What’s your official title?
I’m a behavioral assistant.
What do you do?
I help currently in the autism classroom, I help to manage behaviors of individual students and help the whole class run smoother.
What led you to becoming a behavioral specialist? Was this always your dream?
No, I’m new to this school system in general. I used to work in pediatric mental and behavioral health, and I needed something that was a better schedule for my family. I found this, and it’s becoming one of the best fits.
What does your day as a behavioral specialist look like?
Currently, it’s different from day to day. Everybody that comes in, they all have different things happening, and we kind of have to work with whatever is going on in their heads and in their bodies. Sometimes kids could be hungry or tired and unable to communicate that. So we need to do our best to help them work through whatever it is that they’re currently going through.
Where did you go to college? What did you major in?
I went to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and I majored in recreation therapy.
Did you do anything before becoming a specialist here at Dominion?
I was a recreation therapist for a pediatric mental health facility.I’ve worked in tons of daycares before always with kids though.
What do you do in your free time?
I don’t have a lot of free time right now because I have a family at home that I take care of. As soon as I leave work, I go spend time with them. We like to watch movies and TV together. We go hiking to spend all of our time that we can, together.
Did you do anything interesting over the summer?
I actually went on a little mini vacation between these jobs and spent as much quality time with my family as possible.
