Essential for Living, P.A.
Patrick McGreevy received B.S. and M.A. degrees in Psychology and Special Education, respectively, from the University of Iowa. He was a special education teacher for eight years, working with children and young adults with moderate-to-severe developmental disabilities. He received the Ph.D. degree in Education from Kansas University under the guidance of Ogden R. Lindsley. He has served on the faculties of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Louisiana State University, the University of Central Florida, and the Florida Institute of Technology. He is the author of Teaching and Learning in Plain English, an introduction to Precision Teaching, and the founder and first editor of the Journal of Precision Teaching and Standard Celeration Charting. He is the author of ten journal articles and a book chapter on teaching verbal behavior. He is the first author of Essential for Living, a functional skills curriculum, assessment, and professional practitioner’s handbook based on B. F. Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior for children and adults with moderate-to-severe disabilities. For the past 30 years, he has provided consultations for children and adults with developmental disabilities in school districts, residential programs, and hospitals, specializing in the simultaneous management of aggressive and self-injurious behavior and the teaching of communication and language skills to individuals with limited repertoires. He is board certified behavior analyst, has given hundreds of presentations and workshops around the world, and is the recipient of the Ogden R. Lindsley Lifetime Achievement Award of the Standard Celeration Society. He is the President and Director of Consultation and Training Services for Essential for Living, P.A.
Troy Fry received his B.A. in Science and Mathematics from North Dakota State University and M.S. degree in Behavior Analysis and Therapy from Southern Illinois University. Troy attended the University Of Kansas doctorate program in the Department of Human Development and Family life for four years. He has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst for the past 25 years. Troy has worked with children and adults with significant developmental disabilities in schools, clinics, hospitals, and residential programs across North America and Europe. Over the years, he has held the positions of teacher, consultant, clinical director, and chief executive officer. He is the second author of Essential for Living, a functional skills curriculum, assessment, and professional practitioner’s handbook based on B. F. Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior for children and adults with moderate-to-severe disabilities. He is the Associate Director of Training and Consultation Services for Essential for Living, P.A.
Miguel Avila, M.A., BCBA received his master’s degree in Exceptional Student Education from the University of West Florida and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Florida International University. Appreciative of scientific approaches that aim to address societal problems, he has focused his studies and clinical training opportunities in the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA). Raised in South America, Miguel is fluent in his native language of Spanish, as well as English and has provided training and consultation for behavior analysts, parents, other professionals, and students of applied behavior analysis in both languages. In the past few years, Miguel accrued extensive experience with the Professional Crisis Management Association (PCMA) and traveled throughout the United States, Europe and South America where he enjoyed assisting others in preventing and addressing severe problem behavior through the clinical application of behavior analysis and a behavioral approach to crisis management. He is an adjunct professor with the University of West Florida where he teaches graduate courses for BACB certification. He has served as the Vice-Chair for the Association for Behavior Analysis International Dissemination of Behavior Analysis Special Interest Group and an advisor for the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies.
As an EFL Consultant and Trainer, Miguel has coordinated the Spanish translation of EFL and provides consultations and trainings in both Spanish and English.
We provide a functional life skills curriculum, Essential for Living, for school districts, private schools, residential programs, hospitals, and families. We also provide in-person and virtual consultations for children and adults with moderate-to-severe disabilities, problem behavior, and limited communication skills, along with workshops and follow-up intensive training sessions for professionals working with these individuals.
We are dedicated to providing quality services for children and adults with moderate-to-severe disabilities and related products based solely on scientifically validated principles and procedures from Applied Behavior Analysis (including B.F. Skinner’s analysis of Verbal Behavior), the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Behavior Therapy, Direct Instruction, and Precision Teaching. Procedures, which have not been validated in the scientific literature or which are not based on validated concepts and principles, are not included in our services.
We are also committed to providing services consistent with an individual’s right to effective instruction and treatment — the right to the least restrictive procedure that has a high probability of resulting in effective instruction or treatment. Programs that mandate the exclusive use of positive reinforcement without regard to the probability of effective instruction or treatment are not in accord with the scientific literature and are inconsistent with our practice of behavior analysis.
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