birdy-bear

This is probably too late to be useful for you, but if you haven't found a place yet, I recommend getting in contact with FrontDoor! They were our landlords for the last two years... They tick every checkbox on your list (although there's a pretty decent jump in housing quality if you can push your budget from $1000 to $1100), they have a bunch of dog-friendly properties around town, and they're genuinely the best property managers my husband and I have ever had. Plus, they rent most of their properties in the Grove, and there's nowhere else I'd rather live in STL. Let me know if you have any questions, and best of luck!

I agree with @t_ruth and @ZeChocMoose: finding academics whose research you're interested in and working backwards to the universities is a good way to get started! You might try reading abstracts in the Journal of Early Intervention, Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, and Early Childhood Education Journal. If you find something you like and want to read more, researchers will sometimes make their articles available on ResearchGate or provide full copies upon request. If you're interested in a SPED focus, you might try looking at publications coming out of Vanderbilt, Kansas, UT Austin, UO, and UGA. These are just a few institutions who have faculty doing interesting work... Or interesting to me, at least! I also agree with @t_ruth that you might be unlikely to find many folks researching infants in ECE. Most ECE programs bill themselves as covering ages 0-6 or 0-8, but in my experience, these programs tend to focus on ages 2-6. I attended Harvard about a decade ago, and at that time, HGSE wasn't known for ECE. I see they've introduced an early childhood initiative since then, so it may be different now, but the "big name" schools aren't necessarily where you'll find the strongest ECE programs!

I am a BCBA who will be attending Vanderbilt's SPED/ABA doctoral program in the Fall! There are a few ABA applicants, mostly floating around the Psychology and Education sub-forums, but it seems we are few and far between.

P.S. If you feel comfortable doing so, please talk to your supervising BCBA about your history of domestic abuse and getting reassigned to younger, smaller clients that don't make you feel scared on a regular basis! I've only had one bigger client with severe/dangerous challenging behavior at my current agency, but I checked in frequently with his technicians to make sure they felt comfortable and safe; they were well aware that they could remove themselves from his case at any time. No compassionate BCBA would require you to stay with clients that make you feel unsafe, especially considering you're working 1:1 in the home without backup and you're smaller than your clients!

@Lindsc237 already hit all the major points out of the park, so I second everything they said and only have a few points to add. As mentioned above, ABA is a science, and your ABA agency has trained you in one application. It sounds like you might be more interested in more naturalistic ABA applications--check out Early Start Denver Model, Pivotal Response Training (similar to: Natural Environment Teaching, Enhanced Milieu Teaching), and Positive Behavior Supports. I think you'll find these applications to be more naturalistic and person-centered and less robotic than the application you describe. I'd also recommend shadowing BCBAs in other settings if you can. I work as a BCBA in an ABA preschool, and most of your concerns don't apply in my setting. We are (almost) entirely clinic-based, so I very rarely go into family homes. The majority of my clients are 3-6, so crisis behaviors are typically not as dangerous to the client or myself as they are with older clients. I collaborate with an SLP and another BCBA, and get to be in constant contact with our technicians (since we're all on-site), so I think everyone feels a lot more supported and connected than in-home technicians and clinicians tend to. And finally, the majority of instruction in our preschool is embedded naturalistically into typical preschool routines (science, art, circle time), so it doesn't have the "robot instruction vibes" that get conflated with ABA. As far as looking into programs, I'd recommend finding professors doing research on those naturalistic ABA applications listed above, and working your way back to programs from there. If you do end up staying in Hawaii, check out Dr. Jennifer Ninci! She does research with little ones and her work might be up your alley. If you are looking into programs on the mainland, a school psych/ABA or social work/ABA program sounds like it could be your speed. Alternatively, I did a SPED/ABA program and was really pleased with the person-centered focus of my education. University of Oregon (Dr. Laura Lee McIntyre in School Psych) and Saint Louis University (MSW with an ABA focus) might be good programs to look into as you start your research!

