Radhika Poovayya, Speech Language Pathologist and US Board Certified Behavior Analyst, is the founder and Director of Samvaad Institute and Samvaad centres for speech therapy and ABA therapy. She has over 30 years of professional, clinical and teaching experience.  She has worked in rural and urban settings and with  families from all strata of society. Her area of expertise  is to provide ABA based therapy for children with autism/ ADHD and also handles behavior problems in school going children. She also has specialized in treatment of stuttering and Aphasia  She has presented papers in various national and international conferences. She is also active in creating awareness and dispelling myths on disabilities  

She has 3 clinics in Bangalore, Hebbal, Indiranagar and Marathahalli. She consults at Cloud Nine Hospitals, Old airport road , Bangalore. She has one international centre in Phonm Penh, Cambodia.

Qualifications

• Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA), USA
•  Masters in Behaviour analysis from Florida institute of technology , USA
•  Masters in Speech and Hearing from All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH), India’s first and premier education institute

View Certificates

Administrative Posts

• Managing trustee of GSM Education Trust
• Managing trustee Samvaad Foundation
• Completed term in the Governing council  and Expert committee of RCI

Previous Institutional/ Hospital Associations

• Tata Tea , General Hospital, Munnar, Kerala
• Dr. S R C Institute of Speech and Hearing, Bangalore
• Bangalore International School, Bangalore
• Manipal Hospital, Bangalore
• HOSMAT, Bangalore
• Baptist Hospital, Bangalore

What lead RADHIKA POOVAYYA to take up the study of a behaviour analysis  despite being an experienced speech language pathologist ?

 When Radhika Poovayya started her first clinic offering speech therapy in Domlur, Bangalore in 2002, she realized that children with autism have challenges that regular speech therapy could not address. Challenges like, non-compliance, temper tantrums, lack of motivation to learn or an uneven language development, may not be effectively dealt by speech therapy based approach.

 In 2003, a parent introduced her to applied behavior science, as an approach that was well researched and used extensively in the west. Parents organized the first conference in Chennai and after attending the conference, Radhika was convinced that she had to learn the ABA approach. She then organized the first seminar in Bangalore on behavior analysis in 2008. Smita Awasti BCBA D was invited from Dubai and this brought in the awareness on the effectiveness of ABA among parents.Today ,Bangalore has the most number of behaviour analysts in the country.

She signed up to do her masters in Applied Behavior Analysis, (ABA) from Florida Institute of Technology. The practical aspects of the course requires 1500 hours of mentoring  under a Behavior analyst . Radhika was fortunate to mentor under Siri Ming, BCBA D a renowned behavior analyst in the US.  In 2010 she passed the exam to become a US Board certified behavior analyst. She is the first speech pathologist in the country to have a dual degree in speech language pathology and behaviour analysis.