About
I am Shanna Bahry.
Doctoral-level behavior analyst, author, and the person behind Meaningful HOPE.
Find me on LinkedIn, ResearchGate, and Instagram.
How I got here
I have been working with individuals with autism spectrum and related disorders for more than fifteen years — across a wide range of ages, abilities, and severity of challenging behavior, in just about every setting these services are delivered in.
That range is what did it. Across all of those settings, the same pattern kept appearing. I would meet someone who had received years of well-delivered, evidence-based programming and who still could not do the things an adult life requires. The instruction had been good. The targets had been wrong.
Once you see that clearly, it becomes difficult to work on anything else. I completed my Ph.D. in applied behavior analysis at Endicott College under the advisement of Dr. Peter Gerhardt, with doctoral research on meaningful goals and outcomes in adulthood, and I have been publishing and presenting on it nationally and internationally since.
My focus is adaptive behavior programming that leads to good adult outcomes — and, just as much, teaching practitioners how to target meaningful goals with efficient, effective methods.
Credentials
- Ph.D. in Applied Behavior Analysis, Endicott College
- Board Certified Behavior Analyst — Doctoral (BCBA-D)
- Licensed Behavior Analyst in Massachusetts (LABA) and Rhode Island (LBA)
- Executive Director, Meaningful HOPE
- Adjunct Professor in master’s and doctoral programs in applied behavior analysis
- Over 15 years with individuals with autism spectrum and related disorders
- Co-author, Make it Meaningful (Gerhardt & Bahry, 2024)
- Author, Make Sure It’s Meaningful
- Published and presented nationally and internationally
One has most effectively helped others when one can stop helping them altogether. B. F. Skinner
Just because you can teach something, doesn’t mean you should. Patrick McGreevy
What I believe
Every person is entitled to a life that is happy, safe, healthy, dignified, and as independent as it can be. That is the whole argument. Everything else is implementation.
Adult services in the United States are badly under-resourced, and most families and professionals do not encounter that reality until it is too late to prepare for it. The window to change an outcome is the years before anyone is thinking about adulthood at all.
The two audiences
This work only functions if both sides of the table understand it. Practitioners decide what goes into a program. Parents decide what they will accept.
I work with both. Through Meaningful HOPE I train practitioners and consult with the organizations they work for, and I work directly with families on their children’s programming.
I have written books for both, too. Make it Meaningful, written with Peter Gerhardt, is the practitioner’s guide. Make Sure It’s Meaningful I wrote for parents.
Keep in touch
Continuing education dates, new tools, and occasional writing for practitioners.
Start a conversation
Tell me what you’re working on.
Every engagement starts with a free 15-minute call. No pitch — I want to hear what you’re running into so I can tell you honestly whether I’m the right person to help.