Meet Tommy Bell, kin:pathic's Educational Consultant

Our ongoing series featuring the work of kin:pathic team members brings us to the multi-talented Tommy Bell, who has been with us since the beginning and now expertly combines his experience with applied behavior analysis and teaching to provide education consulting services to schools and school districts. 

Could you tell us a bit about how you came to be a behavior analyst?
I began to be interested in Applied Behavior Analysis when I was working in schools back in 2013. I started as a paraprofessional in a substantially separate classroom of students with mixed needs, including an autism diagnosis. When I received my teaching license and had my own classroom in 2015, I was able to see first hand the amazing success of my students with programming based in ABA. I also loved incorporating social skills and daily living skills as part of their programs. I began collaborating more with the BCBA consulting in my classroom and made the decision by 2018 to enroll in a master's certificate program at UMass Lowell in Applied Behavior Analysis. I received amazing mentorship by Tiffany (CEO of kin:pathic) and ultimately obtained my certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in February 2020. 

How has your job at kin:pathic evolved since you joined the company?
It has been amazing to see kin:pathic evolve from the 5 employees and a handful of families when I started back in Summer of 2020 to now having an extensive list of active employees and families in addition to their work with multiple school districts. I began at kin:pathic as a home based BCBA until we were able to begin services at our Amherst/Bright Ideas location. 

I then began holding sessions in a hybrid home and clinic model, while also leading small social skills groups at the Amherst location. Since then, my position has evolved to being the Educational Consultant for local school districts using my classroom experience to guide my collaboration with teachers, administration, and support staff working in these districts. In addition, one of my favorite parts of the day is being the Social Skills Coordinator for our social skills groups and providing BCBA support in our newly piloted Kindergarten and Preschool Readiness Program (KRP). I also continue to work in some homes to continue building this skill and helping families/clients first hand in that setting.
Based on your experience working with schools, how does kin:pathic complement the services that schools provide their students and families?
Being given the opportunity for kin:pathic to provide services in schools has had such a positive outcome across teachers, RBTs, students, and families. Teachers and RBTs are provided with training that increases their confidence in providing ethical, effective, and research-based programming that is data driven. Families are attending meetings that are more data driven and create opportunities for informed decision making. I have also seen positive outcomes for students in receiving individualized programming that is increasing their academic and social skills while decreasing challenging behavior. Furthermore, this has given the opportunity for communication and connections across the different settings. 
You were extensively involved in kin:pathic’s summer program. Could you give us some highlights of that work?
The pilot of k:p's summer program was a great start to carry over services throughout the summer. It was wonderful to be able to create theme weeks that gave our clients the opportunity to participate in fun, engaging activities based on those themes, while working on social skills with their similar-aged peers who were also in attendance and continuing their regular programming. Other highlights included the "dress up Fridays", seeing our staff work together as a team to make the summer fun for our clients, and providing week long social skills camps. I look forward to improving these services in Summer 2023, while maintaining the fun, engaging aspect that was very positive for all. 
What are some of the things that make you smile the most? And what are some of the challenges that you look forward to?
Personally, some of the things that make me smile the most is cooking a great meal for my wonderful fiancé and family, playing video games and building Lego sets, a night out with friends, and rainy days inside binge watching a show. In my professional career, I always get a huge smile when I see a client get super excited about a skill they are able to accomplish, when I am able to see the progression of skills within the RBTs I work with, and having the opportunity to work collaboratively with the amazing k:p team of BCBAs and administration. Some challenges that I look forward to in this upcoming year is providing better structured and more available social skills groups while also smoothing out the processes to make this a positive experience for families and staff. In addition, I look forward to continuing to improve the different aspects of the Kindergarten and Preschool Readiness Program so that we are able to extend our enrollment in the future. ​