Is ABA Behaviour Interventionist a good job for an aspie?

Post Reply New Topic

So I graduated in June of this past year and after several months I finally got an interview and just found out tonight that I got the job, which I'm super stoked about. It probably didn't help that not only is a BA of sociology one of those BS degrees that doesn't have a specific use, but I've always been really indecisive about what I want to do for a living even well before graduating, and sociology just happened to be a subject I enjoyed and was good at and to make things worse I changed my major a few years into post-secondary, which I didn't start till I was 20 because I took two years off after high school to work jobs I didn't care for. Long story short, I'm almost 29 and am still living at home, and finally have a chance at a decently paying part-time job that could lead to full time employment.

It just so happens that I volunteer with kids at my church and that sort of led me in the direction of pursuing child and youth work, and I've been trying to get into that field without having to go back to school as I'm already bloody sick of it. Well, it looks like I finally got my wish and will be working with kids on the spectrum, which is one of few circumstances where being an aspie might give me a leg up as I can't say I didn't need a little extra help when I was younger and kind of know what it's like to be the only one of my friends who needed it. I'm just a little uncertain about what this job entails, though I suppose the mandatory training seminar will help clear some stuff up.

I don't care if being male really helped distinguish me from other applicants as I really want a decent paying job and don't want to spend the rest of my life standing behind a cash register. The only concern is that I'll have to do a lot more driving and will need to have my car insured for business use, and shifts might be a even more sporadic than my dead-end retail job. But, maybe I'm just nervous about trying my hand at a new industry, and I am actually pretty excited. Is anyone familiar with this particular line of work? If so, do you have any advice? Maybe it's a little ironic that the part of me I've been ignoring and trying to bury in the hopes of living a reasonably neurotypical life is now the basis for a job that may be my ticket to moving out and living on my own.

I have been working as an ABA instructor therapist, with varying full-time and part-time schedules, since last April now. I am also acquiring supervision hours toward BCBA certification. I do not know if you are going into the intensive intervention field or something that is more low-key, but doing intensive programming is a very energy-consuming job for anyone. You have to be "on" and tuned into the behaviour of the kid all the time, plus be super organized and fluent at running the teaching trials. I am doing a graduate ABA program, as well, which helps a lot with proficiency in the theoretical/scientific side of things.

You have to have the right personality for it. I am more on the extroverted side and can be flexible with practice. I also have an artsy/creative side to me which really helps with engaging the kids. There is a lot of structure to the sessions, but building rapport with the kid and being able to be spontaneous is also very important. Aside from speed and organization challenges, my biggest struggle in this role is trying to go with my emotion more than relying on logic/rules. I also find that I need a lot of downtime, adequate rest and high general energy levels, and a very structured/predictable personal life to be able to do this job well.

Given that I have a lot of strengths in this role and given that I really do enjoy this work, I stick to it and refuse to give up despite these obstacles. I am actually going as far as trying to find a professional in the field who is familiar with adult ASD and who I do not directly work with to get some extra practice in the areas I have difficulty with. Another thing is that you need to be a really good communicator because you would typically be working as part of a team (unless you work alone in someone's home). This is another area I personally need guidance/coaching in if I want to be truly successful at this.

That's been my experience in a nutshell

At a university presentation, I asked about sensory issues. The ABA instructor said, some children on the spectrum have sensory issues, and some don't, which is true as far as it goes. It is also the case that spectrum kids have sensory issues much more often than do members of the general public, and it's something which would be extremely helpful to be conversant and informed about.

In the training film they show, the instructor said, "Great job, Give me five!" and she loomed her face close to the child's face. Wow, it seemed like it would be too much even for someone without sensory issues!

Got me thinking, yes, it's important for the rewards to actually be rewarding.

as far as energy and downtime, I've been helped by the idea of developing a solid, steady eddie B game along with my A game skills.

I took this analogy from something I read about Major League Baseball pitchers. A young pitcher typically can only win when he has his A game on. A veteran has figured out ways to also win with his B game.

"B"-game, in this instance, has nothing to do with baseball.

Sometimes, on a day-to-day basis, people are just not as efficient on one day as during another day.

Therefore, they have to acknowledge this. They have to be good at implementing and using a "B"-game to obtain results, rather than their "A"-game, because they don't have their "A"-game that day. They are not in an ideal mood or as efficient as days when they can use their "A"-game.