What I've Learned Working As A Behavior Technician

This summer, I had the opportunity to work a second part time job at Next Gen Therapy, which is a clinic that provides one on one ABA therapy for autism and related behavior disorders for children. I had the choice to either spend my other half of summer working or resting. It was my last summer before I would most likely be working full time and officially becoming an adult adult. But I decided to join Next Gen and save money for the fall, and learn a lot while I was there. Young children was the only age group I hadn't worked with yet, so I thought it would be a good idea to test to see if I'd like working with them more than adults or adolescents. I enjoy work and making progress, and so at the end of the day, joining for the summer wasn't much of a choice after all. It took applying to a lot of different ABA places before I found one that fit my schedule and was hired. Even though it's about to end and it only lasted three months, I've learned a lot about myself and about the field.

The overarching thing I learned is that I don't want to pursue ABA therapy in the future. It doesn't mean I don't find the work valuable, because I do, I just don't feel like I am the best person for the role. I noticed throughout the summer that I was always checking the time, counting down and wondering how much longer it would be before I could go home. That was the first sign that I wasn't enjoying it. I loved working with the kids and they can be so funny and fun to work with, but I think it was some of the more aggressive behaviors that made my sessions go slowly. I had worked with adolescents with anger, but it was more about talking them through it. They weren't aggressive toward me, but rather got aggressive at peers or other people in their life due to not having a better coping mechanism. I love talking and that process. I discovered I was calm enough to deal with the aggression at Next Gen that I encountered with clients, but that I was missing that piece of talking them through it. Not all of them were verbal, and they were young enough that they weren't ready for that talking piece yet. It was more about operant conditioning and rewarding certain behaviors over others and redirecting bad behaviors to good ones. It was more about the behavior.

This helped me realize adolescents are the age group I want to work with. I love the stage of life when you're trying to figure out who you are and when you have all this potential for change, when you are in the process of changing. I like to think I'm a good active listener, and it's because I enjoy listening. I love hearing about people's lives, relating to them, and being able to empathize with them and make them feel better. I love the feeling of having deep conversations with adolescents and young adults. I get to do this with the adults I work with too currently, and I enjoy that as well, but I think the reason I've chosen adolescents is because that's the age I was when I was going through hard times. And I think it feels good because it feels like I'm going back and helping people who are going through similar things that I did.

I've seen at Next Gen the amazing rewards that behavior technicians get there. It's so amazing to see a child there progressing and being able to demonstrate skills they weren't able to a month prior. It's so great to see when they have a great day.

A mentor of mine once told me that you want to be at the one place where you can help the most. I feel working with youth in the juvenile system or youth with mental illnesses including eating disorders is where I'm meant to be. When I worked with my youth, I felt so helpful and I could see the seeds I was making within him. I want to feel that everyday with wherever I end up.

I'm very thankful for the time at Next Gen. Even though I learned it's not for me, it doesn't mean I wasted my time. I learned more about myself.

It couldn't be better timing, as I start my MSW program at UofM this fall. I'm super excited and can't wait to work with adolescents in my field placement and figure out where I'm best suited. You heard me right. I'm excited for school!

I urge you to get out of your comfort zone and try something new. It's never about where you end up, but the experiences that bring you there.

Alexa, play "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus.