32yrs

female

Speaks English

I first had the opportunity to work with a special needs child at the day care I worked at during college. She was a little girl with down syndrome and had so much love and enthusiasm to give whenever I saw her. I then had the opportunity to work with kids on the autism spectrum as a camp counselor at a special needs sleep-away summer camp for the past three summers. I absolutely fell in love with the children I was caring for! I had the opportunity to teach them behavioral, verbal, social, and life skills, and seeing them improve on a daily basis was incredibly rewarding. We utilized several ABA techniques along with first, then structures, picture schedules, and reinforcers to get them to communicate. Because I worked at this camp for three consecutive years, I was able to see my children grow and improve, and it put a huge smile on my face just to see little improvements in their habits and behaviors. Because of this camp and the kids I worked with, I am attaining my masters in Speech Pathology and would like to work with kids on the autism spectrum, as that is my passion.