Alabama Lifestyle Blog

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Behavior Analysis, It’s What I Do

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In this stage of life we always meet new people and are asked the lovely question “What do you do?”. Normally, when I respond, there is generally some sort of follow up conversation because unless you are in the special education field or speech and language, most people have a very wrong idea of what it is that I really do. When I say “I’m a behavior analyst. Currently I work with adults in a residential and day programming agency to reduce harmful and maladaptive behaviors and increase positive alternative and appropriate behaviors and communication” people tend to give a funny look…

I am a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). I received my Master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis with a focus in Developmental Disabilities at Auburn under two of the best in our field, Jim Carr & Linda LeBlanc. In April I posted about Autism Awareness so you may had gotten a small intro to what the field is of what I do, but I wanted to take today to go in depth about my beloved field of applied behavior analysis.
People generally think that I am watching and analyzing every word they say and movement they make. That I am somehow going to hear their thoughts like Sookie Stackhouse and know all of their deepest secrets just by watching them. Or that I sit on a couch nodding and scribbling down notes as I ask the question “and how does that make you feel?” 
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Yet others believe that since my brother is in the Army, that I must be doing some government work as well analyzing the behavior of criminals and picture a TV show image of my day to day activities.

TV show
I did a quick search on Google and found this little gem and it just about sums it up on the different versions of what people in my world seem to think that I do as a BCBA…

In reality, over the past three and a half years since graduating from my Master’s program, being a behavior analysts has meant several different things. Take a look at the images below and  listen to this song, 99 Problems (But My Graph Ain’t One) by the aptly named group The Autoclitics, you will get a slight glimpse into the nerdiness that is my life.
But what do I really do you ask? Keep on reading to find out the nitty gritty of what it means to be a behavior analyst…

During my time with the organization I had my graduate fellowship with I had three different roles: Clinical Coordinator, Instructional Support Specialist, and even classroom Teacher. While there, I carried a caseload of children and adolescent residential and parentally placed students with varying developmental and physical disabilities in both day programming and residential programming; conducted functional assessment interviews (FAI), Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF), and functional analyses, developed Person Centered Instructional Plans (PCIP) for skill acquisition and behavior reduction; monitored data weekly and provided graphical data analyses; participate in interdisciplinary team meetings to discuss progress of individuals served and lead small group discussion; assessed student preference using paired stimulus and multiple stimulus preference assessments; trained and monitored teachers and teacher assistants as well as residential staff to implement behavior reduction and skill acquisition protocols; collaborated with an interdisciplinary team to create, train, and monitor intensive feeding procedures for students, orientation training for new staff on applied behavior analysis; ensured the security of money, and financial transactions for the department for reinforcers and materials; consultation and teacher training in the public school system; provided individual supervision for practicum students seeking to obtain BCaBA and BCBA certification as well as preparation and leading of group supervision, as well as augmentative communication programming with use of the iPad program Proloquo.


Some days being a behavior analyst means running discrete trials and doing direct instruction in the classroom. Some days, it means going to the science center in town, the pier, Chick-Fil-A, or Pump It Up and teaching community involvement and leisure skills. Regards of the location, it always means full acceptance, patience, perseverance.

I also had the opportunity to be an Adjunct Professor of the undergraduate course Applied Behavior Analysis III: Advanced Applications at the University of South AL. There I developed and managed syllabus materials, selecting and compiling tests, assignments, and projects. Coordinated coursework and curriculum with academic department chair. I developed PowerPoint presentations and handouts for lectures, utilizing assigned textbooks and literature; facilitated class instruction; and evaluated student performance.

Since then, I have done consultation work prior to my current position (which is much like what you read above) at a residential agency. During consultation, I provided behavior analytic services both in homes and consultation with local school systems. I carried a caseload of children with varying developmental and physical disabilities.

To date, my clients have ranged in age from 2-62 and I have had clients with a variety of physical and intellectual disabilities and mental illness. I take a lot of data, do a lot of observations, look at a lot of literature, and a lot of training. And I am always looking for the function of the behavior – why is it happening – to move forward in the next step of the process. Every day is different, and there is certainly never a dull moment. And it is not an easy job. Outside of the paperwork, I have been bitten, kicked, punched, spit on, vomited on, thrown feces at, urinated on, screamed at, cussed out, and  almost had my hair pulled out. But I have also successfully decreased aggression to self and others, taught individuals how to read, to eat a variety of foods, take care of themselves, to communicate, and a variety of other skills for both the classroom and daily life that are more than worth all the of craziness that is this field. I have met some incredible people along the way, and have had the most interesting opportunities to show the love of Christ by simply believing that these individuals I serve are capable and deserving of a happy and successful life.

Really, all I ask is that when “bad” behaviors come…a fit, a tantrum, anything… regardless of whether or not the individual has a diagnosis or not, that you would simply do the following…


So tell me, what do you do for a living?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Misty Boone says

    Hi! I just found your blog thanks to the Monday Mingling link-up party. I am now a follower on Bloglovin. I hope that you will check out my blog and follow me too.

    I also have to say that I admire what you do. I have looked into the field of behavior analysis and it is not an easy field to work in. God bless you.

    Misty
    http://thebarnprincess.com

  2. Sarah @ To Be Mrs. Collier says

    Sounds like you have an awesome job/career! I am finishing my Ph.D. in Immunology (basic science research of the immune system). I do lab 8-6, at least 6 days a week. Fun times at the bench to be had by all!