David Sponder
Licensed Educational Psychologist #2348
Board Certified Behavior Analyst 1-09-5514
RDI Program Certified Consultant #212
DIR/Floortime C2
1536 w. 25thSt. #172; San Pedro, ca. 90732
Office: 310/521-0112 Fax: 310/831-7291
Email:
Dear Reviewer,
I am now in my 33rd year of working with Individuals with Special Needs, their families, Teachers, Therapists, Clinicians and schools, and the Public Agencies that serve them. Almost every single day at work I spend time in a school as well as a home, working directly with children and their caregivers, or teaching Teachers and Therapists. I am a Teacher, a Therapistand a Psychologist. My specialty is helping people to help those with severe behavioral, developmental and psychiatric issues, so in the course of my career, I have worked with an amazingly wide and complex variety of individuals and diagnostic groups.
While I am currently the only person in the world holding certifications in all 3 of the major interventions for autism, what I am known for is my “Orthodox Agnosticism” regarding methodology. Unfortunately, the fields in which I work feature almost religious faith and devotion to one particular method or philosophy (really – ideology) regarding “what works.” People give strong opinions about the other methods, which they’ve never studied, understood, or practiced – which I find is a great disservice to parents. Parents do not want sales pitches or promises that [the one method I know how to do] is “the way, the truth and the life,” and that the others are fools and heretics – yet this is a too-common experience for parents. After receiving the most devastating news imaginable, or living lives of desperation, they are asked to “pick a side.” Given the partisanship and competitive in-fighting in the field, my position may not always be appreciated by partisans – but for parents, it’s a breath of fresh air. I am also able to give unbiased information to parents and let them decide what is best for their child.
As a Consultant, I do have the advantage of “speaking many languages.” This allows me to enter practically any school, agency or other professional environment and relate to people in the ways in which they are most comfortable. It also allows me to translate jargon from one professional to another if they happen to come from differing orientations, and to respect parents as a discipline with their own way of communicating. Because I am able to do this, they don’t have to learn my jargon. I am able to work alongside Doctors, Language/Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists and other professionals and disciplines that work with Individuals with Special Needs, and at the same time to be very believable and realistic with parents.
But perhaps what I am most proud of is that I keep a “jargon-free zone” for parents. Most of all, I study what is normal for typical children and parents, and how that becomes derailed by the disability. I am able to see the child, the parent, the Teacher… and not just the behavior or the disorder. My job isn’t just to make behaviors go away or appear. That’s an important skill for sure, but the mature Consultant focuses on quality of life and what the most important things are to the ultimate consumer. After 30 years of working day and night, running my agency and Consulting in homes, schools and clinics, and teaching professionals, the theory is at your fingertips. Working with people and the most complex issues imaginable, I have to find the job difficult to keep arrogance at bay. But along with my gray hair and the reputation that accompanies me at this point, my goal, always, is to help others feel more at ease, which is what I am most proud of.
ExperienceLicensed Educational Psychologist, Private Practice
BBSE #2348 / 4/97 – present
Specializing in intervention for children with regulatory/behavioral, developmental and attachment disorders. Functional and developmental assessment; Development of treatment plans and programs; Consultation to families, schools and school districts, Psychiatrists and Psychologists, private agencies; IEP advocacy.
Executive Director, Sponderworks Children’s Services / 6/97 –present
Provider to the CaliforniaState Dept. of Developmental Services #PH0151. Provision of Functional and Developmental Analysis and Autism Treatment Programs for more than 1500 clients since inception; Clinical Supervision of Therapists and Therapeutic Companions. Specializing in providing a broad range of treatment options for children with developmental and attachment-based disorders, including Developmental, Play-Based (e.g., Greenspan, Linder, Hanen, and Prizant Techniques); Contemporary ABA, and Pivotal Response (Koegel) methods.
