In 2015 Shannon made the transition from the EEU to the Haring Center’s Professional Development Unit where she served as an Education Resource Training Specialist for the next two years, taking clients with CBC on a part-time basis. At the PDU she provided intensive, multi-day trainings to teachers and other professionals across the state of Washington covering topics from best practices for inclusive classrooms to dealing with challenging behavior and working with families of children with developmental disabilities. These years of teaching others the concepts behind quality interventions gave Shannon a deep knowledge of best practices, making her uniquely qualified to mentor new professionals in the field on how to put what they’ve learned from their grad programs into practice in natural settings – a principle that has become central to Shafer and Shannon’s vision for CBC.
Over the past decade, Shannon has taught children with and without disabilities in both self-contained classrooms and inclusive classrooms, and has provided intensive ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapy to children with autism spectrum disorders across multiple settings including public and private schools, community-based camps and other rec programs, community swimming and skiing programs, and many other settings where intervention could be embedded naturalistically. Shannon’s specializes in providing therapy at any time, or any setting where intervention is needed and an inclusive, naturalistic approach can be utilized. This includes, but is not limited to: grocery stores, public parks, professional photography sessions, and in client’s homes during specific routines such as mealtimes, bedtime routines, homework routines and other challenging times of day. These past experiences continue to shape her mentorship with BCBAs and has ultimately helped her to form a vision for the future of CBC that is innovative and exciting to be a part of!
Shannon enjoys spending time with her husband Shafer and her three children, Margo (8), Gwen (4) and Bear (2) – plus their cat Monte!. The Crissey’s love camping in Washington and in Shannon’s native state of Montana! When she’s not enjoying the beautiful outdoors of the PNW with her family, Shannon can often be found doing a paint-by number project, building a new Lego set, play ping pong, writing in her bullet journal, reading books or listening to true crime podcasts!