Staff Highlight: Sean Yocum

I feel like I’ve learned to have a growth mindset working here.

Sean is a self-described Swiss Army knife at Garden Academy; not only does he hold the role of a Classroom Instructor, but he also teaches our staff crisis management skills as our PMT In-House Trainer and most recently became Garden Academy’s music coordinator, making sure that our students had fun music classes all throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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Sean first joined the team at Garden Academy after becoming interested in education from his experience growing up with his brother, who also has autism. He started at Garden Academy in 2013 while he was finishing up his degree, having some background in behavior analysis but wanting to broaden his knowledge and gain experience in the application of these skills. 

As the years have progressed, Sean has built his ABA repertoire and realized that he wanted to further his career in behavior analysis. He is now in graduate school with the goal of becoming a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and is also getting his supervision hours through Garden Academy’s Group Supervision program.

“It’s challenging,” he says about group supervision, “that’s what makes it interesting… you’re putting work in, and the work that you’re putting in is only going to make you a better future BCBA.” 

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Sean credits the many incredible past and present professionals who have worked at Garden Academy in not only helping him expand his skillset, but also inspiring him to have a growth mindset. And, of course, we’d be remiss to not mention the role his wife and his son have had in inspiring him to strive toward the next level in his career. 

He offered this piece of advice to professionals in behavior analysis: 

Keep learning, keep educating yourself, keep asking questions, because this is a science and there’s always going to be new things.