Educational Psychologist Consultant / 4/97 – present
Provider of technical and clinical assistance to School District and Private School developmental and special preschool services. Functional, Developmental, and Psychoeducational Assessment; Functional Analysis of Behavior (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) development of Treatment Plans and Programs; Consultation to Staff and Administrators. School Districts served: Culver City; Los Angeles Unified; Los Angeles County Office of Education; Manhattan Beach; Palos Verdes; Redondo Beach; Santa Monica; Torrance. Non-Public Schools: Center for Learning Unlimited; Switzer Center; Vista Del Mar School; Smart Start
Instructor Advanced Functional Analysis / 9/08 – 5/13
Los Angeles County Office of Education
Taught the Advanced Behavior Management/Functional Analysis for Teachers course for Special Education Teachers in service of all disabilities served in Special Education. Provided training in advanced principals of Applied Behavior Analysis, Developmental and Attachment Analysis, incorporating Sensory and Neurological factors into Functional Behavioral Assessment
Educational Psychologist Team Member / 9/01 –present
Family Services Wrap-Around Team/Center for Learning Unlimited
Participation on a Wrap-Around Team consisting of a Psychiatrist; 2 Clinical Psychologists; MFT; Educational Therapist; Language Speech Pathologist, and Occupational Therapist. This team provides team-based services at the Center for Learning Unlimited in Torrance (Virginia Mathews, Ph.D., Executive Director), and for individual families. This team meets on a weekly basis and reviews cases.
Early Childhood Treatment Center
Participation on a Wrap-Around Team consisting of a Neurologist; Clinical Psychologist; Neuropsychologist; Language Speech Pathologist, Occupational Therapist, and Child Treatment Therapists. This team provides team-based services at the Early Childhood Treatment Center in Torrance. I provide training for the Therapists and Consultation on cases.
School Psychologist / 9/92 – 6/01
Los AngelesCountyOffice of Education; PalosVerdesPeninsula Unified School District
Provision of Psychoeducational Evaluation, Functional Analyses of Behavior, Psychological Counseling for Students; Developed many training programs for School Psychologists, Behavior Intervention Case Managers, Teachers, and Administrators. Provision of Technical Assistance to School Districts throughout L.A.County. Served in units with Students with Emotional Disturbance (including 3 years as the Educational Psychologist for LACOE’s Allen Young School in Metropolitan State Hospital’s Child Psychiatric Program), Autism, Severe Developmental Disorder, Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing, Orthopedically Handicapped, Visually Impaired programs.
Behavior Analyst
Independent / 9/87 – present
Develop Functional Analyses of Behavior as required by the California State Dept. of Developmental Services; Provide behavior plans; Consult school and residential treatment facilities in policy development, handling of referrals; training staff in implementation of special education plans and intervention for behavior; Consultation for Developmental and Behavioral Intervention directly to families.
DIR Certified Advanced Floortime Practitioner / 5/14 - Present
Practitioner of Floortime since 1987 (original certification), with intensive study with ICDL and the Neurorelational Framework, 4 years mentoring, to obtain Floortime Advanced Certification. Set up Floortime programs, train parents and supervise professional practitioners. Currently enrolled in ICDL DIR Expert Training.
Special Education Teacher / 9/84 – 8/92
Los AngelesCountyOffice of Education
Teacher of Severely Handicapped Students in SED and Autism Programs. Mentor Teacher responsible for training and assistance to other Teachers.
