive training which lasts several weeks, during which a mixture of theory, observation, and practicum takes place. It is common in our field that instructors are placed with children after only a few hours of theoretical training, and even this can come at the client's expense. With the luxury of a clinic-based environment from which to train, we fully take advantage of having all of the necessary resources available to do a thorough and responsible training for each new staff member. We believe that this kind of intensive training is the foundation to becoming an effective instructor, in combination with regular evaluations to assess their skills. Their work is closely monitored, and they are gradually given more and more autonomy as their abilities allow. As a small clinic we believe that quality is essential over quantity, and despite requests to open up more spaces, we will do this only if we feel the quality of our work will not suffer.
The instructors at the clinic are university graduates (both Bachelors and Masters), who are pursuing a career either in the field of Behaviour Analysis, or in related fields such as Special Education or Psychology. We strive to hire staff who are interested in pursuing professional careers as behaviour analysts, and are in the process of the coursework and/or supervision requirements necessary.
Most of them are bilingual, which makes ASD Montreal proud to offer instruction in French, English, and Spanish.
Contact us:
If you are a parent who is interested in the ASD Montreal Clinic, call or email us to make an appointment to visit.
There are no charges or fees for this initial visit which will last about 30-60 minutes, and it offers parents the chance to see if the Clinic is an environment they can envision their child in. It will also allow parents to see what the Verbal Behaviour Protocol that they have read about looks like in practice.
For this first visit we recommend coming without your child so that parents have time to absorb all of the pertinent information, and to ask questions. Most parents we meet are usually in the early stages of looking for services after having just received a diagnosis, so questions are usually abundant. We look forward to the opportunity to answer them and to offer more information about the difficult next steps of the long road ahead, even if it means directing them to other clinics or practitioners if parents do not see the clinic as appropriate for their child.
