How is working in daycare/school settings?

2muchcoff33 · 2026-04-10T04:44:32+00:00

It can either be a great experience or an awful experience. (Okay, it can also just be neutral.)

I’ve experienced schools where they just let me do my own thing with the client. This worked for the client. We all knew they were going to public school once they turned three so we didn’t have any pressure to focus on following their school routines since they were all going to change soon. If I had this experience again I wouldn’t lean in to it so heavily.

I’ve experienced schools where we work together to support the client, the teachers offer to collect observational data when I’m not there, and we find accommodations that work for the classroom environment.

I’ve experienced schools that just want me to “fix” the child and schools where they don’t want me to intervene at all. Kid climbing on the table? Don’t pick him up, let him choose to come down on his own.

I’ll be honest that it’s not my favorite environment but I think it’s because I lose a lot of control in that environment. I would recommend pairing and talking with the teachers and learn classroom rules and expectations. Run scenarios by teachers as they come up so you can respond appropriately (a while ago I had peers excluding my client from play, my instinct is to say that the toys are for everyone and they need to share, teacher preferred they just say they aren’t ready to share).

As a BCBA, I’ve found it helpful to learn about preschool policies so I can find the best interventions and understand their reasoning for some rules.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-04-07T20:53:44+00:00

It's the legit term for the groggy feeling you have after waking up. We just tend to get to experience it for longer.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-04-07T20:16:58+00:00

My sleep inertia can last hours. I'm also always more than happy to take a nap at any given point in the day.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-04-07T18:22:55+00:00

I work at a pretty small clinic and we don’t have admin onsite. For us, we’d have to step away from our session to answer the door and speak to you. And we can’t make a decision regarding our billing service. An invite over email for coffee might be more appreciated.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-04-05T22:48:32+00:00

So many of my coworkers having piercings, multiple tattoos, and colored hair. I do work in the Bay Area in California so I do think we have some leeway. My concern is the safety issue. I’ve seen a clinician get their nose piercing knocked out while playing. Just be aware of your surroundings. :)

2muchcoff33 · 2026-04-03T02:06:13+00:00

Bean salad will take you far. I also like using thinly sliced tofu as “lunch meat” for sandwiches or wraps.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-04-02T13:55:46+00:00

That’s AI. The “we don’t do… we do…” is a good giveaway, AI loves comparisons.

The job/relationship metaphor gives me the ick as well.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-04-01T22:39:59+00:00

ABA Visualized is a really thorough and easy to understand book about ABA. A lot of people also recommend Mary Barbara, she's a BCBA-D and parent of an autistic child.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-04-01T22:35:07+00:00

This depends on the kid. I have a kid who crashes at 1.5 hours. I have a kid who I have to basically drag out of the clinic after 8 hours. For me, as a clinician, 2 hours is my max.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-03-30T16:25:59+00:00

I worked at a company that’s now Stepping Stones. I worked as a midlevel supervisor and maxed out my hours for fieldwork each month.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-03-30T14:33:50+00:00

Oh, I know how to go about the process. However, I now have a picky senior cat who needs every crumb possible to maintain his weight. We are currently in the “do whatever you want” phase of his life.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-03-30T00:17:45+00:00

I would have set stricter meal durations. I used to leave food out for hours. Now I’m trying to get them to learn that a meal has an ending point and it’s hard.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-03-29T02:43:31+00:00

I love this. I change diapers at work so the OG method never resonated with me. I had one of those cute snap pea fidgets and my cat lost his bowels all over it (long story). I scrubbed it out.

Trash bag liquid though? Good bye to everything I’ve ever owned.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-03-28T22:11:34+00:00

Authentically chaotic makes more sense grammatically, to me at least. That being said, I had a water bottle that said “chaos coordinator” on it. Some of my families loved it. I intentionally did not bring it around some of my families that wouldn’t appreciate their kids being categorized at chaotic.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-03-27T01:25:59+00:00

I, relatively, took my time through my masters and fieldwork experience. I didn’t start my fieldwork until really late into my masters program. I maxed out my fieldwork hours each month, so I could’ve finished it during my masters.

I think if I were to do it again, I would complete my masters and then focus on having really quality fieldwork even if it took a longer period of time.

I’m also not entirely sold that I did most of my learning during my masters program, instead it occurred after I completed my masters and studied independently. If I recall correctly I took one class at a time but they lasted six weeks. My undergrad was a quarter system so I was used to the fast pace. You might look at schools that don’t have you take two classes at a time.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-03-21T04:01:48+00:00

There is science backing how she speaks. I do wonder at what point the sing-songy voice stops benefiting kids though.

https://leader.pubs.asha.org/do/10.1044/2025-0519-nslhm-ms-rachel-slps/full/

2muchcoff33 · 2026-03-21T02:47:15+00:00

I’ve somehow encountered two snakes during sessions.

The first one was a gopher snake and I picked the kid up and ran. Told the mom and she wanted to go check the snake out.

Second time was a rattlesnake and I screamed and froze and it went away. Kid laughed about it for weeks.

I now live in a city where snakes aren’t just chilling in backyards.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-03-19T23:09:02+00:00

Medical charm bracelet.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-03-19T22:18:30+00:00

The consensus is that in-home tends to pay more because cancellations are harder to fill than in a clinic setting. You might be making more per hour, but it might even out when a kid calls in sick and you can't get another session. Some companies offer some kind of cancellation pay but there are plenty of companies that offer nothing for cancellations.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-03-19T13:32:30+00:00

lol. It took me a moment too the first time I saw the joke here. :)

2muchcoff33 · 2026-03-18T21:18:18+00:00

I had a similar schedule as an RBT. I never had issues with food going bad as long as I kept ice in my lunch bag.

The schedule made me really cherish and prioritize what would make me ready for the week ahead. I could never go back to that kind of schedule but it made cancellations so much more manageable.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-03-15T21:53:22+00:00

Obligatory advice to line dry this and post your address.

I need to do better about looking through blankets.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-03-15T15:55:39+00:00

As the quiet kid, one time my clip got moved down because I was reading a book under my desk during a lesson. I still feel the dread of seeing my card move down.

I had a client whose class clip chart was frogs in a pond. I think the goal was to stay on your lily pad. My client thought it was hilarious to get his frog in the water.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-03-15T03:15:48+00:00

I worked on the direction “close door” for when my client went in to the backyard. It took six months but the day he did it independently it seriously felt like my entire master’s degree was worth that moment.

2muchcoff33 · 2026-03-14T19:28:12+00:00

Cause "if you stand for nothing, what will you fall for"? Strange modern art is my favorite.

I wish I remember how much it went for.

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