As soon as I graduated high school I became a registered behavior technician. While this is how I have supported myself in college it has also been an incredibly eye-opening experience. I work primarily with children between the ages of 3-5 who have Autism Spectrum Disorder, often early childhood trauma is a comorbidity. In a paper I recently wrote I found that It has been hypothesized that “autism-related sensory hyperactivity to everyday stimuli, social confusion, misunderstanding, and rejection by others might lead to baseline elevated anxiety levels”(Buuren, Hoekert, and Sizo). Shockingly it appears that 92% of individuals with ASD had experienced bullying, abuse, and assault. Simply put the vulnerable nature of ASD can lead to increased levels of victimization and therefore trauma. Signs of developmental trauma include but are not limited to, social withdraw, irritability, loss of positive emotions, sleep issues, depression, and anxiety. Many of the children I work with have behavioral issues, it is often impossible to determine if these issues stem from trauma or ASD. I use my knowledge as a psychology major and training in trauma-informed care to create a safe space for my clients. I understand that the first step is to help the client regulate their emotions. I first build rapport with the client and I build a relationship based on trust. I continually reassure them that I am there to help them. I operate under the assumption that they have endured some sort of trauma and that their behavioral issues could be partly from feelings of fear or trauma. While I am currently only a freshman in college and a new behavior technician this is something that I am passionate about. I love seeing my clients begin to trust me and other adults and peers. I love seeing their personalities blossom once their safety needs are met. Children with autism are incredibly vulnerable and they need adults who make them feel valued, supported, and special. I use affirmations in my practice all of the time. I have my clients say that they are loved, cared for, smart and strong. I hope that one day they believe in themselves as much as I believe in them. My career goal is to become a board-certified behavior analyst. One day I hope to train behavior technicians in trauma-informed care. I hope that trauma-informed care becomes an industry standard. Children are the future, we must safeguard them!

Being the daughter of the veteran has profoundly shaped my life. My dad was always my hero as a child. He was larger than life. He was in the Army for nearly 25 years and while he loved it, it did not leave him unscathed. My dad has pretty significant PTSD, he has woken up in the middle of the night ransacking our house looking for his gun. While the goofy and playful man I adored as a child is still in there, he is increasingly difficult to find. As a child, it is incredibly hard to watch your dad change into someone you don't recognize. He is no longer as playful, he is serious and angry at the world. He mourns the friends he lost daily just as I mourn my dad. As the oldest this has always put a burden on me, I had to help my mom raise my brother and keep our house in order. I am lucky to have parents who are devoted to one another and more in love daily. However, this caused my mom to call into long depressive states when my dad was deployed for up to 11 months at a time. I had to be the parents quite often. Now that I am older I want people to avoid the mental health issues the military has caused my parents. I am a psychology major because of these experiences. I live by the quote "Think globally act locally", I want to help families have fulfilling relationships with one another. I want to help parents create developmentally nurturing environments for their children. I think that if psychology is used in the household then children will experience happier childhoods and hopefully parents like mine will have someone to lean on. My career goals are tied to the military because so much of my childhood centered around my dad's deployment. On March 8th, 2023 I married my most amazing man. We had been together since the beginning of high school and I knew that there was no one else for me. Instantly I knew he was the one. My husband is in the marine corp and his career has only just begun. Already he tells me of the poor mental health of veterans and active service members. My dad's fate seems almost inevitable. I can tell he is unhappy, he misses his old self too. In all of these young struggling service members is promise. With counseling and psychological help then they can be happier and more fulfilled than my dad. As a psychologist I will be able to change my communities, I can help families be more connected. Happiness should be the ultimate goal in life and I hope to help people reach that.