Beacon Services of Connecticut

11/27/2025

From all of us at Beacon, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

11/19/2025

Meet Danielle, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) at Beacon!

In her role, Danielle delivers individualized behavioral support to children with developmental delays. She empowers families through education and resources to help them feel confident and prepared as their child transitions from the Birth to Three program.

Our next employee spotlight could be YOU! If you’re interested in joining our team at Beacon, apply to one of our open positions!

https://www.beaconct.org/careers/

10/27/2025

Autumn is a perfect time of year to engage in outdoor sensory activities with your child to support skill development! Here are three activities that you can do with items found in and around your home to support your child’s learning.

10/15/2025

Meet Jocelyn, a Senior Board Certified Behavior Analyst in our Beacon Public Schools Division!

In her role, Jocelyn works with students across all ages, from preschool through high school in Applied Behavior Analysis and Emotional Disturbance based classrooms. She conducts Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA’s), develops Behavior Intervention Plans, and collaborates on academic, behavioral, and social emotional programming. Additionally, Jocelyn also trains both Beacon Behavior Therapists and district staff!

Our next employee spotlight could be YOU! If you’re interested in joining our team at Beacon, apply to one of our open positions!

https://www.beaconct.org/careers/

10/09/2025

10/06/2025

Our Early Intervention (EI) program supports children (ages birth to three) with developmental delays in their natural environments – including their homes, childcare centers, and surrounding communities. Our skilled clinicians coach families to integrate evidence-based strategies into everyday routines, helping children reach important milestones. Parents, caregivers, healthcare providers, or anyone with concerns about their child’s development can make a referral through 211 Child Development to begin the evaluation process.

For more information on the Birth to Three System or to make a referral, visit www.birth23.org or call (800) 505-7000.

For more information about our EI programs: https://www.beaconct.org/birth-to-three-early-intervention/

10/01/2025

We recently gathered for a fruitful day of growth and connection at our Annual Meeting! From professional development sessions to training in behavioral support strategies, we deepened our commitment to supporting families and empowering our team. The highlight of the day was the apple race, where we saw some competitive spirit and shared a lot of laughs!

Thank you everyone for a great day!

09/10/2025

Rapport building between a clinical therapist and client is an important component of Early Intervention (EI). Rapport building often involves pairing the therapist with preferred activities and attention while reducing task demands. This pairing results in the therapist being associated with enjoyable activities and interactions and may help reduce problem behaviors in subsequent sessions (Sundberg & Partington, 1998).

Despite the importance of developing rapport with clients, few studies have evaluated training strategies to teach therapists how to build rapport with new clients. Ensor et al. (2024) used behavior skills training (BST) to teach therapists a presession pairing protocol and examined the effects of pairing on interfering behavior for young autistic children receiving ABA in early intervention. All therapists learned the pairing skills within five sessions and the pairing procedure resulted in a reduction in interfering behaviors for all five participants. The findings underscore the importance of building rapport with clients and provide evidence that rapport building skills can be rapidly taught to therapists.

To read the full report:

Ensor, R., Riosa, P. B., Han Xiang Yu, K. (2024). Evaluation of a rapport-building intervention for early interventionists working with children on the autism spectrum, Behavioral Interventions, 39,(1), e1983. https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.1983

Sundberg, M. L., & Partington, J. W. (1998). Teaching language to children with autism or other developmental disabilities. Behaviour Analysts, Inc.

09/03/2025

Our School-Based ABA Partnership program helps local school districts provide specialized support for students with intensive educational needs. Beacon’s expert clinicians are trained in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and work directly with schools to offer:

⭐ Clinical support
⭐ Program development
⭐ Ongoing staff training

Our Licensed and Board-Certified Behavior Analysts (LBAs/BCBAs) collaborate with educators and administrators to help students with complex developmental and behavioral differences thrive in public school settings.

Visit our website to learn more: https://www.beaconct.org/school-based-partnership-programs/

08/20/2025

Beacon Services of Connecticut is excited to announce a new partnership with Elms College to enhance continuing education opportunities for our staff. Elms College, a distinguished private institution with nearly a century of excellence in education and social sciences, offers both undergraduate and graduate programs known for their academic rigor and commitment to service.

This collaboration builds on Beacon’s longstanding tradition of working with higher education institutions to offer our employees graduate-level coursework that leads to national certification and licensure in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). The practitioner-focused training model equips students with the skills and knowledge needed for successful careers in ABA, ultimately enhancing the quality of care we provide to our clients.

As part of this partnership, our experienced team of doctoral- and master’s-level clinicians will continue to serve as adjunct faculty in the ABA program, as decided by Elms College. Beacon staff will have the opportunity to pursue a Master’s in ABA through a flexible, blended learning format that includes live, synchronous online classes. We are proud to support this professional development with generous tuition assistance.

We are honored to collaborate with one of Massachusetts’ top graduate programs and look forward to a long and impactful relationship. Together, we are committed to preparing the next generation of leaders and practitioners in education and human services.

08/11/2025

Beacon’s Early Intervention (EI) program provides a range of supports for families with children under the age of 3 in their natural environments, including their homes, childcare centers, and surrounding communities.

Beacon’s team of early interventionists use coaching as a style of interaction to support families and caregivers with the child’s development within everyday activities and routines. Our team works closely with families to create and support outcomes that are important to the family with regards to their child’s development.

Anyone, including parents, who have a concern about a child’s development can make a referral through 211 Child Development to begin the process for an evaluation.

For more information on the Birth to Three System or to make a referral, visit www.birth23.org or call 1 (800) 505-7000.

For more information about our EI programs: https://www.beaconct.org/birth-to-three-early-intervention/

07/26/2025

Today, we honor the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - a landmark law that champions accessibility, inclusion, and equal opportunities for all. As an early intervention provider, we’re proud to support families and young children in building strong foundations for learning, growth, and independence.

Let’s celebrate the progress made and the work still ahead in creating a more inclusive future for all.