For practitioners, families & caregivers

Breaking Systemic Silence

I am bridging the gap for practitioners who are not yet teaching prevention by providing the specialized materials needed to combat the training void and societal hurdles that have historically silenced this vital work.

Contact Me Watch Presentation
Autistic youth are 3–4 times more likely to face sexual victimization than their peers.
Thrundle et al., 2022
A child is sexually assaulted every 9 minutes in the US.
RAINN. (2026). Children and teens statistics.
Watch & Learn

Protecting the Vulnerable: Strategies for Universal Safety Goals.

Join researcher and practitioner Nicole Wiemholt, MS, BCBA, as she reveals the "Systemic Silence" within ABA. Drawing on data from a national study across 18 states, this presentation explores why 75% of BCBAs are not routinely teaching safety skills and provides the evidence-based roadmap needed to make every child a "harder target" for victimization.

50-minute Presentation: Protecting Children from Sexual Abuse — ABA Strategies for Universal Safety Goals
The Facts

The numbers behind the silence.

Fact 01 · The Predator Myth
3% of victims under age 18 know their abuser. Prevention must move beyond "stranger danger" to focus on identifying "tricky behaviors" in familiar environments.
National Children's Alliance. (n.d.). Child abuse statistics.
Fact 02 · The Practice Gap
75% of BCBAs do not routinely teach sexual abuse prevention skills to their clients, leaving a critical safety gap in standard ABA programming.
Baruni, R. R., & Miltenberger, R. G. (2023). A survey of safety skills training used by behavior analysts in practice. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 17, 270–282.
Fact 03 · The Universal Demand
95%+ of practitioners surveyed in a national study across 18 states agree that additional specialized training and resources are vital to improve professional readiness.
Wiemholt, D. N. (2026, May). Protecting children from sexual abuse: Assessing BCBA preparedness and employer support [Poster presentation]. ABAI Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA.
Fact 04 · The Primary Barrier
31% of practitioners identify a "training void" — a lack of research-based protocols — as the primary obstacle to implementing preventative safety training.
Wiemholt, D. N. (2026, May). Protecting children from sexual abuse: Assessing BCBA preparedness and employer support [Poster presentation]. ABAI Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA.
Get in touch

Collaborate to break the silence.

I am passionate about closing this training void. Reach out about partnerships, booking & speaking inquiries, or to suggest topics our next set of materials should cover.