Serving Families in Crisis: A Conversation with Breanna Kelly-Higgs LCSW, BCBA

Summary

Breanna Kelly, a licensed social worker and BCBA, shares her journey into the field of autism and her passion for supporting individuals with co-occurring conditions. She emphasizes the importance of understanding and acknowledging the experiences and needs of individuals with disabilities, as well as the significance of cultural competence in providing effective care. Breanna discusses the challenges within the medical system and the need for collaboration and holistic approaches to support individuals with autism and mental health needs. She also highlights the importance of caregiver training and empowerment. Overall, Breanna advocates for systemic changes and increased resources to improve the lives of individuals with autism and co-occurring conditions.

Takeaways

Understanding and acknowledging the experiences and needs of individuals with disabilities is crucial in providing effective care.

Cultural competence and relevance are important in supporting individuals from diverse backgrounds.

The medical system needs reform to better support individuals with co-occurring conditions.

Caregiver training and empowerment are essential in helping families navigate the challenges of raising a child with autism.

Collaboration and holistic approaches are needed to provide comprehensive care for individuals with autism and mental health needs.

Increased resources and systemic changes are necessary to improve the lives of individuals with autism and co-occurring conditions.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

02:01 Personal Connection and Early Experiences

08:49 Challenges within the Medical System

12:02 Cultural Competence and Trauma-Informed Care

19:00 Empowering Caregivers through Training

23:33 Meeting Caregivers Where They Are

30:16 Supporting Families and Building Relationships

34:05 Reforming the Medical System

41:38 Connecting with Others and Finding Resources

Transcript

Lola Dada-Olley (00:02)

Brianna Kelly, thank you. Thank you so much for visiting us today on the Not Your Mama's Autism Podcast.

Breanna (00:11)

Thank you for having me. I'm excited.

Lola Dada-Olley (00:16)

Me too, me too. I just know you're going to drop the nuggets. The nuggets shall have nuggets. So with that in mind, let's learn a little bit more about you. So you are a true multi -hyphenate. You are a licensed social worker. You're a BCBA. Those not familiar with the term, board certified behavior analyst, and the owner in your spare time of synergy behavioral consulting.

Synergy behavioral consulting. But before we get to all these wonderful things, like what you're currently doing now, let's start, let's go back a little bit. Let's start from the beginning. What made you enter this field? Like, do you have a personal connection?

Breanna (00:46)

Yeah.

So it goes back to the early 2000s. And so I was in high school and a freshman in high school actually, and I got invited over to this party that this Christian club was having at my school. And it was at an attached school, which I now know was an alternative school. And it had kids with severely profound, severe and profound disabilities, quote unquote behaviors. There were

pregnant girls. at that time, this was scary to me because we would only see these individuals like in between classes. And I went over there an