Rich Are you searching for a BCBA Jobs in the greater Philadelphia area? Curious what your career would look like as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst at Behavior Interventions? We’re excited to introduce you to our featured BCBA, Khadijah, as she shares her experiences with you in this employee feature.
If you’re on the job hunt and exploring BCBA jobs, we invite you to read through her answers below and visit our career page to learn more!
Meet Khadijah E, BCBA at Behavior Interventions
- Why did you choose this career path? I’ve always enjoyed working with children. For my first job as a camp counselor, I often worked one-on-one with a child in my group who struggled with social skills and expressing his wants and needs. When I found out that he had autism, I was intrigued about helping other children like him. I gained early childhood education experience in high school, a psychology background in undergrad but I did not learn about the ABA field until grad school where I fell in love with the possibility of blending my love for data and evidence-based practices with my passion of working with children.
- What’s your favorite part about your BCBA job? My favorite part of the job is that I am always learning something new. The field is ever changing and growing. Working in different settings, both as evaluator and BCBA with my own clients, makes it so that no two days are the same. I also like knowing that I can make a lasting positive impact on the lives of clients and their families.
- How do you collaborate with other members of the Behavior Interventions team? Collaboration is a crucial part of the job. As BCBAs we collaborate with each other by discussing the latest research articles, daily challenges we face, running ideas past each other, asking for input from coworkers. This is done daily when I see coworkers in the office, monthly during our group supervision meetings, quarterly during our social outings. Collaboration is also needed with RBTs, this is done across sessions and during sessions by providing feedback to RBTs and seeking their opinions on whether written strategies are easy to implement with clients. We work together to make sure our clients progress. Lastly, collaboration occurs across departments via email to ensure that clients’ services are effective.
- How does your job make a lasting impact on the lives of the children you work with and their families? With my job, I strive to help a child gain better access to the world around them, whether that is through helping them functionally communicate to get their wants/needs met, helping them to make and keep friends or helping them to learn to follow a cooking recipe. It warms my heart when families see the value in the strategies being used with their children and implement them outside of sessions as well. I hear from families of former clients who reach out to let me know that a lasting impact was made which makes it all worth it.
- For anyone considering becoming a BCBA, what advice do you have for them? This field can be a lot on a person. When you enjoy helping others, you often forget to help yourself so it is important to prioritize self-care as much as (if not more than) you prioritize your work. Establish boundaries early on. As you get into the ABA coursework and field, do not take supervision lightly. Having the right supervisor who can help to guide you, mentor you, teach you and help you grow is crucial and can save some of the inevitable “imposter syndrome” that may come up. Believe in yourself and the impact you can have on people but never forget to love on yourself in the process!
