By Isabella DeHayes

Valerie Colantuono, adjunct professor, Drexel graduate, and Board-Certified Behavior Analyst, says that her time spent in medical settings as a child was a significant factor in her area of interest within the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA): the intersection between the healthcare environment and supporting neurodiverse children using the principles of ABA.

“I've always felt like there's been a really big gap when it comes to supporting our kids with higher support needs through medical experiences. Sometimes kids with different sensory or developmental needs do not have access to the same medical care because it's not designed for them, or they can't comfortably do it, or it might be too overwhelming for them, so then they're losing out on medical care when it shouldn't be that way. We should always be adapting care to make sure that we can't meet the needs of kids, of all abilities.” That’s where the skillset of a BCBA can come in – to support, educate, and collaborate with other professionals to break down complex skills and demands of medical care into smaller, more explicitly taught tasks. 

For her, the best part of the field is seeing the impact on the families she works with. Colantuono says families often feel relief when they have someone who wants to understand their child and their unique needs, or be in their “corner.” Seeing the quality-of-life increase, and the positive impact ABA can make, is the most gratifying part of working in this field. She recounts one of her favorite projects that she worked on at St. Christopher’s Hospital as part of her fieldwork hours, where she helped develop a sensory-friendly dental program for neurodiverse children.

Colantuono has worked at Nemours Children’s Hospital as a BCBA and Coordinator of the Adapted Care Initiative, where she incorporates the science of ABA in the healthcare setting daily. Prior to landing that role, she worked at the AJ Drexel Autism Institute for 5 years, working on various autism research studies as an interventionist, therapist, and research assistant. While working full time at the Autism Institute, Colantuono simultaneously worked towards a masters degree in ABA at Drexel. The program is asynchronous, and part-time, which she says was not only great for flexibility, but also valuable because she was surrounded by full-time working students that were able to share experiences and connect. She also recalls being grateful to her professors. “I think something that I really valued about our ABA program was that all of the professors and adjuncts had such a wide variety of experiences,” she said.

Although she was always interested in furthering her education in a “helping” profession, she stated that graduate school wouldn’t have been in the cards for her if not for her position at the Autism Institute at Drexel. Not only did it allow her the opportunity to further her education, but it was encouraged by her mentors. Colantuono is dedicated to continuous learning, remarking that she feels she will never be an expert, because there are always new things to discover in the field.

Her desire to continue to learn led her back to Drexel, where she had a unique opportunity to develop graduate level courses and co-teach classes during this past winter, and current spring quarter. Colantuono originally reached out to Dr. Jim Connell, a professor in the program, in early 2025, expressing her interest in gaining exposure to teaching. “I would love to have some sort of involvement, whether it's helping as a TA, or if I could just sit in on a class, kind of see what goes into teaching in the graduate level.” As fate would have it, the ABA program was in the process of revamping courses to meet new certification guidelines put forth by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, and Colantuono was offered the opportunity to help develop and teach these new required courses by the program director, Dr. Christina Vorndran.

Colantuono reflected on her transition from “student” to “peer” amongst the professors who had taught her. She stated that from the start of her role within course development that Dr. Vorndran treated her like a peer who had valuable insight and clinical input. It was gratifying for her to see that she was wanted, and that her input was valued. Since she is a recent graduate and is a relatively young professional in the field, teaching at the graduate level was something to get used to. Colantuono assisted in developing two courses, alongside Dr. Vorndran, and another Drexel ABA graduate and BCBA, Callie DeMaria. The courses, ABA 637: Behaviorism, History, Theory, and Philosophy and ABA 638: Foundational Principles of Behavior Analysis, both cover dense content, including philosophical underpinnings and core content areas that are foundational for understanding complex aspects of behavior. Colantuono noted that she relied on her unique clinical experiences and perspectives as a former student to make the content engaging and applicable to real-life scenarios, instead of relying solely on reading and lecture-heavy content. She made it a goal to make the coursework engaging and applicable for students, so they could not only retain the content – but apply it in their current routines and work settings. 

“I have been really lucky to have awesome mentors that have taught me a lot of valuable skills, not only within the ABA program, but, within each fieldwork experience where I gained clinical hours. I think it's really important to have those mentors in your life, because they can stay with you when you're 10 years down the line, and you need advice, right?”

Colantuono reflected that she is grateful to be able to provide that same quality mentorship for her students. 

At the end of the winter term, Colantuono told her students that it was her first time teaching. When she asked for feedback so that she could improve, the feedback was “overwhelmingly positive.” The students told her that it was helpful to learn about behavioral theory and foundational principles in a real-life, applicable way. It was incredibly affirming to Colantuono that she made the right decision to take the opportunity to engage in course development and teaching. It was also affirming to her to know that despite being a young professional in the field, her experiences had already made an impact on students.