Special Education Teacher / 9/82 – 9/84
BrentwoodCenter NPS
Residential Living Skills Instructor/Case Manager / 11/81 – 9/82
Social Vocational Services
Program Manager/Crisis Intervention Coordinator / 7/80 – 11/81
Only A Place to Start
Degrees and Certificates Held/Education
- Licensed Education Psychologist BBSE #2348
- RDI Program Certified Consultant
- DIR/Floortime Certified Advanced Practitioner
6/11 – Present
- Board Certified Behavior Analyst 1-09-5514
- PPS/School Psychologist Credential
- Completed Infant Mental Health, NeuroRelational Study Group (Lillas and Turnbull)
- Behavior Intervention Case Manager
- California Specialist Credential/Special Education
- Masters Degree, Special Education/Severely Handicapped
Other Qualifications:
Developed and taught the following Training Modules:
Module / AudienceRelationship Development Intervention
/ Autism Society; TACA; Psychiatric Fellowship Program/Harbor UCLA; Foundation for the Jr. Blind
Beginning Teachers Support and Assessment (BTSA) Program Instructor; Advanced Behavior Management / Graduate Level Teacher Candidates in Special Education; (10 week Course)
L.A. County Office of Education Behavior Intervention Case Manager (BICM) Training Package / Southwest; East and West San Gabriel, and Southeast SELPA Psychologists - who were becoming certificated BICMs
Characteristics and Techniques for Students with Attention Deficit and Conduct Disorders
/ Teachers and Support Staff, L.A.County Office of Education; MetropolitanHospital Staff
Relationship-Based Educational Programming for Students with Attachment and Conduct Disorders
/ Around the World Adoptions Agency; Teachers and Support Staff, L.A. County Office of Education; Metropolitan Hospital Staff; Palos Verdes Unified District Behavior Intervention Staff; Switzer Center; Kayne ERAS Center
Relationship-Based Educational Programming for Students with Asperger’s Syndrome and other Neuroregulatory Disorders
/ Center for Learning Unlimited
Harbor UCLA Psychiatric Fellows
Project-Based/Neurologically Correct Approaches to Curriculum Development / Center for Learning Unlimited
Characteristics and Techniques for Students with Autism / Teachers and Support Staff, L.A.County Office of Education; Palos Verdes Unified S.D.
Applied Behavior Analysis / Teachers and Support Staff, L.A.County Office of Education; Associated Residential Services Staff; SCS Staff
Functional Analysis of Behavior/Behavior Intervention Case Management / Psychologists from LACOE, 21 school districts, HarborRegionalCenter
Severe Handicap Curriculum Development; Program Manual and Guidelines for the LACOE; David Sponder, Author / Principals, Program Specialists, Psychologists, Teachers, and LACOE Support Staff
Assessing Development and Behavior in the Behavior Assessment Report
/ SCS Staff; Palos Verdes USD Psychologists
The Engineered Classroom / Teachers and Support Staff, L.A.County Office of Education
The Transdisciplinary Model / West San Gabriel Valley SELPA
Curriculum / Westside Regional Center Parent Behavior Education Group
Continuum of Behavioral to Psychodynamic Intervention Methods for Autism and Other Developmental Disorders Series:
Child Directed, Transactional Early Intervention Techniques/Developmental, Individual-difference, Relationship-based approach (DIR), RDI
/ SCS Staff; Palos Verdes USD Support Staff; Parent Groups
Incidental Teaching Techniques/Pivotal Response, Natural Language Paradigm
/ SCS Staff; Palos Verdes USD Support Staff
Structured, Clinician Directed, Direct Teaching Techniques/Applied Behavior Analysis, Discrete-Trial Teaching
/ SCS Staff; Palos Verdes USD Support Staff
A Model for Full Time In-Home (Therapeutic Companion) Treatment for a Case of Bipolar/Asperger’s Disorders / Center for Learning Unlimited
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Group / Subject / Month/YearAcross the World Adoptions / Reactive Attachment Disorder, Understanding what it is and how to deal with it / 6/2006
10/2006
6/2007
10/2007
American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA)
/ Communication Interventions for Individuals with Autism / 2/2008
Autism Society of America / Relationship-Based Intervention and Applied Behavior Analysis; Interventions for Autism for Audiences of Parents and Professionals attending the Annual Conference / 8/2007
2/2008
8/2008
2/2010
8/2011
Panel Event / 9/2011
FRED Conference / Panel Speaker / 2012-2014
Foothill Autism Group
/ Relationship Development Intervention / 1/2007
Foundation for the Junior Blind
/ Dealing with Difficult Behaviors in Children with Special Needs / 4/2010
Loyola University / Dealing with Difficult Behaviors in the Classroom / 11/2006
Switzer Center / Helping Individuals with Special Needs over the Age of 21 / 2/2011
Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) / Open Forum on Parenting and Autism / 3/2006
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