I think the other key piece you're missing here is that you can turn down any program, including an Ivy league program, but if you applied to this program believing it was a great fit, you owe it to yourself to make sure that your conjectures about the program are actually true. It seems like you have a lot of preconceived notions about what an Ivy league school is like, but not enough interaction with the actual people and program to base them on. As someone mentioned above, even within a single school, the culture can vary widely from program to program. Visit the program, try to check your biases at the door, and you might surprise yourself with what you find.

My understanding is that in order to receive accommodations, you will disclose your diagnosis to the disability office, but the disability office will ONLY disclose your accommodations (not your diagnosis) to the faculty members in your program. I don't know if this is a legal requirement or if it's true for every school, so I would check with your school's disability office. If this is true for your program, at least you can consider your legal rights separately from the social piece. As for the social piece, this is deeply personal decision that would and should vary from person to person, but I can give you my perspective! I generally prefer to disclose my diagnosis (and learn about someone's else diagnosis) after I've gotten to know someone fairly well, for both reasons you stated: Waiting provides them the opportunity to get to know me before my diagnosis (or vice versa), and theoretically lessen/challenge biases and preconceived notions... and... Eventually disclosing gives the person empathy for the challenges I'm facing and context for why I am the way that I am (or vice versa). It's the best of both worlds. I do also think it helps to have already built a relationship where we have an actual, meaningful conversation about my diagnosis (or theirs). That can be tough ground to break meaningfully in a first conversation. However, with your work in autistic rights advocacy and the fact that autism came up in both your interviews and writing sample, it leads me to think that autism is an important part of your identity, and I think that would factor into your decision to disclose as well. You know yourself best, but if it's an important part of who you are, I wonder if you'll feel like you're hiding your true self if you choose not to disclose. You ask if you'll constantly need to to explain/justify yourself if you disclose that you're autistic---there will be people who will judge your clinical skills based on actual performance regardless of disclosure, people who may initially default to biases that will lessen as they get to know you, and people who will always see you and your clinical skills through their prejudice-colored glasses. If you want to disclose early, I think your current approach--talking about related topics and gauging your faculty and colleagues' responses--is a smart way to get a feel for potential biases or pitfalls ahead of disclosing.

I credit the Hello PhD podcast, along with the Grad Cafe Forums, for helping maintain my sanity during the application and waiting process. The hosts discuss bi-weekly topics from the perspective of scientists, but the discussions transcend any particular field and are useful (I think) for anyone currently in or considering a grad program. This week's topic--choosing the right grad program--seemed especially apropos: http://hellophd.com/2018/02/087-how-do-i-choose-a-phd-program/ What other podcasts--related to your particular field, being a grad student, or otherwise--have you been using to occupy your mind during the waiting period? What are your other strategies for filling the void?

The Hello PhD podcast had two back-to-back episodes on Imposter Syndrome! I highly recommend this podcast, even if you're not in the hard sciences--I credit Hello PhD and the Grad Cafe Forums for being my two sources of sanity through the application and waiting process. http://hellophd.com/2017/04/070-imposter-syndrome/ http://hellophd.com/2017/04/071-practical-advice-overcoming-imposter-syndrome-dr-maureen-gannon/

The first time I was bit really hard by a client as a Masters student (I work with kids with autism, so I've been bit many, many times since!), I made it through one professor's class on the brink of tears without breaking down, and then totally lost it once I made it to my advisor's class. My advisor saw my breakdown, but she never addressed it, and I thought at the time that it had negatively impacted our professional relationship. I just received word last week that I've been admitted into her lab as a PhD student, which I'm sure she wouldn't have advocated for if she thought I were somehow incompetent or overemotional. To be honest, I think most of my cohort-mates cried in front of a professor at some point during our grad program. Like @pinoysoc said, we're all human. Crying happens to everyone, especially when you factor in the added stressors of grad school. If you can make it through a grad program without breaking down at SOME point, you're either a robot or a very stoic human!

