Recently finished with my Bachelor’s degree, I took a position as a developmental interventionist, where I would provide in-home support and psychoeducation for neurodiverse children and their families. My role was to help my clients strengthen social, emotional, and interpersonal skills as well as provide psychoeducation to caregivers about their child’s developmental challenges and specific needs. Although I was not a therapist, as the caregivers grew comfortable with me, they began to confide in me – challenges, stressors, feelings about their families and their communities. The families I worked with lived in under-resourced communities, and most were immigrants and economically disadvantaged. With no therapy background, I focused on listening, validating, and creating space for them to share. Gradually, I saw the impact of bearing witness to someone’s pain. These conversations helped caregivers better accept their child’s neurodiversity and find some relief from the broader sociocultural challenges they faced. This experience clarified my desire to work in the nonprofit sector. It showed me how identity can profoundly affect quality of life and access to care. The caregivers I spoke with benefited from talking through their struggles, yet none could access therapy outside of these conversations. That realization pushed me toward a career in nonprofits, where I want people to access therapy services regardless of socioeconomic status or identity, because every person deserves the opportunity to heal and grow. In my first year placement for my MSW program, I worked at an adult day healthcare center providing individual and group therapy as well as case management to adults with developmental disabilities. Within a couple of months, the participants I worked with began to vocalize the support, understanding, and benefit they were attaining from our relationship. It was through this process that I realized not only do I enjoy working with this population, but I have the ability to meaningfully impact their lives. For my second year placement, I will be working at one of the largest LGBTQ+ nonprofits as an intern therapist. Through this internship, I will be receiving extensive training on specific topics and issues present within this community. I will have the opportunity to gain more experience working in the nonprofit sector and support individuals from an underserved population. It has been my dream to work in the nonprofit world with this population, and I am ecstatic that this opportunity will allow me to serve a community I am so passionate about. In my future career as a social worker, I believe that I can make a difference in the communities I care about by providing strengths-based, culturally sensitive, and affirming therapy services. Through work in nonprofits, I intend to create a space where people can process their experiences and be met with curiosity and unconditional positive regard. The world is not designed for individuals in these communities to thrive, yet through collaboration, they can learn to navigate it a bit more easily. Ultimately, I hope to help shift societal narratives around neurodiverse and LGBTQ+ communities by helping people understand that they do not need to be fixed or defined by their lived experiences.

Shortly after completing my Bachelor’s in Psychology, I took a position where I would be working, providing in-home DIR/Floortime therapy to children with developmental disabilities. Although I had prior experience working with neurodiverse children through positions as a behavior technician, tutor, and camp counselor, it was through Floortime that my passion for working with individuals with developmental disabilities truly blossomed. The primary goals within Floortime are understanding each child’s sensory needs and helping them deepen their connections and relationships with others. As I began meeting clients, I quickly started to see the impact that acknowledging a child’s needs and meeting them where they are at can have. In a world where these individuals are told to change, conform, and ignore their needs, I was able to show them that I see them and that they do not need to be any different from who they are. ​ In my first-year placement for my MSW program, I had the opportunity to work with adults with developmental disabilities at an adult day healthcare center. In this role, I was profoundly impacted by the participants of the center and the connections we were able to form. In my role as an intern, I provided individual and group therapy sessions for these individuals. Through this, I was able to provide these individuals with the space to be seen, heard, and acknowledged. I met them where they were at and met them with unconditional positive regard. Within a couple of months, the participants I worked with began to vocalize the support, understanding, and benefit they were attaining from our relationship. It was through this process that I realized not only do I enjoy working with this population, but have the ability to meaningfully impact their lives. ​ Upon completing my MSW degree, I plan to work in the public behavioral health sector to be able to provide services to individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds and under-resourced communities, including neurodiverse and developmentally disabled individuals. Within this, I plan to use my experience and passion for this population to provide strengths-based, neurodiversity affirming therapy services. I hope to provide individuals with a space to freely share their challenges, goals, and desires, and be met with curiosity and unconditional support. In a world that is not designed for people with different physical and cognitive abilities, I hope to help people recognize their assets and see that no one needs to be fixed or defined by their ability. ​ Through working with clients, I hope to help people with disabilities learn how they can engage in self-advocacy and help non-disabled clients learn how they can support and advocate for people with different abilities in their personal, professional, and social lives. I intend to help clients of all abilities understand that advocating for inclusivity and the dignity of all people is crucial to the improvement of our society as a whole. If we all work to be more sensitive and accessible, we can create a better quality of life for our disabled loved ones, communities, and society at large.