Our Team

Dr. Richard E. Laitinen, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA works at the intersection of behavior analysis, instructional design, and developmental remediation. He is the CEO and Clinical & Development Director of Educational and Developmental Therapies, Inc. (EDT), where his work focuses on building instructional systems that lead to meaningful, long-term change for autistic and other neurodevelopmentally diverse learners—beyond short-term gains or test scores.

Dr. Laitinen earned his doctorate in Special Education from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and completed postdoctoral work at the University of Washington. His professional specialization includes curriculum design, generative verbal behavior, and systems-level models of learning. Over the years, he has developed courses, workshops, and conceptual frameworks for behavior analysts and educators, with a particular emphasis on relational learning, symbolic behavior, and the design of environments that support durable, generalized skill development.

In practice, Dr. Laitinen's work spans the design and supervision of intensive instructional programs, the development and refinement of models of language and cognition, and the translation of complex behavioral science into practical tools that families, educators, and clinicians can actually use. At its core, his approach is guided by a simple principle: aligning rigorous science with thoughtful systems and genuine compassion, so that every learner receives an education that reflects their true potential.