William Ahearn

William Ahearn serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology at Western New England University and Director of Research at the New England Center for Children (NECC). He previously held roles as Program Specialist and Program Director at NECC and has been instrumental in advancing applied behavior analysis licensure in Massachusetts as Chair of the Allied Mental Health and Human Services Professions board.

His educational background includes:

• Experimental Psychology training at Temple University under Phil Hineline
• Post-doctoral fellowship at Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins University
• Management of pediatric feeding disorder unit at Children's Seashore House (University of Pennsylvania)

Dr. Ahearn's research spans core behavior analysis domains:

• Automatic Reinforcement: Developed Response Interruption and Redirection (RIRD) for treating repetitive behavior
• Verbal Behavior: Teaching procedures for vocal imitation, tacting, manding, and intraverbals in autism
• Behavioral Momentum: Exploring implications of Tony Nevin's theoretical framework
• Behavior Chains: Task analysis and prompt dependency interventions
• Play/Social Skills: Video modeling and matrix training applications
• Clinical Extensions: Pediatric feeding disorders, anxiety management, and staff training protocols

His major recognitions include:

• APA Division 25 Nate Azrin Honoree for Enduring Contributions (2009)
• CalABA Outstanding Contributor Award (20202)

Dr. Ahearn maintains significant scholarly leadership as Editor-in-Chief of Behavioral Interventions and long-term editorial board member for JEAB and JABA. He has collaborated on federally funded research with Bill Dube, Bill McIlvane, and Tony Nevin while mentoring students through NECC's research programs. His current work focuses on translating behavioral momentum theory into clinical practice and expanding evidence-based interventions for autism spectrum disorders through NECC's interdisciplinary research team.