Jing Zhou, M.S. BCBA
2014 North Florida and SBA State of Florida Woman-Owned Small Business Person of the Year
Jing received her Master’s Degree in Behavior Analysis and Therapy at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, where she graduated with outstanding academic achievement. Driven by a passion to help children with autism or other special needs, she became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst to empower her to make a difference in the lives of these children.
While it is often challenging to work with children who exhibit severe problem behaviors such as aggression and self-injurious behaviors, it is equally heart breaking to see families’ quality of lives so impaired due to the challenging behaviors of their loved ones, which often isolate them from many community activities. For over 20 years, Jing has devoted her career to serving special needs children. She has helped countless nonverbal children speak their first words, and enabled families with the skills needed to participate in their communities such as going to a theme park together for the first time. To Jing, nothing is more rewarding than providing such help and hope to these children and their families. As one parent stated: “Jing, I am so impressed with what the organization does, under your direction, to maximize the potential of all the children…Your love, expertise and dedication are the perfect ingredients to enable all the affected children a worthy quality of life: a dignified and participatory role in our community.”
Early in her career, Jing joined Orange County Public Schools to help teachers establish the appropriate classroom environment for children with autism or other special needs. She developed standards and procedures for behavioral services for the school district and conducted many training workshops to educate teachers, administrators and parents regarding positive behavioral intervention. In 2000, seeing a shortage of services for special needs children and a lack of support for their families, Jing opened Interventions Unlimited, Inc. to provide home, community and clinic-based behavioral services to children with autism or other special needs. Then, in 2007, recognizing the tremendous need for a school that offers an effective education, Jing opened a full-time academy, known today as Alpine Academy. Over the past 18 years, Jing and her two organizations have served thousands of children and their families in Central Florida.
Always looking for ways to improve, Jing is constantly researching new therapies and resources. Leading by example, Jing drives everyone in her company to uphold the highest level of service and integrity. As one of her employees shared, “As a leader, Jing is committed to personal and professional growth and has inspired her team members toward the same. It is well known in our organization that we will never 'arrive'. We will always be looking for ways to improve our services.”
As a well respected behavior analyst in the community, Jing has conducted countless presentations, workshops and training sessions for educators, parents, direct-care staff, home-therapy teams, and other caregivers in the United States and in other countries on the topics of behavioral assessments, behavioral intervention, social skills training, teaching language to children with autism, self-care skills, and school-based interventions. She is also an avid supporter of numerous organizations and parent groups, including Autism Society of Greater Orlando, Autism Speaks, Supporting Our Aspie Kids, Early Steps program, Putting the Piece Together, as well as Cigna’s national autism awareness parent education series.
