Preparing to handle Loss and Grief with Tricia Lund

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How do you support a child or adult with disabilities through death and loss when many of us are uncomfortable talking about it ourselves? In this episode of My BCBA Life, Penina sits down with BCBA and thanatology specialist Tricia Lund to unpack how grief shows up for neurodivergent individuals and what BCBAs can realistically and ethically do to help.

Tricia Lund is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with approximately 10 years of experience. She began her career working in schools and clinics and now primarily supports teens and adults with disabilities living in group homes and day habilitation programs in Texas. Recognizing a major gap in how our field addresses death and grief, she pursued additional certification in thanatology, allowing her to integrate evidence-based principles about death, dying, and bereavement into her ABA practice while remaining solidly within scope.

Key Takeaways:

Grief is not “less real” for people with disabilities; their grief is often ignored or minimized, which can complicate the grieving process and increase distress.Understanding death requires grasping its permanence, universality, biological basis, and causation; many clients with cognitive differences need explicit teaching and support in these areas.Start early: use neutral, everyday examples (plants, animals, media) to introduce concepts of life and death and to build accurate, concrete language (including on AAC devices).Primary losses (the person who died) often create a cascade of secondary losses (home, routine, transportation, community, financial freedom) that can be even more impactful in daily life.BCBAs can stay within scope by focusing on education and participation, modifying environments, supporting involvement in rituals, and collaborating with counselors and spiritual leaders for deeper grief work.

00:00 - How the topic of death and grief emerged in her practice

03:06 – What thanatology is and why a BCBA would pursue it

05:13 – How children (and many adults) understand death, and the core concepts needed

06:32 – Permanence, universality, and biology of death; cultural and media distortions

07:30 – Causation and how cognitive level affects grief responses and timing