“Our children are different, but not less”

Eustacia Cutler, 1962

Who we are

We are a small, family ABA Clinic, operating for more than 20 years in the Museum District of Houston, TX. Our clinic has spaces for 12 full-time students being nurtured in a “home-like” setting.

We work with toddlers to upper elementary children who have the following developmental disorders:

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
Developing children with language, social skill deficit, and reading difficulties
Other developmental disabilities

Verbal Behavior

Verbal Behavior is a part of ABA that continues step-by-step reinforcement of language and social skills, individual and small group in the child’s natural environment, thus preparing the child for a larger environment.

– B. F. Skinner

Our Mission

In order to accomplish this at the Verbal Behavior Clinic, we do the following: find and use reinforcers to create motivational operations for each child to motivate him to increase language development, social language, social pre-academic and life skills. We develop an ongoing 1-1 ABA program for each child based on evaluation and assessment, and we first teach, then generalize language through imitation, discrimination, and FCT (Functional Communication Training). Eventually, we use observational learning with a small group of peers in a social environment–transferring functional language from requesting reinforcers, to labeling, using single and multiple responses, pre-conversation, and lastly conversational skills in a 1-1 NET (Natural Environment Training).

We are continually developing some activities and materials that we may use for accomplishing generalized imitation, discrimination, and observable learning in the NET community, using CBT (Community Based Training).

Meet Our Team

Jonathan McClure, M.Ed., BCBA, LBA

Clinic Director & Owner

Jonathan has 10 years of experience working with children and adolescents diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston and has worked as a public educator at both elementary and high school levels. He earned his master’s degree and BCBA certification from Arizona State University. Jonathan supervises direct care staff at VBC and works closely with families to provide individualized treatment programs for each child.

Pamela Joy Garde, M.A., BCBA, LBA

Clinic Supervisor

Pamela received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines. She earned her master’s degree in Psychology and BCBA certification from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Pamela works closely with Jonathan McClure, BCBA to conduct behavior assessments and design treatment programs to fit the needs of each individual student. She also provides supervision to direct care staff at VBC.

Melinda McClure

Administrative Supervisor

Melinda is our insurance specialist at VBC. She is primarily responsible for verifying insurance benefits and overseeing insurance billing and coding procedures. Her goal at VBC is to ensure that our clients can maximize their insurance benefits for ABA therapy. Melinda works closely with her husband, Jonathan McClure, BCBA, to coordinate each client’s plan of care. Additionally, she has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare.

Our Staff

Our staff is comprised of Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs), both certified and trainee. Our carefully selected staff members are supervised by our BCBAs and attend regular training meetings to facilitate a deeper understanding of the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis. BCBAs directly supervise each child’s therapy and programming each week, providing additional training and making program adjustments as necessary.