Vantaggi
I like the clients I work with and (theoretically) the therapy/plans are structured enough on our end to feel like you can quantify the progress each day. I really love working with this demographic and with the few coworkers I’ve met that seems to be many people’s driving force.
Svantaggi
For one thing, I have not been given the hours discussed in my hiring and onboarding process, even though I told them I could have open availability and adjust my other part time job accordingly. So I will be looking for other organizations to work with. Second, the initial training is thorough; however, once you’re done with the online stuff it feels like you get thrown in the deep end. I had very little support after I finished training, and I don’t feel like my supervising BCBA is there to help mentor me or fill me in on the workplace norms (I may be requesting a new supervisor). It feels weird that people who work with kids with autism would throw in new workers as if their training is a one size fits all training (every day is different! some days the most you accomplish is the end of a session-long tantrum!). Each of my clients is drastically different, and those individual norms are not taught. Instead, it’s just pointed out when you’ve done something wrong. It’s a very isolated job (I’ve only “met” coworkers during the Zoom training and my clients’ BCBAs a handful of times), so the lack of communication from the one supervisor I have makes me feel extremely unsupported and insecure about how I can even move forward. Additionally, I’ve felt a little talked down to, even though I’m the one working with the clients every day and BCBAs see their clients maybe once a week to observe.
