I have been working as a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) for over a year now, and I have absolutely fallen in love with what I do. I provide behavior therapy and teach life skills to kids and teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder. ADHD, ASD, and mental health struggles are all common comorbidities. Most of my clients find it extremely difficult to communicate and self-regulate, which is what I am there for! We do not only work on things like language and life skills, but also things like how to self-manage, how to label what these emotions are, and what to do to help handle these big feelings. Behavior is a form of communication. It is my job to listen and try to understand behavior so that I can understand my clients better. I am now attending graduate school to become a behavior analyst to better assist the children and families I work with! By becoming a BCBA, I can create behavior intervention plans that include the feelings and thoughts of my clients. In my experience, a lot of maladaptive behaviors stem from clients being misunderstood or unable to get their message across. As a BCBA, I can create goals that target emotional communication and emotional labeling. This way, the client can appropriately express how they feel without engaging in self-injury, aggression, or some other form of hurtful behavior. You don't realize how much of a change this stuff makes until you see it for yourself! I currently work with a client that previously had goals to label some of his emotions when they came up in his everyday life. Now that he knows how to tell me how he feels, I can better adapt my therapeutic approach. If my client is telling me that he feels angry today, it may not be the best idea to try and push the client really hard and do new, unlearned goals. It may be better to work on goals and skills that he feels more capable and comfortable doing! Accounting for mental health in behavior therapy for people with ASD is extremely beneficial and needs to become common practice. Just because some of these individuals do not say their feelings out loud, does not mean that they do not have feelings and struggle with their mental health! I am excited to finish my education and take a more all-encompassing approach to behavior analysis!

The pride I felt watching my client have a conversation with one of his peers for the first time. The text from a parent of one of my clients saying thank you for my team's hard work because the client is now able to eat in public establishments. The look of relief on my non-verbal client's face after we finally realized she was not hitting her head because she wanted to, but as a form of communication. This field is filled with so many beautiful moments, and I love the individuals I work with. These quirky, fun, talented, smart, and incredible people have made me realize I want to get more involved in this field. Working with people on the Autism Spectrum has made me realize things in my everyday life that I take for granted. I take for granted that my family and I can bond through verbal communication. I take for granted that I am able to express when I do not feel good. I take for granted the fact that my friends and family can go out to dinner without any self-injurious behaviors or aggression. These things seem so mundane and typical to a lot of people, but for individuals and families of people on the Autism Spectrum, that is not always the case. Watching the individuals I work with gain social, language, and behavioral skills through our work is priceless. I currently work as a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) and have already gained so much knowledge and experience working with individuals with Autism. I am enhancing my skills by attending the ABA Online program through FIT in the Fall of 2025! I received my admission letter yesterday, and I could not be more excited! My plan for the future is to become a BCBA. After I find community working as a BCBA, I would like to start my own clinic. My long-term plan is so create a sort of "community" for individuals on the Autism Spectrum. I want to offer ABA, SLP, OT, PT, and talk therapy services in my clinic. I also want to set up different programs that target life and job skills individualized for each client. I think having events for the people in this community could also be fun as well. Having some things like organized sports or art exhibits from the clients could be very fun! I have witnessed firsthand the neglect and dismissal a lot of programs for ASD receive. Many people are not willing to fight for a better state of being for these people... but I am. These people are just in a world that is not built for them and their needs. Therefore, I am trying to create a little corner of the world that is built for them. Having somewhere that helps with their individualized needs and offers a sense of community and belonging will be huge for not only my future clients, but for me as well.