About Special Learning

Changing lives through quality ABA education.

Founded in 2010 with a simple mission: make evidence-based ABA education accessible to every professional, parent, and organization that needs it. Founder-owned. Never private equity.

32,000+ customers served since 2010, in 140+ countries

2010

Our story.

The professionals doing the most important work — BCBAs, RBTs, educators, and parents on the front lines — too often lacked access to quality, affordable continuing education.

Special Learning was founded in Chicago in 2010 by Karen Chung, a Kellogg-trained entrepreneur and CPA who saw that fundamental gap in the ABA field. What started as a small library of CE courses has grown into a comprehensive platform that has reached and served 32,000+ customers and families in more than 140 countries.

But the mission hasn't changed: pair people before selling to them. Every resource we create — free or paid — is built to help someone first.

Why founder-owned matters

We answer to our customers and our mission — not to investors.

The ABA industry has seen significant private-equity consolidation over the past decade. PE-backed providers face pressure to cut costs, raise margins, and optimize for shareholder returns — often at the expense of quality and access.

Special Learning remains founder-owned by design. That independence is why we can offer V-CAT — a consultation and triage program with a free 60-minute initial consultation — keep pricing that doesn't exploit certification deadlines, and keep building products that genuinely serve the field.

Our values

Four commitments behind everything we publish.

Pair before selling

Every interaction is a relationship first. We give value before asking for anything in return — because that's who we are, not a marketing tactic.

Evidence-based always

Every course, resource, and recommendation is grounded in peer-reviewed ABA research. We don't publish opinion — we publish science.

Accessible globally

Quality ABA education shouldn't be limited by geography or income. We price to be accessible and offer free resources for those who need them most.

Independent & ethical

Founder-owned. No private equity. No conflicts of interest. We serve the field, not shareholders.

Founder

Karen Chung — founder & owner.

Karen founded Special Learning in 2010 and still runs it the same way it started: families first, science in plain language, and a refusal to treat any person on this journey as a transaction. Over 106 products and nearly 500 unique, original educational resources later, the proof isn't the catalog — it's the professionals who renewed their credentials, the parents who learned to support their children, and the organizations that built stronger, more ethical teams with our training.

Meet Karen →

ESBAP · our sibling initiative

The mission doesn't stop at our catalog.

In 2026 we launched ESBAP — the Ethical Standards in Behavior Analysis Practice initiative — providing independent verification of ethical practice standards for ABA organizations, so families and professionals have a trusted framework for evaluating provider quality and ethics.

Visit ESBAP

Quality ABA education for every professional, parent, and organization.

Join 32,000+ customers in over 140+ countries. Wherever you are on the journey, there's a free first step.

Start learning →

BACB ACE Provider

#OP-14-2437

32,000+customers served since 2010

140+countries

2010founded

106+products

Authorization as an ACE Provider does not imply endorsement or approval of the ACE event content by the BACB.