This is incredible--thank you so much for taking the time to make this and share it with us. Would you be willing to do one for Education or Special Education? Best of luck with your application process--hope you'll be hearing some good news soon!

I think that a position as a Behavior Technician or Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) could be a great fit. I'm a BCBA who provides co-treatment with an SLP in an ABA agency, and we take on as many qualified SLP students as we can hire--we think training future SLPs in the fundamentals of ABA benefits both our fields and the kiddos we serve! To get credentialed as an RBT, you'll (a) complete a 40-hour training (typically paid for after you're hired, typically completed on-line), (b) take a competency assessment with your BCBA supervisor, and (c) take an exam that your training should adequately prepare you for. Not all insurance companies require credentialing, so some agencies have lower-key training. Because RBTs are often college students with odd college schedules, ABA agencies tend to have flexible scheduling.

Thank you!! I'm over the moon. Have you received news from any of the programs you applied to? Congratulations!! Do you think you'll attend, or are you still waiting to hear back from other programs?

@singapore_sling, I received an acceptance letter (via e-mail) for the SPED Ph.D. program on Monday, and it looks like another person received an acceptance letter for the CRA program on Monday. I received an invitation for the recruitment weekend (also via e-mail) a few hours before the official letter came through.

Hi @ARemi4! I've worked the past couple years as a BCBA in a clinic setting, and I'm about to start a PhD in Special Education under a BCBA-D. I can offer you my perspective, but I think the answers to your questions will depend on what you're looking for in a program and what you want to do after you graduate. Take my advice with that large grain of salt! 1. Your intended profession: If you intend to stay in academia as a researcher, doctoral student, or professor, I'd recommend choosing a strong program in your intended field, one that would provide you with research experience and that has professors whose interests align with yours. If you want to work as a school-based BCBA, I'd recommend considering Education programs that include teacher certifications; it's difficult to get a job as a school-based BCBA without classroom experience, and teachers will take you more seriously if you've spent time teaching (even if it's just student teaching). If you want to work as a BCBA in any setting (e.g., schools, clinic, home), I would strongly recommend considering non-ABA programs with an ABA track (e.g., Education or Psychology programs with coursework in child development). The coursework in most ABA programs does an excellent job teaching how to teach, but not necessarily what to teach. In my Master's program, the education-specific coursework (e.g., speech and language, curriculum development), in conjunction with the ABA coursework, trained me to be a much better provider than I would have been with the ABA coursework alone. 2. Pass rates: The BCBA pass rates for every program are posted on-line here. High pass rates are a pretty good indicator of a high quality program, and vice versa. 3. On-campus vs. on-line programs: On-line programs are becoming increasingly popular, but if you can swing it, there are definite benefits to an on-campus program. Brick-and-mortar programs tend to: (a) have a higher pass rate for the BCBA exam than on-line programs, (b) provide clinical experiences across a variety of settings and/or populations, (c) offer opportunities for research experience (which I found to be invaluable in day-to-day work as a BCBA), and (d) have more/better funding. Plus, if you think you'll eventually want to pursue a Ph.D., your experiences and contacts in an on-campus program are likely going to give you an advantage over on-line programs. 4. Practicum/field experiences: For each of these programs, find out how you'll complete your 750-1500 hours of field experiences. Will the program provide you assigned fieldwork placements, or will you have to seek out your own placements? Will they assign you to one setting/population or a variety of settings/populations? Will you be completing supervised independent fieldwork (1500 hours), practicum (1000 hours), or intensive practicum (750 hours)? Will you have to pay for supervision, is supervision included in tuition, or will you get paid for your fieldwork experience? Do students tend to complete their hours in conjunction with the program, or begin accruing them after they graduate? Will you have opportunities in your placements to train on all components of a case, from intake to discharge? Depending on what you want to do after you graduate, the answers to these questions will help guide you to a good fit. As long as your program has a verified course sequence through the BACB (i.e., can be found on this list here), you should be good to go. I honestly don't know what the ABAI accreditation is used for, but my Master's program is not on that list, and it's never been a problem. Hope this helps!