Joy-Pollard

Dr. Joy Pollard is the Co-founder and CEO of Clinical Operations at Behavior Change Institute. She earned her Ph.D. in Disability Disciplines, with a Specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis and her clinical experience has spanned across the home, clinical, school, and residential home settings. Dr. Pollard serves as Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, where she provides clinical supervision and collaborates on research focused on children with ASD and neurogenetic syndromes. Her research and clinical practice have focused extensively on practitioner capacity building initiatives and pioneering telehealth applications to increase access to medically necessary ABA treatment for individuals living in rural and geographically isolated areas.

Dr. Pollard developed the clinical infrastructure and practice guidelines implemented within Behavior Change Institute to ensure high quality, ethically sound telehealth service delivery treatment of multi-state Telehealth services. Driven by a desire to help her nephew, who was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and unable to access care in his rural community, she developed the Telehealth Service Delivery currently implemented at Behavior Change Institute. She has worked extensively to continually improve the standards of behavioral healthcare for families in rural and underserved communities. Her scholarly publications include articles on ethical considerations in the design and implementation of telehealth service delivery models and she has served as a subject matter expert for the Telehealth Guidelines by the Council for Autism Service Providers (CASP).

Dr. Pollard also leads the ECHO Autism in Applied Behavior Analysis initiative and chairs the Public Policy Committee for the New Mexico Association for Behavior Analysis.

Affiliations

New Mexico Association for Behavior Analysis
Association for Professional Behavior Analysts
American Association for Telemedicine

Areas of Interest

TeleBehavioral Health Service Delivery Models
Organizational Behavior Management
Technology-Based Solutions for Staff Training & Development
Public Policy

Education

Ph.D., Disabilities Disciplines, Specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis, Utah State University (2012)
M.A., Clinical Psychology, Specialization in Behavioral Analysis, Middle Tennessee State University (2008)
B.A., Psychology, New Mexico State University (2005)

Publications

  1. Monlux, K. D., Pollard, J. S., Bujanda Rodriguez, A. Y., & Hall, S. S. (2022). Conducting in-home functional analyses of aggression and self-injury exhibited by boys with fragile X syndrome. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 43(4), e237-e245.
  2. Pollard, J.S., Quigley, S., O’Brien, M., Peterson, S., Casey, S. (2023). Telehealth and Applied Behavior Analysis: An Overview and Examples of Application. In: Matson, J.L. (eds) Handbook of Applied Behavior Analysis. Autism and Child Psychopathology Series. Springer, Cham.
  3. Pollard, J.S., Quigley, S. P., Wolf, S. (2021). Organizational ethics. In J. Luiselli, R. Gardner, F. Bird, & H. Maguire (Eds.), Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) Approaches for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
  4. Pollard, J. S., LeBlanc, L. A., Griffin, C. A., & Baker, J. M. (2021). The effects of transition to technician‐delivered telehealth ABA treatment during the COVID‐19 crisis: A preliminary analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 54(1), 87-102.
  5. Hall, S. S., Monlux, K. D., Rodriguez, A. B., Jo, B., & Pollard, J. S. (2020). Telehealth-enabled behavioral treatment for problem behaviors in boys with fragile X syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 12(1), 1-15.
  6. LeBlanc, L. A., Lazo-Pearson, J. F., Pollard, J. S., & Unumb, L. S. (2020). The Role of Compassion and Ethics in Decision Making Regarding Access to Applied Behavior Analysis Services During the COVID-19 Crisis: A Response to Cox, Plavnick, and Brodhead. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 13(3), 604-608.
  7. Hall, S.S., Pollard, J.S., & Monlux, K.D., & Baker. J.M. (2020). Interpreting Functional Analysis Outcomes Using Automated Nonparametric Statistical Analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. DOI: 10.1002/jaba.689.
  8. Monlux, K.D., Pollard, J.S., Bujanda, A., & Hall, S.S. (2019). Telehealth Delivery of Function-Based Behavioral Treatment for Problem Behaviors Exhibited by Boys with Fragile X Syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49(6), 2461-2475.
  9. Akers, J., Higbee, T., Pollard, J., Reinert, K. (2018). Sibling-Implemented Script Fading to Promote the Play-Based Statements of Children with Autism. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 11(4), 395-399.
  10. Pollard, J.S., Karimi, K.K., Ficcaglia, M.B. (2017). Ethical considerations in the design and implementation of a telehealth service delivery model. Behavior Analysis Research and Practice, 17(4), 298-311.
  11. Akers, J.S., Higbee, T.S., Pollard, J.S., Pellegrino, A.J., Gerencser, K.R. (2016). An evaluation of photographic activity schedules to increase independent playground skills in young children with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 49 (4), 954-959.
  12. Higbee, T.S., Aporta, A.P., Resende, A., Nogeira, M., Goyos, C., Pollard, J.S., (2016). Interactive computer training to teach discrete trial instruction to undergraduates and special educators in Brazil. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 49, (4) 780-793.
  13. Pollard, J.S., Higbee, T.S., Akers, J.S., Brodhead, M.T. (2014). An evaluation of an interactive computer training to teach instructors to implement discrete trial instruction. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 47(4), 765-776.
  14. Brodhead, M.T., Higbee, T.S., Pollard, J.S., Akers, J.S. (2014). The use of linked activity schedules to promote social interactions between peers with autism during a game of hide and seek. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 47(3), 645-650.
  15. Pollard, J.P., Betz, A. & Higbee, T.S. (2012). Script-Fading to promote unscripted bids for joint attention in children with autism, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 45, 387 – 393.
  16. Betz, A., Higbee, T., Kelley, K. N., Sellers, T. P., & Pollard, J. S. (2011) Increasing response variability of mand frames with script training and extinction. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44, 357-362.
  17. Betz, A.M., Higbee, T.S. & Pollard, J.S. (2010) Promoting generalization of mands for information used by young children with autism. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 4, 501-508.
  18. Hall, S. S., Rodriguez, A. B., Jo, B., & Pollard, J. S. (2022). Long-term follow-up of telehealth-enabled behavioral treatment for challenging behaviors in boys with fragile X syndrome. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 14(1), 53.

Grants

Merck Grant: Co-Investigator on Treatment of Disruptive Behaviors in Children with Fragile X Syndrome (2016-2020)
Autism Speaks Family Services Grant: Autism TeleECHO (2015)
NM Human Service Department Grant (2015)
Autism Speaks Community Grant: Sociable Clubhouse (2015)
Autism Speaks Community Grant: Using Telemedicine to Serve Rural Families in New Mexico (2014)
Sao Paulo State Research Foundation (FAPESP), Sao Paulo, Brazil (2013)

The BCI Mission and what it means to me

I am amazed and humbled by the talent we have here at Behavior Change Institute. Working here means elevating your standards and providing a truly exceptional family experience. The Clinicians and Clinical Support team inspire me and I am fortunate to have the opportunity to work with these individuals.

My goal is to consistently encourage and support our clinical team members so they can provide the best care possible for our families.