Meet Our Staff – Cynthia

Cynthia grew up in Los Angeles and has stayed for her family and professional growth. Cynthia was inspired to pursue a career in ABA after working with parents to help them learn strategies to teach their children new skills and manage challenging behaviors.  During graduate school in CSUN’s Master of Science in ABA program, Cynthia felt it was important to gain more experience working directly with children receiving comprehensive and focused ABA to be a more effective program supervisor. This is when she became a part of ABI’s team and has felt right at home ever since.

 

When asked about her favorite memory with a client, Cynthia shared, “I have so many favorite memories! I always leave my clients’ homes or schools with something exciting, fun, or funny to share.”  One Cynthia’s favorite memories occurred this past summer, while teaching a preschool-aged girl, Nora, to talk about the world around her.   Because Nora greatly enjoyed going for walks, Cynthia would frequently start sessions with a 10-minute walk, during which there were many natural learning opportunities. Nora learned to label houses, cars, birds, flowers, trees, and more on these walks.  One day, upon seeing a broccoli as part of a play food set, Nora said, “tree.”  While not technically correct, this is a great example of stimulus generalization as broccoli shares many physical properties with a tree and Cynthia could relate, noting, “I remember calling broccoli ‘little trees’ when I was a little girl.”

 

Her advice to new skills trainers is, “Our job is so fun and rewarding, but it’s also not easy. I would advise new skill trainers to ask questions or for help whenever needed. Also, reaching out to the supervisors for general support is a great idea!”

 

When she’s not at work, you can find Cynthia reading, watching Netflix, going to the theatre and to concerts, and spending time with friends and family.

 

Thanks for all your hard work Cynthia!