BCBA: Board Certified Behavior Analyst. The one who assesses, plans the course of treatment, supervises the therapists, does parent training, coordinates care among various providers, provides feedback, trains therapists….
Mom: The one who does everything! This includes:
Teacher, maid, chef, personal shopper, therapist, boo-boo kisser, vending machine, handywoman, speech therapist, jungle gym (ask any boy mom lol), firefighter, lawyer, mediator, police officer, judge, bath attendant, security guard… etc.
Being a mom is a full time job… but when you have another full time job as a BCBA you tend to forget and mingle the two.
There are a bunch of takes on this concept. If you are a psychologist, are you constantly asking your kids how they feel? If you are an artist, do you spend your afternoons painting with the crew? Does the daughter of an architect only play with blocks?
As a BCBA, I’m lucky that my job is so broad, and actually quite similar to what I do at home.
7am (if I’m lucky) – 8:30am: Dress children, change diapers, serve breakfast, break up an argument or two, make sure bags are packed, baby is fed, wait for the bus….
8:30am-3:30pm: Help children learn to dress themselves, toilet train, eat independently and try new foods, find alternative appropriate ways to communicate, teach social skills, model play skills, work on waiting….
So you see it’s not that different ????
(Oh, and 3:30pm-8:30pm is a rerun of the morning, just in reverse lol)
It tends to be difficult to draw the line between work and home, and home and work. My children, my clients, I love them all and want the best for them.
Don’t we all?
