OASIS Parent Coaching
“Where do you see yourself in the next five years”: the journey from individual development plan to the OASIS parent coaching project.
Thanh Nguyen
We are excited to announce our new service that we are offering, OASIS parent coaching!! I want to share my journey with you about how I became an OASIS Parent Coach – one of the most exciting collaborations between Rainbow Behaviour Therapies and Kansas University.
Let’s get started by introducing myself a little. My name is Thanh /θæŋh/, and currently, I am a Trainee Behaviour Analyst at Rainbow. Like stories of most Asian students, I did my undergraduate study in the major of Finance and Banking, following advice from my parents. After graduation, I worked as a representative for a foreign airline for a few years. Honestly, it was a good job for a fresh graduate like me at that time. However, I always knew that my heart belonged to psychology, and I loved working with children and young people. With the support from my parents and friends, I decided to get out of my comfort zone and came to the UK to pursue my dream. I got my first master’s degree in Psychology at the University of Aberdeen.
During my studies, I had a chance to learn about ABA while supporting children with autism and learning disabilities. I was attracted deeply to how excellent the ABA approach can support children and young people. That’s why I chose ABA as the major for my second Master’s degree. With a lot of hard work and some good luck, I graduated from it with an outstanding result. But what made me happy and proud was not the grade I got. Instead, I am happy and proud of myself because I know I have an effective “tool” in my hand to support children and young people with autism and their families.
From the solid knowledge I learned in university, I was then lucky enough to become a part of Rainbow Behavioural Therapies where I have a chance to gain many clinical experiences under the intensive supervision of the BCBA team.
My journey to completing the OASIS Parent Coaching training was indeed inspired by Natalie – my supervisor and Director of Rainbow Behavioural Therapies. During one supervision meeting, while reviewing my Professional Development Plan, she asked me: “Where do you see yourself in the next five years?” I answered without any hesitation: “I want to spread the word of ABA to more people to support kids with autism, especially in my country because we only have one BCBA in the whole country. I also want to support not only the children but also their families. But I don’t know how to do it better right now.” Natalie introduced and guided me through telehealth services, which was the first time I took it into my consideration as a method to spread ABA and support more families.
What’s more, Natalie helped me to get a connection with Paul Stephany, who is her supervisor. From Paul’s connection with Dr Heitzman-Powe, who is the Director of Community Research for the Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training and the Center for Child Health and Development at the KU Medical Center, we had the first meeting with the OASIS team. It was my pleasure to talk with all the excellent and professional ABA staff at Kansas University.
After reviewing all research and materials on the OASIS Parent Coaching program, I was intrigued by the potential in bringing this evidence-based parent training approach to Rainbow. First, OASIS Parent Coaching is based on solid research and practice. There are many publications that support the effectiveness of this program. In addition, the OASIS program includes only empirically-based interventions which show positive outcomes for children and young people with autism and other learning disabilities. Second, the program can be delivered entirely online. It is a massive benefit of this program that it can support many families who live in remote areas meaning they can also access an effective intervention for their kids. Lastly, the cost of services can be significantly reduced by training parents to implement the effective techniques with their own children.
From my experience working in this field, financial restraint may sometimes be one of the biggest barriers for many children and their families to access effective intervention. Therefore, teaching and instructing parents on understanding this best practice can promote children’s welfare and their quality of family life.
Four months after first talking with Natalie about my Professional Development Plan, I am excited to announce that I am one of five qualified Oasis Parent Coaches at Rainbow Behavioural Therapies. More than that, I received many requests and interests from parents in my home country – Vietnam, about this training program. I cannot wait to start delivering this program and would like to show my sincere gratitude to the Rainbow and OASIS team for this fantastic opportunity. I am truly hoping that through the OASIS parent coaching program, I can bring my knowledge and experience to support more children and their families worldwide.
Check out our OASIS Parent Coaching page to find out more details or get in touch to book in using the link below and start your OASIS Parent Coaching journey.
