Michelle A.

Frank-Crawford

,

PhD, BCBA, LBA

Education:

Dr. Frank-Crawford graduated with a Master of Arts in Human Services Psychology with a specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She obtained her Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2020. 

Current Clinical and Educational Roles:

Currently, Dr. Frank-Crawford is a senior behavior analyst in the Neurobehavioral Unit Inpatient Program at Kennedy Krieger. In this role, she supervises the assessment and treatment of severe challenging behavior, such as aggression and self-injurious behavior, exhibited by children and adolescents with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities as well as the training of staff and caregivers in the implementation of behavioral intervention plans. 

In addition, Dr. Frank-Crawford also serves as an adjunct faculty member and educational liaison for students pursuing their Master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. In this role, Dr. Frank-Crawford oversees the students’ practicum experiences at Kennedy Krieger, assists with capstone development in partial fulfillment of their degrees, and participates as chair and member on capstone committees. In addition, she provides supervision and education to students as well as research and clinical staff on methods of assessment and treatment, experimental design, and data analysis and interpretation. 

Research:

Dr. Frank-Crawford’s work highlights her commitment to advancing clinical care through research as well as her commitment to advancing research through education and professional training. Broadly speaking, her research focus has been on the improvement of assessment and treatment methodology for individuals who engage in severe, treatment-resistant challenging behavior. In particular, she is an advocate for clinical research, exemplified by her work evaluating the generality of outcomes both within and across patients. Dr. Frank-Crawford has contributed to studies employing the methodology of consecutive controlled case series to evaluate the efficacy of clinical procedures, describe the phenomenology of clinical problems, and compare the efficacy of commonly used behavioral interventions. 

Since 2006, Dr. Frank-Crawford has been a continuous collaborator in grant-funded research. Although the topics of these lines of research varied, each project broadly aimed to improve the assessment and treatment process for challenging behavior. The projects included the (1) application of behavioral economic principles to the treatment of severe challenging behavior, (2) the evaluation of unintended side effects of common behavioral interventions, and (3) the identification of subtypes of automatically maintained self-injurious behavior.

Recent Publications and Book Chapters:

• Frank-Crawford MA, Hagopian LP, Schmidt JD, Kaur J, Hanlin C, Piersma DE. A replication and extension of the augmented competing stimulus assessment. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 2023;56(4):869-883.
• Hagopian LP, Falligant JM, Frank-Crawford MA, Yenokyan GA. Simplified method for identifying subtypes of automatically maintained self-injury. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 2023;56(3):575-592.
• Fernandez N, Frank-Crawford MA, Hanlin C, Benson R, Falligant JM, DeLeon IG. Examining patterns suggestive of acquisition during functional analyses: A consecutive controlled series of 116 cases. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 2024;57(2):426-443.
• Frank-Crawford MA, Borrero JC, Fisher A, Talhelm P, Fernandez N. Discrete trial teaching: A scoping review. Behavioral Interventions. 2024;39(3):e2012.
• Frank-Crawford MA, Piersma, DE, Fernandez N, Tate SA, Bustamante EA. Protective procedures in functional analysis of self-injurious behavior: An updated scoping review. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 2024;57(4):840-858.
• Frank-Crawford MA, Tate SA, Goetzel A, Finn M. Using functional communication and competing stimuli to gradually increase the distance of transitions in the treatment of tangibly maintained elopement. Behavior Analysis in Practice. 2024;17(3):921-925.
• Nevill RE, Frank-Crawford MA, Zarcone JR, Maquera E, Rooker GW, Schmidt JD. A retrospective consecutive controlled case series analysis of the assessment and treatment of elopement in children with autism in an inpatient setting. Behavior Analysis in Practice. 2024.
• Kaur J, Frank-Crawford MA, Borrero JC. (accepted). Unmasking social functions: Outcomes from a retrospective consecutive case series of 15 applications. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.
• Frank-Crawford MA, Hagopian LP, Schmidt JD, Rooker GW, Piersma DE, Benson R. (accepted). Initial outcomes of a self-control item assessment targeting self-restraint and self-injury. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.
• Frank-Crawford MA, Hardesty SL, Hagopian LP. Disruptive behaviors and self-injury in NDD. In Accardo PJ, Shapiro BK, Ismail FY (eds). Capute & Accardo’s neurodevelopmental disabilities in infancy and childhood (4th ed.), Elsevier, United Kingdom, 2025; 753-762.