Our Mission

We provide state of the art, Applied Behavior
Analysis services to individuals with autism
and other developmental disabilities to help
them reach their individual potential within the
least restrictive environment.

Our Vision

We believe that all BLN clients will achieve
the maximum benefit afforded by ABA
services based on the highest standards of
ethics and training.

OUR VALUES

We value safety,
relationships,
dignity, and results.

Oregon

BLN is proud to bring quality ABA services to the Greater Portland areas and we currently serve the following areas around Portland OR : Portland Metro, Happy Valley, Gresham, Damascus, Hillsboro, Beaverton, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, Tigard.

We are open to extending our range of service to additional areas and to contracting with additional school districts and insurance companies. Please contact our office at 503.963.6494 or 888.233.9555 if you do not see your location listed above.

PORTLAND OFFICE
1827 NE 44th Ave
Suite 390
Portland, OR 97213
Main: 503.963.6494
Fax: 503.963.6496
Toll Free: 888.233.9555

Oregon
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Results

BLN treatment relies exclusively on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) which has become the standard of care for the treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The efficacy of ABA procedures to successfully remediate the core deficits of ASD, and the development or restoration of abilities has been documented in hundreds of peer-reviewed studies published over the past 50 years. The Surgeon General of the United States reported that ABA was the most effective treatment of autism.

BLN treatment will produce:

  • A reduction in the problem behaviors which may interfere/limit an individual’s ability to access positive social opportunities, and/or live and learn within the least restricted environment
  • Improvement in language and communication skills (Verbal Behavior)
  • Improvements in social skills
  • Improvements in play and leisure skills
  • Improvement in self-help/daily living skills
  • Improvements in cognitive skills
  • An improved quality of life for the individual and their family
  • Long lasting results that can be seen across environments

Our Values

Safety

  • We maximize the physical and psychological safety of both our clients and our staff by employing alternatives to physical management in our treatment plans that include listening, learning, coaching and guiding and placing a heavy focus on building relationships with our clients and creating an atmosphere in which our clients can learn while being happy, relaxed and engaged.

Relationships

  • In our work with clients, we strive to “bring the joy” to all our sessions which begins by focusing from the very beginning on building a relationship of mutual trust with each client.
  • We want it clear to our clients that we know them, see, them, hear them and are there for them.

Televisibility

  • We create an environment of learning in which the client is in a state of being happy, relaxed and engaged during each session, actively making the choice to learn, such that we would be proud of our work if it were to be broadcast to millions of viewers on the evening news.

Results

  • We provide positive results from the treatment we provide, demonstrating significant reductions in interfering or problematic behaviors, and increases in socially significant skill development in language, social skills, leisure skills, self-help/daily living skills, cognitive skills, and increased quality of life for the individual and their family through prioritizing well-trained and educated staff.

*** Above wording in Italics is from Hanley Perspective on Today’s ABA 9/2021

All BLN staff pledge to:

  • Prioritize client and staff safety, the televisibility of procedures, and the rapport between the client and those implementing the assessment and treatment process by emphasizing these values over procedures.
  • Discover and create a context in which the client is happy, relaxed, and engaged (HRE) before attempting to functionally analyze problem behavior, conduct direct developmental assessments, or teach skills.
  • Empower the client by providing all reinforcers suspected of influencing problem behavior for any possible member of the problem behavior response class while ecologically relevant and developmentally appropriate establishing operations are respectfully progressed.
  • Bring and maintain the joy, respectfully introduce challenging situations, respond with empathy to both mild and serious problem behavior, and understand how to turn off these behaviors before they escalate, all prior to attempting to teach skills to achieve other programmatic objectives.
  • Commit to a skill-based treatment for problem behavior and arrange for progressing establishing operations, prompting, and differential reinforcement of skills to be the primary drivers of behavior change rather than extinction or punishment.
  • Arrange for the client to provide and withdraw assent to participate in the treatment process.
  • Routinely adjust the skill-based treatment plan in response to any negative emotional responses and/or relapse of problem behavior in accordance with the values of safety, televisibility, and rapport.
  • Prioritize values of safety, televisibility, and rapport in interactions with caregivers and professional team members and do their best to create conditions under which caregivers and professional team members are as hopeful, relaxed, and engaged as possible.

Services

Behavioral Learning Network offers a variety of services. All of BLN’s services are based on the scientific principles of Applied Behavior Analysis. All services are provided by a caring and supportive team member extensively trained in Applied Behavior Analysis and working with individuals with autism. BLN offers a continuum of behavior intervention services from assessment and consultation to full treatment models in the home, community or school setting.

Home Based

Home Based Services are implemented by a small team of well-trained and caring staff who work directly with your child one-to-one in the home and community setting.
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School Based

School Based Services are designed to provide your child with the one-to-one support they need to be successful in the school setting.
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Telehealth

Telehealth has not only facilitated access to services for those in remote locations but has also improved the safety of service delivery during the pandemic.
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Early Intensive Behavior Intervention (EIBI)

EIBI is provided for children between the ages of two and six and involves the intensive delivery of one-to-one ABA treatment to “close the gap,” between children’s chronological age and their developmental age.
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Focused Applied Behavior Analysis

Focused ABA refers to treatment provided directly to the client for a limited number of behavioral targets. It is not restricted by age, cognitive level, or co-occurring conditions. Focused ABA treatment may involve increasing socially appropriate behavior or reducing problem behavior as the primary target.
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Comprehensive Applied Behavior Analysis

