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Episode 1
Advancing Early Intervention Through NDBI
About This Episode
In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Becky, a clinical psychologist and doctoral‑level Board Certified Behavior Analyst with over two decades of experience supporting autistic individuals and their families. Dr. Becky shares her professional journey, beginning with her early work at the Wisconsin Early Autism Project (WEAP) — inspired by her mother, WEAP’s first administrative employee — to her current leadership role overseeing early intervention services and staff training. Her story reflects the broader shift in autism intervention: from serving mostly school‑aged children with traditional tabletop ABA to meeting the needs of much younger learners through Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBIs).
Advancing Early Intervention Through NDBI
Dr. Rebecca Thompson
About Our Guest Speaker
Dr. Rebecca Thompson
Known as “Dr. Becky,” Rebecca Thompson is the senior director of advocacy for LEARN Behavioral, the parent company of the Wisconsin Early Autism Project (WEAP). She leads strategic initiatives to expand access to autism services nationwide while continuing to support clinical training and mentor emerging behavior analysts. Dr. Becky began her career with WEAP at age 18, inspired by her mother, one of the organization’s first administrative staff members. She quickly discovered her passion for helping young autistic children build essential life skills. Today, she is developing a strategic advocacy plan across the 17 states LEARN serves, combining her expertise in high-quality ABA with her commitment to equity in healthcare access. Through her advocacy efforts, Dr. Becky aims to support LEARN families and broaden access to autism services for communities across the country.
Show Notes
In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Becky, a clinical psychologist and doctoral‑level Board Certified Behavior Analyst with over two decades of experience supporting autistic individuals and their families. Dr. Becky shares her professional journey, beginning with her early work at the Wisconsin Early Autism Project (WEAP) — inspired by her mother, WEAP’s first administrative employee — to her current leadership role overseeing early intervention services and staff training. Her story reflects the broader shift in autism intervention: from serving mostly school‑aged children with traditional tabletop ABA to meeting the needs of much younger learners through Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBIs).
Episode Highlights:
The Shift to Serving Younger Children – How increased early identification and referrals for toddlers changed service delivery needs.
Incorporating the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) – How WEAP invested in ESDM training for BCBAs, integrating its assessment tools and play‑based, intentional teaching into everyday practice.
Developing NDBI Training Across the Learn Behavioral Network – A collaborative, asynchronous training program for BCBAs and technicians covering child development, NDBI foundations, and strategies for supporting regulation, engagement, and communication.
Implementation Research & Results – How pre‑ and post‑training surveys and fidelity checks showed significant gains in practitioner confidence, communication‑building, and “positive affect” — a key ingredient in making social interaction reinforcing for young learners.
Clarifying What NDBI Is (and Isn’t) – NDBI isn’t “just play”; it’s a precise, co‑constructed, and developmentally appropriate teaching approach for young children, requiring active engagement and creativity.
Challenges in Implementation – Overcoming the perception gap, training paraprofessionals in less prescriptive methods, and the physical demands of high‑engagement work.
The Importance of a Community of Practice – Why practitioners need peer support, resource‑sharing, and ongoing collaboration to sustain quality NDBI implementation.
Episode Resources
Episode Resources
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