Notes From a Dreamy Radical Behaviorist: Pamela Osnes
Friday, April 1, 2011 at 3:55PM 
Hi Dick,
I'm sending the suggested edits that I recorded during your CalABA Dream Chasers presentation. I wasn't able to keep up with the edits and pay close attention to your presentation simultaneously, so there's a chunk missing.
I have some thoughts about Dream Chasers in general. I love the concept of dream chasers -- as a 13-yr-old in Burke, SD, I attached myself to a dream and here I am today, 42 years later, still trying to do the right thing with the focus now on literacy and its utility as a ticket for others' dreams. My thoughts focus on your selection criteria for inclusion into the "Dream Chasers' Club." Am thinking that you may be walking on some thin ice, including some and excluding others. Not that thin-ice-walking is something that puts you off, I understand, but I'm hoping that you don't bow to political correctness in deciding who's in the Club and who's not.
Another example: Headsprout is full of dream chasers, people who worked without salary increases for years and who received low salaries JUST BECAUSE they believe in the dream of eliminating illiteracy by getting evidence-based, Headsprout reading programs into the hands of students in marginalized circumstances. For 3 years, I've been able to hire outstanding people at below-market-value (unfortunately, but that's the best I was able to offer) because they want to be part of this particular dream...
Many parents of children with special needs (not just autism) are dream chasers, as they continue to live their lives 24/7 with children who they weren't expecting to sire. I still work with the tough cases in a local school district as an independent contractor; although I disagree with the methods the parents may use to try to motivate the district, I sympathize with them because they thought they were going to Italy when they were pregnant, and instead they ended up in Holland. (This is in reference to a reading, Welcome to Holland, which I've used for years in my classes and have passed along to parents.)
And then there are all those M.A.-level and B.A.-level therapists/programmers who soak up what the Ph.D.'s say and try to implement the methods with fidelity because they believe in the ability of behavior analysis to change the world. They don't make the big bucks, but they do the back-breaking work. They're all Dream Chasers, too, in my book.
So just a word of caution from an old friend/colleague as you continue to refine your presentation for ABAI in Denver. Take it with a grain of salt/sand/whatever, but I'd hate for folks to be put off the message by debating who should/shouldn't be included in the PPt.
Pamela Osnes
Reader Comments (2)
Dear readers, it would be sooooo cool, if you'd send your thoughts and rationales about who are good behavior analysis dream chasers, so Jennifer Mrljak can post them on DickMalott.com. It'd also be nice if we could start a dream chasers series at or ABAI conference.
--Dick
I'd like to share with you a person I consider to be a true Dream Chaser; Dr. Susan Ainsleigh. She has inspired students, children, adults, and skeptics - both in the states and across the world. I first became acquainted with Dr. Ainsleigh when I began my studies in the Masters of Behavioral Education at Simmons College in spring 2006. During her tenure at Simmons, Dr. Ainsleigh was (and remains) respected and highly admired by her students and fellow colleagues in both the Masters and Doctoral program. As sad as we were to see her depart Simmons, Dr. Ainsleigh went on to accomplish amazing things in her tenure as the Coordinator of SPED/Autism Major at Dar Al Hekma College at the Jeddah Institute for Speech and Hearing in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Dr. Ainsleigh's focus there was on the dissemination and preparation of practicing behavior analysts worldwide. While at Dar Al Hekma, Dr. Ainsleigh developed the first bachelor level course in Applied Behavior Analysis in the Middle East and is the founder and developer of the first applied setting that offers behavior analytic treatment for children with autism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Now, Dr. Ainsleigh is returning to the states to serve as the Director of Bay Path College's newly created programs in Applied Behavior Analysis. I cannot think of one other person who I've met in my life who has accomplished or contributed more to education and the dissemination of behavior analysis quite the way Dr. Ainsleigh has. She is an outstanding behavior analyst, a natural leader, a dedicated educator and a courageous woman; someone whom I (and many others) truly admire.