Behavior Support

Heather Skeen founded Providence Behavior Therapy in 2019. She is a board certified behavior analyst (BCBA) and a licensed behavior analyst (LBA) in Texas. She's been in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) since 2009. Over the course of her career Heather has worked in various-sized private agencies as well as a state Deaf school.

Heather has provided behavior therapy and related services in clinics, homes, community settings (e.g., stores, parks, restaurants), schools, and daycares. She has worked with children, adolescents, and adults, specializing in toddlers through teenagers. Additionally, she has experience serving the Deaf/hard of hearing community and has been learning and using American Sign Language (ASL) daily since 2015.

Heather completed her undergraduate degrees in Psychology and English at Aurora University in 2009 and graduated from Valparaiso University in 2011 with a Master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. In 2013, she earned her ABA certificate from Florida Institute of Technology. She became a BCBA in 2014.

Populations:

• Autism
• Challenging behavior, including aggression, elopement, tantrums, property destruction, and self-injurious behavior (SIB)
• Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD)
• Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
• Co-occurring mood disorders
• Deaf/hard of hearing community

Common topics:

• Behavior management
• Functional communication training
• Autism support
• Toilet training
• Coping skills
• Social skills
• Parent support and training

Emma officially joined our team in January 2021 after hosting a PBT-sponsored community workshop on tips and tricks for encouraging communication for late talkers in the fall of 2020. She is a nationally certified and Texas-state licensed Speech-Language Pathologist. 

During her professional career she has gained experience in the treatment and evaluation of children with a variety of communication disorders. Emma found her passion for speech pathology through learning American Sign Language (ASL) at Purdue University and working with the deaf and hard of hearing populations. Emma currently has experience supporting patients who utilize hearing aids, bone anchored hearing aids (BAHAs), cochlear implants, and hearing kids of deaf adults (KODAs). 

Emma completed her undergraduate degree in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences at Purdue University and received her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology with a minor in Audiology from the University of North Texas in 2013. She became a certified and licensed Speech-Language Pathologist in 2014.

Primary populations:

• Receptive-expressive language disorders
• Articulation and phonological disorders
• Mild swallowing/feeding disorders
• Oral motor deficits
• Deaf/hard of hearing community
• KODAs

Secondary populations:

• Learning disabilities
• Dyslexia
• Sensory processing deficits
• Autism
• ADHD
• Intellectual disabilities
• Other health impairments

Common topics:

• Managing behavior while encouraging communication to minimize meltdowns/frustrations
• Developmental language progression
• Social skills
• Parent training
• Functional communication training