#1 Dr Abigail Calkin - An Extraordinary Life

This episode is part one of a two-part series featuring Dr. Abigail B. Calkin; a teacher, writer, and poet who has combined Precision Teaching and inner behavior in her work with adults and children.

Abigail takes us back to her extraordinary journey through psychology and teaching, then to Behavior Analysis and Precision Teaching. From her early life to her schooling experiences, she cites the significant events that lead her on a bold, courageous, and extraordinary life. In part 1, she recounts her journey to get to Kansas to study under Dr. Ogden Lindsley.

HIGHLIGHTS

06:08 Abigail’s family has a major influence on her ability to embrace challenges

12:45 Her early schooling experience that shaped her decision to go into Psychology and Philosophy

23:23 Abigail as a school counselor for children with learning disabilities and behavioral disorders

31:26 In pursuit of a Master's Degree in Philosophy

45:56 Her introduction to Precision Teaching

1:09:30 How she had taken Precision Teaching into her teaching career 

1:19:07 When did she first read on B.F Skinner’s Verbal Behavior?

 

RESOURCES

Visit Abigail’s website at http://www.abigailbcalkin.com/ 

Join The ABA and PT Podcast Facebook Group to get access to the following resources:

Facebook group link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/397478901376425 

 

QUOTES

34:38 "But I realized, when I have about 3-4 months left, Philosophy is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end. And what am I doing in Philosophy? I don't want to teach Philosophy. So I left the University of Edinburgh and I moved to Oregon on a whim."

1:11:36 "I had literally put together an entire bibliography of all professional articles and materials that were for multi-handicapped students— preschoolers which included infants and anybody up to about age 3, maybe 4, and all kinds of disabilities."

1:18:22 "The way ideas develop, they don't develop rapidly. You can't do a one-minute timing and teach your kid the way you can do it and teach a kid to read 2 years in one year using a one-minute timing a day. It doesn't work for thinking. It doesn't work for thought development."

1:35:33 "One of the things is having lived with epilepsy for 72 or 73 years… Now that I have a diagnosis, I am absolutely determined to be public about it because it's like autism— a learning disability. When we first found out about learning disabilities and emotional problems, we kind of put it off to the side. So we do these things (...) and I'm determined not to be private of that."