139. Responsive Skills Training: An Autistic-Informed Curriculum, with Our CEO Molly Ola Pinney and Ann Beirne

Discover what’s possible when you work kinder, not harder. 

Today we’re bringing back the CEO and Founder of the Global Autism Project, Molly Ola Pinney, along with the organization’s Head of University and Training Programs, Ann Beirne.

For the past several months, Ann and I have been working together on a very special project. We’ve developed Responsive Skills Training, a curriculum for entry-level autism service providers that teaches the required skills for the RBT, IBT, and ABAT credentials. 

This course was co-created with the Autistic community to transform the way in which services are provided across the world. Our committee of contributors included prominent self-advocates, such as Temple Grandin and Stephen Shore, different family members, like parents and siblings, and a wide range of professionals, including speech therapists, occupational therapists, and transition specialists. 

Our purpose with Responsive Skills Training, or RST for short, is to give entry-level service providers a more well-rounded understanding of autism by hearing directly from those with lived experiences. 

In today’s conversation, we discuss: 

• Why we decided to create RST
• The needs of the international community
• The importance of listening to autistic voices
• Reforming Applied Behavior Analysis to include neurodiversity-affirming practices
• The process of co-creating RST with a committee of contributors 

After the conversation with Molly and Ann, you’ll also hear testimonies from several RST contributors about why they decided to join this project. These were recorded in the field during our last SkillCorps volunteer trip to Kenya in March. 

Featured RST contributors:

Andrew Bennett, Autistic Self-Advocate, BCaBA (US)

Mafer Chang, Director/Founder of Centro Enigma (Ecuador)

Alexis Sevieri, Sibling Advocate, RBT (US)

Laura Leonard, BCBA (US)

Sangeeta Jain, Vice Principal of SOREM (India)

To learn more about the Global Autism Project’s Responsive Skills Training, please visit globalautismproject.org/rst. 

Related episodes:

109. Stop the Shock, with Anne Beirne and Brian Middleton

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