I was having one of those days yesterday where I just needed some feedback. Well, let me be more specific. I needed some feedback that wasn’t negative. It seemed like all I was hearing back from my kids’ (nonABA-therapists and teachers was all that they couldn’t do, weren’t doing, and should be able to do but aren’t. That’s not the message you want to hear when you’re running yourself ragged trying to make all the different appointments, jamming snacks down your kids’ throats in the car so they don’t get to therapy on an empty stomach after a long day in school.
After the third day in a row, I asked my son’s BCBA (board certified behavior analyst) for something positive. She very happily produced the following graph in mere minutes:
That’s one of the things I love about ABA. Since they are constantly taking data on kiddo’s progress they can pull up graphs like the one above that literally show day by day how kids are doing. That way if they are having an “off” day, the therapist knows it. Unlike in more traditional assessments when my son has an off day and fails a test and then it looks like he doesn’t know the material.
So, thank God for data. It gets me through these tough spots when I wonder, ” is it all paying off?”
When I can look and see visible improvement I see that it is. Thank you ABA!
I love that you love data!! I am currently in school to become a BCBA and work as an ABA therapist here at a local company. Like you, I am amazed at the visibility of the progress these kiddos are making and the evidence is simply non argumentative. Best of luck for your family and keep watching that data!! 🙂
ALLENIJO
Thanks for your kind words and encouragement 🙂 It takes a special person to do the work that you do and the positive impact that you have on the families you work with can never truly be measured. Best of luck and thanks for reading!
No problem:) this job is very rewarding and it definitely goes both ways. For these families to even trust me and allow me to work with their children means a lot .