Focused Skills Intervention (ABA-SkIP)
Children receive individualized training designed to reduce problem behaviors and to develop age-appropriate social, self-help, school readiness, and language skills. Family members and caregivers also learn how to continue the training methods at home. Services are provided at the UHCL Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities and in the community.
This project is being funded through a grant awarded by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
To be eligible, children must be between the ages of 3 and 15 years and diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
To request services, contact Tessa Conaway at Conaway@uhcl.edu or 281-283-3452.
Director
Dorothea C. Lerman, PhD, BCBA-D
Dr. Lerman is currently a Professor of Behavior Analysis at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, where she coordinates a master's program in behavior analysis and serves as Director of the UHCL Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities. She received her doctoral degree in Psychology from the University of Florida in 1995, specializing in the experimental analysis of behavior.
Her areas of expertise include autism, developmental disabilities, early intervention, functional analysis, teacher and parent training, and treatment of severe behavior disorders. She currently oversees several programs at CADD, including a focused intervention program for children with autism, a vocational program for adults with disabilities, a student support program for college students with autism, and a teacher training program for local school districts. Dr. Lerman has published more than 100 research articles and chapters, served as Editor-in-Chief for The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and Behavior Analysis in Practice and has secured more than $2 million in grants and contracts to support her work. She was the recipient of the 2007 Distinguished Contribution to Applied Behavioral Research Award and the 2001 B.F. Skinner Award for New Researchers, awarded by Division 25 of the American Psychological Association. She also was named a Fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis-International in 2008. Dr. Lerman is a Licensed Behavior Analyst and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.
Tessa Conaway, MA, BCBA
Tessa Conaway is currently the Program Manager at the Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities where she supervises the graduate students in the ABA-SkIP clinic. Tessa received her master’s degree in Behavior Analysis from the University of Houston Clear Lake in 2019.