Clinical Director

Ryan Pabico has been working with children and adults with developmental disabilities (e.g., autism, mental retardation, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) and related disabilities for over 10 years. He is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (Certification # 1-09-5286). Ryan received his B.A. degree in Psychology from the University of Nevada Reno in 2001.

Ryan received his M.S. degree at Georgia State University, in 2009 under the supervision of Laura Fredrick, Ph.D. and Henry Roane, Ph.D. There, Ryan received the Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award in recognition of a Master’s thesis of especially high quality and potential impact to the field of educational psychology.

Clinical Experience:

Ryan previously worked at the Marcus Autism Center (formally The Marcus Institute) in Atlanta, GA. During his seven-year tenure (2002-2009) at the Marcus Autism Center, Ryan supervised Bachelor, Master’s, and Pre Doctoral level clinicians in the assessment and treatment of individual’s with severe problem behavior (e.g., aggression, self-injury, property destruction). Ryan's clinical responsibilities included supervision of functional analyses, development of function-based interventions, treatment generalization, and caregiver/teacher training.

      While at the Marcus Autism Center Ryan was supervised by:

• Wayne W. Fisher, Ph.D. (now at Munroe-Meyer Institute)
• Cathleen C. Piazza, Ph.D. (now at Munroe-Meyer Institute)
• Henry S. Roane Ph.D., BCBA  (now at SUNY Upstate Medical University)
• Nathan A. Call, Ph.D., BCBA  (Marcus Autism Center)
• Meeta R. Patel, Ph.D., BCBA (now at Clinic 4 Kidz)
• Michael E. Kelley, Ph.D., BCBA (now at University of Southern Maine)
• Robert H. LaRue, Ph.D., BCBA (now at Rutgers University)
• M. Alice Shillingsburg, Ph.D., BCBA (Marcus Autism Center)

Ryan's research and clinical interests focuses on the intensive behavioral treatment of individuals with autism and related developmental disabilities. This includes the functional assessment and treatment of severe and challenging problem behaviors, conducting language assessments based upon The Verbal Behavior Milestones (VB-MAPP; Sundberg, 2007), language acquisition (i.e., verbal behavior), caregiver/teacher training, treatment generalization, and board certified behavioral training. 

Ryan has served as a guest reviewer for research manuscripts submitted to the peer reviewed Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,

Vitae

Publications:

Call, N.A., Pabico, R. S., & Lomas, J. E. (2009). Use of latency to problem behavior to evaluate demands for inclusion in functional analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 42, 723-728.

Falcomata, T. S., Roane, H. S. & Pabico, R. R. (2007). Unitentional stimulus control during the treatment of pica displayed by a young man with autism. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 1, 350-359.  

Patel, M. R., Piazza, C. C., Reed, G. K., Bachmeyer, M. H., Layer, S. A., & Pabico, R. S. (2006). An evaluation of a high-probability instructional sequence to increase acceptance of food and decrease inappropriate behavior in children with pediatric feeding disorders. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 7, 430-442.

Roane, H. S., Fisher, W. W., Sgro, G. M., Falcomata, T. S., & Pabico, R. R. (2004). An alternative method of thinning reinforcer delivery during differential reinforcement. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 37, 213-218.  

Research Manuscripts in Preparation: 

Pabico, R. S., Roane, H. S., & Fredrick, L. D. (In submission). A multicomponent evaluation of immediate and delayed punishment procedures 

Call, N. A., Pabico, R. S., Valentino, A. L., & Findley, A. (In submission). Differential reinforcement with and without blocking as treatments for elopement. 

Mangum, A., Roane, H. S., Fredrick, L. D., Pabico, R. R., & Veenstra, R. A. (In submission). Further evaluation of high- and low-ranked stimuli identified through stimulus preference assessments.