00:00 – Introduction
Amber
Well, hello. I am so excited to have you on today as a guest. Today’s guest is Dr. Gold. She is the CEO of Optimal Beginnings and she has her PhD and BCBA-D. What a privilege to have someone like you on. I'm so happy.
You have been a long-time advocate for autism and developmental disabilities, and you've spent nearly two decades designing behavior analytic programs that translate into real-life independence for children, teens, and young adults.
First off, Dr. Gold, thank you for being an ABA company that continues serving a wide age range. As we both know as BCBAs, many companies are no longer serving those older age groups.
Dana
Sure, of course. That cliff is real and it exists. We've tried to run that continuum for families or at least provide support so when a child transitions out of the services we provide, we're there to walk them through the next steps until they feel secure.
01:21
Amber: Can you answer for me how you got into the industry? How did you become a BCBA and what made you passionate about this field?
Dana
It’s actually a funny story. I was at George Washington University getting my bachelor's degree when my professor told me I needed to do an internship. I was 18 and didn’t even know what that meant.
I found a school called the Phillips School for Contemporary Education in Annandale, Virginia. At that time the program was called behavior modification. I stumbled into it and immediately felt like it made sense to me.
I’ve essentially stayed in that realm ever since. I’ve been in the field for about 32 years, though I’ve been a BCBA and BCBA-D for about 20 years.
After finishing my bachelor’s degree, I went back to school and earned a master’s in education focused on severe emotional and behavioral disorders. The program leaned more psychodynamic than behavioral, so I kept trying to infuse behavioral thinking into the work.
Eventually I moved to New York City, discovered ABA services in home-based settings, and really fell in love with the one-to-one work with families. That’s when I went back to Columbia University and completed my PhD.
Later, after working for others for a while, I decided to open my own company.
04:24
Amber
Wow. How long has your company been around?
Dana
In June it will be 19 years.
Amber
Congratulations!
Dana
Thank you. I had my first child, opened my business, and then had my second child. I always say Optimal Beginnings acts like my middle child.
05:05
Amber: What is one way you've built your treatment model to look like real life instead of a clinical bubble?
Dana
Traditional ABA is very adult-directed. One adult, one learner. The adult controls the contingencies and reinforcement.
But that doesn't mimic real life. Kids don’t live in a one-to-one environment. They’re in classrooms, playgrounds, and unpredictable social environments.
If we teach everything in a quiet room with one adult, we shouldn’t expect that skill to automatically transfer to a chaotic playground.
So at Optimal Beginnings we fully designed a group-based model. Our clinics mimic real environments where multiple children interact. Kids have to navigate real contingencies.
If one child takes the pink crayon another child wants, they have to decide how to respond. Do they ask for it back? Do they let it go and grab another one? Those are the adaptive decisions we want them to learn.
07:03
Amber
That’s why clinician-owned companies are so exciting. When BCBAs design clinics, the environment is built for treatment outcomes, not just maximizing hours.
07:58
Amber: What would it mean for your organization if growth didn’t require your constant presence? Are you able to work on the business now?
Dana
Yes. Over the years I’ve built a strong leadership structure. Each clinic has a senior BCBA, and we also have a remote quality assurance BCBA.
These clinicians have worked with me for five to seven years, so they understand how I think clinically. That allows me to focus more on systems and strategy rather than day-to-day operations.
We also built a proprietary level system to evaluate each client’s current functioning and guide programming that gradually increases independence.
For me, the goal isn’t whether a child can label colors or letters. The goal is how they respond in real-life situations.
If one child takes another child’s crayon, what happens next? That moment tells me far more about independence than academic labeling tasks.
10:06
Amber: Where do you see the biggest bottleneck in your systems right now?
Dana
Scheduling.
I wish we had a better system that didn’t rely so heavily on human input.
We have about 50 clients and 50 staff members. Coordinating all of those schedules is incredibly complex. Even with two front desk staff spending about 80 hours a week on scheduling, mistakes still happen.
Then you add in sick days, school closures, snow days, and doctor appointments. Everything constantly changes.
11:14
Amber
What system do you currently use for scheduling?
Dana
We use CentralReach for our core system, but scheduling is planned in Excel spreadsheets first. Then once we confirm attendance, we manually move everything into CentralReach.
It’s very redundant and time consuming.
12:03
Amber
I’m very passionate about continually improving our systems so we can deliver high-quality ABA. My own child benefited from great ABA services, so I want that same outcome for many families.
Dana
Absolutely.
12:34 – Closing
Amber
It has been so fun getting to know you. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your work and insights.
Dana
Of course. Thank you for having me.
