Meet Our Staff

Meet Chris A.

ABI Skills Trainer

Chris, a Los Angeles native, graduated from UCLA in 2012. There he studied psychology and began to think about his future. His brother, who worked in the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA) briefly, suggested that Chris look into working in ABA, as well. After some research, Chris’ interest was sparked and he applied for a skills trainer position here at ABI.

As one of our substitute skills trainers, Chris enjoys being able to interact with all of our clients. And for him, the best part is being able to play and teach play skills.  Chris notes, “I genuinely enjoy having fun with the kids.”

His best advice to future skills trainers is to balance out rapport-building, or what we call, pairing ourselves with reinforcement, with teaching.  His reason being, “I used to come in all business, but I realized that if you don’t make your sessions fun for the client, they are hesitant to learn.” Chris’ clients also know how to make the sessions fun for him. “One of my clients has the best imagination. He makes me laugh with all of his impersonations of random people like the pizza man.”

Outside of work, Chris enjoys hanging out with his friends, going to the gym and watching Game of Thrones.

Thanks for doing a super job Chris!