- What drove you to the ABA Therapist profession? I was always inclined to work with people who were on the spectrum from a very young age. I’ve had an affinity to the people on spectrum being that I have a little brother with autism spectrum disorder, and I know it sounds cliché but I feel like my purpose on this earth is to simply help. I love to help in anyway that I can, whether it be through parent training or directly working with a child in the hopes of providing the child, with a more fruitful future and life.
- How do you balance your career and family? There is no balance, my career and the children that I work with are my family they are one in the same.
- What advice do you have for prospective Golden Care candidates? I would say above anything else practice compassion. And I understand that it’s family that you meet you make a great impact on it’s not easy raising a child on the spectrum so parents may be a little frustrated at times and the child will probably be frustrated. Just go into everything with understanding and compassion.
- What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? The best advice I’ve ever been given is it’s a marathon, not a sprint we’re not rushing to the end we’re pacing ourselves and working through every single step.
- What is your proudest moment at Golden Care/ in your work as an ABA Therapist? My proudest moment while working for golden care as an ABA therapist, would have to be sending my client to school for the first time and her teachers coming back and telling me that she was able to sit in her seat when asked or when a client can make eye contact with me after avoiding eye contacts for many years. It’s all the little things that people take for granted.
- What is one thing that you wished people knew about your job? I wish people knew how incredibly inspiring each one of the children that I get the privilege to work with are. When I tell people what I do for a living I’m always thanked for taking on a “challenge” and career path but really, I have the privilege of being taught something new every single day. Me working with a child is not one sided it’s completely reciprocal. Sure, I may teach them how to tie a shoe but they have taught me patients, how to care for someone who can’t express their needs, how to read peoples emotions through a set of eyes and how to have a full blown conversation with little to no words exchanged.
- What does the day to day of your job look like? Every day is a new experience there’s no two days that are the same. Some days we laugh and play all day and then other days we work through tantrums but each day none the less it’s a beautiful experience.
