Bridgeway’s Family Partnership Team utilizes a collaborative approach to empower clients and their families to lead independent and meaningful lives. Consultants use the principles of ABA, including learning by listening, learning while teaching, and creating joy. The team partners with families to develop value-based goals for their home and community settings.
Parent Training & In-Home Consultation
Parent Training and In-Home Consultation with Family Partnership Services aims to empower families and caregivers to develop the necessary tools to support their children at home and in the community. Consultation consists of identifying measurable caregiver-led goals, developing evidence-based strategies, and ongoing problem-solving and collaboration. Family Partnership Services are currently offered to students enrolled at Bridgeway Academy or Bridgeway Therapy Center. Parent Training and In-Home Consultation can be accessed and paid for using Franklin County Psychology/ABA funding or through private pay. To learn more, you can complete this FPS interest form or email our team at familypartnership@bridgewayohio.org.
FPS Consultant Team:
Jen Owens, M.Ed., BCBA, COBA
Family Partnership Department Manager
Jen began working in the field of ABA in 2006 as an in-home provider in Chicago. She graduated with a Kinesiology degree from Wheaton College, and after a few years in the field of ABA returned to school to obtain a Masters in Education, with a focus on Autism Studies. She joined Bridgeway in 2014. Jen has experience in school consultation, workshop development, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and parent training. She is passionate about partnering with parents and caregivers to develop tools and strategies together to make a meaningful and lasting impact in the home.
Shelby Adams, M.A., BCBA, COBA
Family Partnership Senior Consultant
Shelby began working in the field of ABA as an RBT providing home-based services in 2017. She went on to get her Masters at Ohio State where she focused research on RBT training and Direct Instruction. She has also presented posters at OHABA on increasing haircut tolerance, strategies for teaching varied requests, and promoting functional communication. Throughout her career as a BCBA, she has worked in home, clinic, community, and school settings. Shelby has experience implementing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, utilizing the PFA/SBT process to decrease severely challenging behaviors, developing parent training workshops across a variety of topics, and supporting transition-aged clients. She is also a passionate advocate for her clients and is always working to uniquely meet every family’s needs. She joined Bridgeway’s Family Partnership team in February 2022 and has thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to work within the incredible Bridgeway community.
Peyton Stipes, MS, BCBA, COBA
Family Partnership Consultant
Peyton earned her Bachelor’s degree from Ohio State in 2016 and began working in the ABA field in 2017 at a private middle school for children with autism and other developmental disabilities. She then obtained her Master’s in ABA from the University of Southern Florida in 2021. She presented her thesis on antecedent physical activity to increase on-task classroom behavior in an elementary setting at Florida’s Association for Behavior Analysis conference in October of 2021. Over the last 7 years, her experiences have included working in private and public schools, clinics, homes, and communities. She joined Bridgeway’s Family Partnership team in June 2022 and her favorite thing about Bridgeway is how collaborative and compassionate everyone is to best serve the students and clients of this community. She is passionate about brainstorming feasible, real-world behavior management strategies with parents and caregivers to help better their and their children’s lives.
Sheryl Shope, BCaBA
Family Partnership Consultant
Sheryl graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from Wittenberg University in 2012. After working in different scopes of mental health, she began working in the field of ABA as an RBT in 2017, providing services in the home, community, and school settings. Sheryl pursued her BCaBA certification and continued to grow her passion for working with families, which intensified when she joined Bridgeway Family Partnership Services in June 2022. Sheryl prides herself in providing supportive, compassionate, and collaborative care for her clients and their families. She is passionate about utilizing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to support behavior change and is currently pursuing her Masters in Marriage, Couples, and Family Therapy.
Jill Szymkiewicz, MA
Family Partnership Consultant
Jill graduated from Bradley University in 2018 and moved to Maryland, thinking she would begin working as a special education teacher. After missing coaching and training in gymnastics, she began working as the director of a special needs gymnastics gym. When the gym shut down due to COVID-19, she began looking into other career options that involved helping children with special needs. She began working as an ABA therapist at an early intervention clinic. She loved working with the littles and decided to make this a career. She moved to Ohio with her fiancé in 2022 and continued working as an RBT in early intervention. She obtained her Master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis from Arizona State University in 2023. She joined Bridgeway’s Family Partnership Team in 2023 and has enjoyed finding creative strategies to help families with their unique needs.
