Wai-Ling Wu, M.S., BCBA
Regional Clinic Director,
East Los Angeles & Pasadena Counties
Wai-Ling Wu received a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from University of California, Los Angeles in 2011. Throughout her undergraduate career, she had volunteered with a research lab that examined emotional responding to music through fMRIs in children and teens diagnosed with autism. After graduation, she sought other avenues of helping children diagnosed with autism and found a job as a behavior technician at an ABA agency in Los Angeles. Through her two years there, she experienced first-hand the difference that behavior analysis could make as she watched all her clients make significant strides in their lives.
To pursue her Master’s Degree in Behavior Analysis, she moved to Houston to attend a three-year behavior analysis program at the University of Houston – Clear Lake. During the program, Ms. Wu had the privilege of working in a variety of settings, including the early childhood ABA-Skills Intervention Program, the parent-training Verbal Behavior Clinic, and the Severe Behavior Disorders Research Clinic. She developed her research skills by assisting in a variety of research projects and refined her clinical skills working under close supervision of different behavior analysts in center-based services, school districts, and in- home settings. She also participated in community workshops and presentations that spread basic ABA strategies to teachers and parents of children with developmental disabilities. Through her internships and classes, she developed a passion for the field of behavior analysis, learning about the research behind the science and the impact that behavior analysis can have in the applied settings.
Upon completing her Master’s Degree in Behavior Analysis in 2016, Ms. Wu accepted a position in California and received her BCBA the same year. For the next three years, she continued to gain valuable clinical experiences in both Northern and Southern California. She discovered FirstSteps in 2019 and was very excited to find a team who is dedicated to both the evidence-based practices and the needs of the children and families that they serve. Ms. Wu’s clinical and research interests lie in verbal behavior, foreign language development, and staff training.
