November 18, 2019 | UHCL Staff
When Lynsey Jackson received her bachelor’s in psychology, she wasn’t sure what her career path should be. After seeing a bulletin board with a flyer advertising an information session about working with children with autism, she thought it might be interesting. She was right: It led to her receiving her Master of Arts in Behavior Analysis from University of Houston-Clear Lake, and she believes she has found her life’s calling.
“I listened to a presentation by the president of an organization called Families for Effective Autism Treatment, and her son was there,” Jackson said. “He wandered around and kept coming over to me. I had long hair and he kept playing with it and touching it. This was my first interaction with a child with autism. He was nonverbal and I thought I would love to help him and kids like him.”
Afterward, Jackson said, the boy’s mother told her that her son had never taken to someone in that way. “She offered to train me and I began to work as the boy’s in-home therapist. After a year, I got more clients by word of mouth,” she said. “Later, the mother told me there was an opening in a clinic, and that’s how I started working in the clinical field as it relates to applied behavior analysis. It was serendipitous.”
After working in that clinic for a few years, she noted that other employees were getting promoted because they had formal education in the field of Applied Behavioral Analysis. “I thought that I’d been doing this awhile, so I should pursue further education in ABA,” she said. “I did a search and this is how I found (Professor of Behavior Analysis) Dorothea Lerman. I did more research and I found how prominent Dr. Lerman is in this field, so I when I saw that you could get a master’s degree at UH-Clear Lake and work with Dr. Lerman, I decided to go full on.”
As she progressed through the ABA program, Jackson said she began to grasp just how prominent her professor was. “(Associate Professor of Behavior Analysis) Jennifer Fritz came to UHCL while I was there, and I was able to work with her as well,” she said. “Each of them has areas in which they’re very strong, and it gives students a very well-rounded experience.”
She said she was surprised that she was one of the few students enrolled in the program who was actively working in a clinical practice while going to school. “It was great, because I got to apply what I learned immediately and directly to the work I was doing in the clinic,” she said. “What I loved about the program was the small class size. It was very discussion-based, and a very comfortable, nurturing environment in which to learn. I felt Dr. Lerman was someone I could approach and talk to, and it was very easy to talk about things I was dealing with in the clinic in class and get very professional consultation on my client cases.”
Others in her class who were not already in clinical practice were doing mocks, she added. “But I was really in practice, so I could get great feedback. I fell in love with this field and I got to see how ABA really works. Because of them, I am so well trained in what I do.”
Lerman’s heavy involvement, she added, and her true passion for the field taught her so much. “I see online programs and the difference in quality is apparent,” Jackson said. “I am so glad I had that face time and such individualized attention from Dr. Lerman and Dr. Fritz.”
(Associate Professor of Behavior Analysis) Sarah Lechago is now a consultant in Jackson’s clinical practice, called Endeavor Behavioral Institute, located in Spring Branch. “I’ve been in business for about five-and-a-half years,” she said. “Now I can work in a career that is really changing people’s lives. I get to work with children and families and it’s amazing every day. If I had not found this career, I’m not sure what I would have done because this is perfect for me. Dr. Lerman and Dr. Fritz were so inspirational with their passion, they helped me find my calling.
“And now, getting to work with Dr. Lechago, whom I didn't get to work with when I was at UHCL, is icing on the cake. Her unique knowledge of Verbal Behavior, an approach to therapy we implement at my clinic, is invaluable to my continued success in this field. Bringing Dr. Lechago's knowledge of Verbal Behavior, along with her strong research background, to the university is a huge benefit not only to the students that now attend, but to me as an alumna that she consults with by helping our procedures stay conceptually sound and effective. They truly are an amazing team of women, and without them and their guidance, I wouldn't be where I am today, nor would Endeavor Behavioral,” she added.
Read more about UHCL’S Behavior Analysis program online.