Mónica Benites-Easterly, MS, BCaBA
Family Partnership Consultant
Mónica has been working in the field of ABA since 2009, working in various settings and roles. She began her career as a behavior technician in a clinical setting, then transitioned to a behavior specialist role for a charter school where she gained additional experience with high-intensity behaviors. Prior to joining the FPS team at Bridgeway, she was a home ABA consultant supervising home teams, conducting parent training, and creating behavior plans for the home. In this role, she was able to use her primary language of Spanish, and provide services and training to many Spanish-speaking families. Mónica received her Bachelor’s degree in psychology from The Ohio State University and received her Master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from Ball State University. As an immigrant from Perú, Mónica is passionate and creative about finding ways to overcome roadblocks with family support services focusing on culturally sensitive interventions and training.
Success Stories:
“With my daughter’s sensory needs and self-injurious behaviors, we are always kept on our toes as to how to best support her. FPS has come alongside us as a family to help her manage and communicate her emotions, grow in skills such as waiting and accepting “no”, and build a successful toileting routine. Since working with FPS, I know she feels more confident in her own abilities to deal with hard and non-preferred tasks. Working on those skills with our therapist, she feels safer and more willing to push herself.”
“FPS has been working with my child for over 3 years. My son has a lot of behaviors and those behaviors seem to change. FPS is always making sure we have treatment plans in place that address those behaviors. If a plan isn’t working, they are quick to evaluate it and make improvements/changes to help address what’s happening. FPS works closely with my child’s teachers and therapists so that everyone is on the same page with plans. This also allows a lot of ideas and resources to be shared and used to help my child succeed.”
“I wanted to share a success story. Tonight, I sent my grandson into the local grocery store with $5 to buy a case of seltzer water. I asked him what flavor and he said lemon. He went into the store without hesitation. By the time I parked the car and went into the store he was in the checkout line paying for the water. I was so proud but he was looking like “What’s the big deal?”I wanted you to know because, I was thrilled, but also to let you know I used the backward planning tool and it worked. We also used the method for pumping gas. He is capable of reading the gas prompts without help to fill my car. I have let him do it at three different gas stations several times to make certain he understands the different prompt wordings. Currently, he is working on checking his change with the receipts. These may seem like small everyday and ordinary things but to see him walk with confidence is heartwarming. Thank you again. I feel more engaged with the school than ever before. I would encourage any family members or caregivers who have the opportunity to attend your workshops.”
Crisis Information/Model & Skill-Based Treatment (SBT)
Crisis Stabilization Services may be initiated when a behavioral crisis is identified. Crisis can include but is not limited to; a sudden change in frequency or intensity of behavior, or a qualifying life event (moving to a new home, change to family structure, etc.). A Crisis Stabilization Consultant works with the family and the child’s treatment team to design and implement a treatment plan to reduce maladaptive behaviors and transition to less-intensive services for skill-building. To learn more about SBT click here! Crisis Stabilization Services may be accessed and paid for using Franklin County Psychology/ABA funding, private pay, or some additional insurance/funding sources. To learn more, you can complete this FPS interest form or email our team at familypartnership@bridgewayohio.org.
Crisis Consultant Team:
Madison (Maddy) Stegall, M.A., MBA, BCBA, COBA
Crisis Stabilization Consultant
Maddy began working in the field of ABA as an in-home RBT in 2015 while attending The Ohio State University for undergrad. She has had experience in a variety of settings within ABA including in-home, clinic-based, and early intervention. When she had the opportunity to begin working in a crisis stabilization program in Columbus shortly after graduation, her passion for the field grew and she decided to go back to school to become a BCBA. She graduated from Ball State University with her Master’s in ABA and received her BCBA certification shortly after. During her career at Bridgeway, she has worked as a Teacher, Lead Teacher, and Program Manager before developing the role of Crisis Stabilization Consultant in November 2022. Maddy holds a Level 1 certification in Practical Functional Assessment and Skills-Based Treatment and is currently completing coursework to receive her Level 4 credential. She is passionate about educating others on compassionate ABA and skill-based treatment and is a strong advocate for her clients and families to get access to the care and services they need! Maddy also holds a Master’s in Business Administration with a focus on healthcare management and is dedicated to preventing provider burnout and promoting staff professional development.
Amanda Gallof, RBT
Clinical RBT
Amanda began teaching at Bridgeway Academy in October 2018. Amanda graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in Speech and Hearing Science and a minor in Disability Studies. She also received her certificate in Deaf Studies and graduated with her degree in American Sign Language Interpreting. Amanda is now pursuing her Masters in Applied Behavior Analysis at Florida Institute of Technology. She works directly with our Crisis Stabilization Consultant to implement treatment plans and support clients.
Success Stories:
“Bridgeway Academy’s Family Partnership and Crisis Stabilization Program has been integral to the progress of our son. Through them, he has learned patience, built tolerance, and continues to thrive with the support of our incredible team. The growth in our son has been immeasurable, and their support has given our entire family hope for his bright future.”
