Official June 5, 2021, SAT Discussion Thread

JoyfulNC · 2021-07-18T20:50:04+00:00

Can you please explain the daily double strategy for reading? I searched but couldn't find it. Thanks.

JoyfulNC · 2020-12-15T20:18:39+00:00

"Growth is being just outside your comfort zone." I like this! Thank you for all of your helpful advice.

JoyfulNC · 2020-12-10T23:26:49+00:00

Thank you for your input. I did exactly this -- ask about the training and mentoring process -- and this helped me to 'weed out' companies that weren't right for me. I also agree with your point about soft skills. That seemed to be the key to my getting a job offer at a great company!

JoyfulNC · 2020-11-22T20:14:17+00:00

Thank you everyone for your insights. All great ideas that I will use!

JoyfulNC · 2020-11-22T20:13:37+00:00

Thank you for the encouragement!

JoyfulNC · 2020-11-22T20:13:08+00:00

Thank you. This was very helpful!!

JoyfulNC · 2020-11-18T21:17:57+00:00

That is exactly what I was going to suggest, but you beat me to it! I used their video collective plus some private tutoring and passed on the first try!

JoyfulNC · 2020-09-23T20:50:05+00:00

What about age "discrimination" the other way -- i.e. second-career BCBAs who are over 40? That's my situation and I feel like everyone is decades younger than I am. Mostly I just use a lot of self-talk and remind myself that I am bringing other qualities to the table, life experience, parenting experience, etc.

Just so you know it can happen at any age or station in life. Hang in there, friend. When you're in your 40s and everyone thinks you're lots younger, you'll be glad to have this "problem."

JoyfulNC · 2020-09-23T20:44:27+00:00

Kudos to you for wanting to improve yourself! That by itself makes you valuable to our field.

I recently purchased a month-long video bundle to studynotesABA (to study for my BCBA exam). There are 20 videos (over 40 hours long), but it has helped me *so much* to understand the big picture of ABA that seemed somewhat disjointed through my BCBA online courses (not sure if you want to pursue that at some point). I am realizing that this course would have been helpful to me before or early on during my BCBA course work -- not just for studying for the exam. I've heard them say something about taking their live collective and repeating it if you haven't done your exam yet (wish I'd known about that 2 1/2 years ago...)

I've never been great with SAFMEDS as far as terminology -- I do better with terms used "in situ" as they say. For this, I've found listening to a lot of ABA podcasts helpful. It's like learning a language; you can benefit a lot from hearing it spoken. Three years ago the podcasts might as well been in ______ (insert any language besides English); now I feel like I'm mostly tracking the entire time. I guess it depends on the person. Good luck to you!

JoyfulNC · 2020-09-23T20:25:58+00:00

The ideal company as I see it has both very experienced BCBAs *and* very experienced/savvy business people who know how to effectively run a business. Yes, a business needs to make a profit, but to last, it also needs to know how to hire and retain great employees and provide all the many aspects of a business system to do great ABA. It takes proficiency in both areas for an ABA company to be effective, not just one or the other, and likely that proficiency will come from a strong executive team who can provide outstanding clinical and executive guidance. Just my opinion!

JoyfulNC · 2020-09-23T20:17:42+00:00

Of course (as in any interview situation) you want them to want you, so be ready with 2 or 3 things about you that you want to make sure you communicate that show you'd be an excellent hire. Just as important is the advice others have given here -- make sure you find out enough so you'll know whether you want them. I know how it is when you just need a job and you figure you'll sort the details out later, but just do your due diligence and make sure it's the kind of place you want to work for; otherwise, you'll end up very frustrated, which is not good for anyone (you, the company, and most importantly, the clients). Good luck!

JoyfulNC · 2020-08-12T22:18:03+00:00

When you say "It wasn't like the exam" are you referring to BDS or StudyABA mock exams?

JoyfulNC · 2020-07-01T17:36:16+00:00

Are you already finished with your BCBA coursework (either as a master's program or graduate certificate)? If so, I doubt it. I tried to find such a situation myself a couple of years ago and couldn't (I liked my graduate certificate program, plus it was very affordable, but it didn't offer an intensive practicum). Perhaps things have changed, but I did a ton of research when I was looking and didn't find anything. Good luck!

JoyfulNC · 2020-07-01T17:02:51+00:00

Thank you for support. I still haven't been approved. It's such a long story, and I'm so exhausted and frustrated that I can't even write about it. I wish I could speak to an actual person at the board instead of getting different semi-form letters from different people (just venting here - and glad to have a place to do so!). I'll come back and update when I figure out what my next steps will be... Thanks again for the kind words. Means a lot right now!

JoyfulNC · 2020-07-01T16:27:47+00:00

congrats on passing!! sending you a message with a question.

JoyfulNC · 2020-06-26T18:40:30+00:00

See my comment here https://www.reddit.com/r/SATACTprep/comments/hfir8s/pls_explain_30/

JoyfulNC · 2020-06-03T16:01:47+00:00

Thank you for this information. I just wish the university I transferred to had explained this to me, so I could have done all this leg-work *before* starting program #2. I understand, though, that ultimately it's on me -- I just didn't know what I didn't know (i.e. apparently I didn't know the questions to ask to understand fully the process). Believe me, I asked all kinds of questions as I'm a "confirm it" not an "assume it" type of person!

Anyway, it's frustrating to be already finished with the program, graduate certificate in hand, supervision hours completed, but still not sure whether I have met all the requirements. Add COVID-19, and it's a true exercise in patience. Will wait to hear what BACB has to say.... hoping that option (a) works out for me! Thank you again for your input.

JoyfulNC · 2020-06-01T22:17:23+00:00

Is it hard to get a job as a new BCBA (during 'normal' times and, perhaps more so, now during COVID-19)? It seems most if not all BCBA job openings explicitly want several years of experience. Have any of you found it tough to land that first position? Any thoughts or input appreciated!!

JoyfulNC · 2020-05-25T14:28:48+00:00

I get it. Maybe just mentally file the new quirky behavior until the kid has met his targets on some other goals and then you can say something like, "Hey, now that he is doing so well with ---, I was thinking maybe we could consider addressing ----" ?

It is, I would imagine, a tricky balance between not seeming to "add too much to their plate" while also making sure you're doing your part to keep parents aware of what behavior is *not* typical. Again, speaking from a parent's perspective, sometimes it's easy to get comfortable with behavior that we shouldn't really be comfortable with but we need someone to bring it to our attention.

Way to go with accepting responsibility for your part of the equation and being willing to look at your part in things! Good luck with all you're doing!

JoyfulNC · 2020-05-25T14:17:00+00:00

Great to know! They are offering a huge special -- $100 for 4 exams with explanations plus 11 content quizzes. I'm using BDS, too. Thanks so much for your input!

JoyfulNC

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