About
Alina Michael is the ABA Fieldwork Coordinator for Ouachita Baptist University’s M.S. in ABA program.
She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst® (BCBA®) with a little over a decade of clinical experience in the field of ABA as a behavior
Technician, Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst® (BCaBA®), and BCBA®. In addition to her BCBA® certification, Alina is also certified as an Infant Toddler Developmental Specialist
(ITDS) and has had the opportunity to work with children as young as 18 months old
(and their parents) using a parent-focused training model. Alina earned her Bachelor
of Arts degree in Psychology at Florida International University and her Master of
Science in Psychology with a concentration in Applied Behavior Analysis at Purdue
University Global.
As a clinician, Alina has provided and overseen the delivery of ABA-based therapy
to children with autism and intellectual disabilities in home, community, school,
and center-based settings, and continues to provide ABA services to children, teens,
and adults with severe problem behaviors and behavioral disorders, as well as individuals
of all ages with multi-diagnosed psychiatric disorders. Alina’s also had the opportunity
to support families with children transitioning into adulthood. In addition to providing
and overseeing direct ABA services, Alina has served in leadership roles and provided
supervision, mentoring, and training support to numerous newly certified BCBA®s and BCaBA®s, group home direct care staff, behavior technicians, teachers, and ABA student supervisees.
Alina has served – and currently serves – as a committee member on the Agency of Persons
with Disabilities’ Local Review Committee in Broward County, FL for over 5 years.
Alina’s clinical areas of expertise include the assessment and treatment of severe
problem behavior in individuals of all ages and across populations, and behavior-analytic
supervision and training. Her current research interests consist of assessment and
treatment of problem behavior, particularly those associated with delay intolerance.
Alina has presented her applied research on this topic at the Florida Association
for Behavior Analysts (FABA). She has also collaborated with Dr. Horr on several research
projects related to impulsive choice and co-authored a peer-reviewed publication on
the assessment and treatment of perseverative speech with Dr. Horr. Alina’s goal is
to provide quality and effective behavior analytic supervision and training and contribute
more clinical research to this area.
Fun Facts
Why did you enter the teaching profession?
I love how the field of ABA is growing so rapidly. With that we need more mentors
out there to help guide future BCBA's on the right path. I enjoy providing that guidance
to the students.
What is a favorite moment of working with students at Ouachita?
I enjoy when a ABA concept finally clicks with a student and they are able to understand
how to incorporate what they are learning to everyday situations.
Areas of Expertise
- Assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior
- ABA supervision and training
- Research on Delay Tolerance
- Migan-Gandonou, Horr, J. A., Valdes-Michael, A.
- Functional analysis and non-contingent reinforcement with extinctions in the treatment
of perseverative speech
- Valdes, A. M., & Migan-Gandonou, J., A. (2018)
- Evaluation of a Delay Tolerance Intervention for Problem Behavior Maintained by Access
to Tangible Items. Poster presented at the 38th annual meeting of the Florida Association
for Behavior Analysis (FABA), Bonita Springs, FL.
Involvement
- Applied Behavior Analysis International
- Florida Applied Behavior Analysis