Comprehensive ABA refers to treatment of affected developmental domains, such as cognitive, communicative, social, emotional, and adaptive functioning. Maladaptive behaviors, such as noncompliance, tantrums, and stereotypy are also typically the focus of treatment.
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Assessment

Assessments are designed to assist you to better understand your child’s strengths, areas of improvement, or challenging behaviors.
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Social Skills Groups

Social skills groups are used to teach individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) ways to appropriately interact with typically developing peers. They usually involve small groups of two to eight individuals with disabilities and a teacher or adult facilitator.
More Info

Accepted Insurance

 

OUR DIRECTORS

GREGORY M. ELSKY, PSY.D., LMFT, LBA, BCBA-D

CHIEF CLINICAL OFFICER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

BLN is directed by Dr. Gregory M. Elsky, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT; CA), Licensed Behavior Analyst (OR) and Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctorate (BCBA-D). Since 1995, Dr. Elsky has provided behavioral intervention for individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities. He has studied/trained under some of the leading experts in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) including Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas, Dr. Gary W. LaVigna, and Dr. Thomas J. Willis.

As an active member of the California ABA community, Dr. Elsky has served as a board member of the California Association for Applied Behavior Analysis (CalABA) and served as a Content Area Leader for the Behavior Analyst Certification Board’s (BACB) Practice Guidelines for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Additionally, he has graduate level training in the administration and interpretation of a wide range of standardized psychological assessments as well as Behavioral Assessments, and as an adjunct faculty member, taught graduate level coursework in ABA.

Michael Aragon, Ph.D., BCBA-D

Director of Research and Training

Dr. Aragon is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) who has been working with children and adults with disabilities since 2014. He started in a direct care role as an ABA therapist providing supervised services in homes, schools, and group homes throughout Southern California. He earned a Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis from the California State University, Northridge, and a Ph.D. in Applied Behavior Analysis from The University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Graduate College. While obtaining his doctoral degree, he interned as a supervising Behavior Analyst at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Munroe-Meyer Institute, where he worked with children aged 2-10 in the integrated Center for Autism Spectrum Disorder’s (iCASD) Early Intervention program. Dr. Aragon has published articles in peer-reviewed journals related to the assessment and treatment of challenging behavior, and the acquisition of verbal behavior, and has presented at various regional and national conferences on improvements to training behavior analysts and teaching practices for autistic individuals. He has also guest lectured behavior-analytic undergraduate and graduate courses at California State University, Northridge.

Currently, Dr. Aragon is BLN’s Director of Research and Training, who helps build training curricula for behavior technicians, employees accruing fieldwork hours toward their board certification, and supervisors. He coordinates research projects led by supervisors in BLN’s Lab and ensures client and employee satisfaction as BLN’s Ethics Officer. Dr. Aragon is passionate about ensuring services adhere to cutting-edge behavior-analytic practices, which is reflected in his oversight of ABA services provided by BLN’s Encino Center Supervisor and Training Coordinator.

Casey Mapp, MA, BCBA

Clinical Director

Casey Mapp is the Clinical Director of BLN-Oregon.  He is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with extensive training and experience in early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI), skills based training (SBT), functional behavioral assessments, including functional analysis and practical functional analysis (PFA). Over the past eight years, Casey has worked within the field of Applied Behavior Analysis, working closely with numerous individuals with autism spectrum disorder or otherwise experiencing significant behavior challenges.

With an educational background in experimental analysis, Casey takes pride and joy in providing effective, results-driven, personalized interventions for these individuals and their families. Casey has also demonstrated a knack and a passion for training and mentoring other BCBAs and perspective BCBAs, helping others achieve meaningful career growth within the field of ABA.

Resources

These resources are intended to assist you in finding helpful information regarding autism spectrum disorder, applied behavior analysis, related research, conventions, advocacy, and resources for support for children with autism and their families.

These resources are meant as a helpful starting point in your research and learning and not as an exhaustive or endorsed list.

Funding your services can be accomplished through different avenues.

Funding may be accomplished through:

No matter the funding source, your services will be provided by a team of well-trained and quality staff working to help your child reach their individual potential.

ABA Articles

Long- Term Outcome for Children With Autism Who Received Early Intensive Behavioral Treatment

Generalized Use of Past Tense Verbs in Children with Autism Following a Sufficient Exemplar Training Procedure

Some Current Dimensions Of Applied Behavior Analysis

Behavioral Treatment and Normal Educational and Intellectual Functioning in Young Autistic Children

Apply for Services

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If you are interested in initiating BLN services, please submit this enrollment form, or simply contact our office at 503.963.6494 or 888.233.9555. After receiving your information, a Clinical Director will contact you to discuss how we can help!

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Join Our Team

At BLN our mission is to provide quality, empirically validated services to individuals with autism to help them reach their individual potential. This is only possible by having the highest quality and well-trained staff. BLN is constantly recruiting quality staff at all levels, Behavior Technician, Senior Behavior Technician, Program Supervisor and Behavior Analyst. We are eager to hear from those at all levels interested in a career in Applied Behavior Analysis.

Direct service positions offer wonderful and valuable field experience for those seeking to work with autism spectrum disorder.

  • The position offers a rewarding experience and a flexible schedule
  • Previous experience with autism/ABA is helpful but not necessary
  • Extensive, paid training is provided to all employees
  • Part and full time opportunities are available
  • Competitive hourly rates; starting rate dependent upon education, experience, and office location
Visit us at indeed.com
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For more information or to send a letter of intent and resume, contact BLN’s office directly:

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