So there it is.

Over the past ohhh saaayyy 6 months or so...heck, even further back than that...I have received some questions about my job/career. This makes sense and I apologize for not really ever addressing them. You see, its hard to explain what you're up to when you really don't know what you are up to. I spent a couple years trying to decide where and what I wanted to be and I have "worn a lot of hats" as they say...

I worked as a medical secrectary in an outpatient surgical center for 2 years. The nurses, my fellow clerks, and support staff were amazing people who were extremely hard for me to part with . The nature of the surgery biz, many patients, + the doctors and their god-complexes made it much easier to leave. Somewhere in those 2yrs, I came in contact with the Louisville FEAT group. I began working on weekends for them in the SIBSHOPS program. Sibshops is bascially a workshop for children who have a sibling with developmental disabilities. These workshops give the kids a chance to share their feelings and spend time with peers who might be going through similar things that they are.
After about a year of doing Sibshops, I was hired to work for Dreams with Wings of Louisville. Another fantastic organization I would reccomend checking out or helping out! I worked at their summer camp for teens with Autism and stayed on as a Direct Support Staff for the fall. In my 2 years there I also worked as a job coach for Supported Employement. In my time at Dreams, I was also hired by a different company to provide ABA therapy for a family in Southern Indiana.

A few twists a couple personal references and I came to find out that Meaningful Day Services of Indianapolis, IN had a new ABA Therapy department branching out to the Southern IN area. And after a long transition period from Dreams (it was SO hard to leave my clients & coworkers there) HERE I AM :) I am a full-time ABA Therapist for Meaningful Day Services.
Now...even with the background that may not mean a lot to you guys. So here is the gist of it, along with some links if you are really jazzed about knowing this stuff.

A typical week for me looks like this:
Anywhere between 8am and noon I either pick up a client from school or meet them at the Ymca. The local Y's have been allowing my company to rent space from them until we can buy our own office for therapy. From the moment we meet up until the end of our session I use ABA techniques along with sensory intergration and any other GOOFY SILLY WACKY ways possible to keep the kid interacting with me, communicating verbally, and learning. We also keep data on all programs. For some kids, its more like a specialized academic program and for others it is truly behavior intervention and life-skills 101. Most days I see 2-4 children and am typically done by 6pm. Sometimes the hours are choppy...and there is drive time involved. Lots on some weeks, less others. Sometimes we shake it up and take the kids for Community Outings or group them for play/social dates. A Community Outing can be anything from goin to lunch at McDonald's to bowling or the park. There are good days...like I can't believe I am getting paid to play in the park on a perfect spring day days...and there are days when I come home with scratches & a head full of frazzled hair that's been pulled at all day. The thing I love most: there is always the possibility of something great happening.

http://www.meaningfuldays.com/aba_about.html

http://www.featoflouisville.org/