From 'What’s ABA?' to ‘I want to do this’

Back in 2019, when I enrolled in bachelors in clinical psychology program in fall semester, after sitting on it for year to get admission into particular program in shifa tameer e millat university, with no idea about different subfields except that there is child psychology and then adult psychology, I never thought I would step into this field.

We had a course of special needs and we did study different conditions and differences in neural connections, we did one field trip as well as part of our coursework, however it was all just basic information, with no practical aspect to it, we learned just introduction to different therapies at that time but questions were always there, I was curious that how these therapies actually work in practical world..

So I started searching and following work of different professional on social media and I came across a training, as usual I consulted my Abu (my grandfather) about it, I still remember I clearly told him, that I don’t know what this is going to be about, but I want to know how aba therapy works and this is professional training by person whose work I admire online, but I also feel like it’s expensive currently considering I would be pursuing this or nor or whether it would be helpful for me or not, and I remember how he mentioned to me that he doesn’t understand about field or course, but don’t worry about expense and just do it if you want to do it and didn’t think about its applicability, even if you didn’t go into this field professionally, knowledge won’t be ever wasted.

So in 2021, in my 4 th semester I enrolled in my rbt/abat training. My training started on 26 th June 2021 and 11 days before that my Abu passed away (May Allah have mercy on him, and grant him highest rank in Jannah, Ameen), thinking back to it now Allah gave me a lot of strength, because only after I was done with my training I realized it wasn’t easy in many ways but the idea of skipping training didn’t cross my mind at that time.

Talking about my training experience, I was quite intimidated over there internally, though I did my best to not reflect it, but some participants were in field for some time, some were parents of neurodivergent individuals and if I remember correctly I was the only student who hadn’t even completed her bachelors and was sitting there.

I would be in awe every day with all the information I was getting, others would raise many question and I would just silently absorb everything, that was completely new world for me but somewhere in those five days of training, I had decided I was going to work in this field and pursue this professionally.

I decided to sit for exam right after my training, I wasn’t sure I was prepared enough but I went into practical application right after training by getting observer ships and internships and started searching for all material available on internet (P.S I found tons of material online for free). 22 Aug 2021, I had certificate of ABAT in my hands. I would always intern somewhere in my semester breaks. I did internships in different autism centers, worked as special needs learning assistant in schools etc.

Journey is still going on Alhamdulillah, where I am working as a behavior technician under supervision and continuing my education further in field of applied behavior analysis.

Is this really for me? Can this make the kind of difference I want to make? Am I doing right? Questions were always there especially earlier in my career, but I didn’t stop, even with questions I thought I would only be able to answer this if I work enough in this field. I haven’t worked enough to have everything figured out yet, I still feel stuck but now question of leaving the field doesn’t come to mind. Because over the time, I’ve come to realize that being stuck isn’t failure or indicator to run away, but it's time to take step back and analyze again, just like how ABA teaches us to analyze, to assess data, to adapt, to take a data-driven approach and to try again differently.

For anyone currently exploring the filed or stepping into new roles of behavior tech, it can seem like a sea of acronyms, strategies, data sheets, protocols etc. but it’s nothing to be intimidated by, because I still remember my trainer word who mentioned that ABA is everywhere, you just have to wear your behavior glasses and see through it, as unknowingly we are following a lot of its principles in our daily lives (it’s topic for another day though), it’s important to remember that behind every target behavior and intervention plan is a real person you are working for and that’s what really matters. It’s important to not forget that you as a therapist is person too, so it’s okay to be intimidated , scared and uncertain times, but as long as you are ethical, curious, ready to reflect and reach out for help, you are gonna be fine, just remember behavior tech’s life graph isn’t always linear also.