Child Development And Autism: Case Study

a. Give an overall evaluation of your internship. Would you recommend the position to a friend or fellow psychology major? Why or why not?

Overall, I had a wonderful time working with the staff at Nationwide Children’s Hospital Center for Child Development and Autism . As an intern I was taught a wide variety of techniques to improve in my everyday job as an home health aide and ABA therapist. I would recommend this job to a friend or fellow psychology majors because Nationwide Children’s Hospital has a very large network in Columbus, with a wide variety of jobs outside of the autism center. Once you get your foot in the door, you can apply for full time employment with room to advance to other job positions.

b. What skills or competencies

have you developed from your internship? How will these skills set you apart as a job or graduate school applicant?
I furthered my knowledge on proper behavior intervention techniques, as well as learned more about state mandated ABA plans;for example what the insurance covers. This will set me apart as apart as a job or graduate school applicant because I will be able to write that on my resume under skills and knowledge, save time on job training, and have familiarity with course content in my graduate classes, which will help me to achieve good grades.

c. How will you include this internship experience in your resume? Include a sample line or two that you will be able to add to your resume that describes your internship experience.

I will incorporate it under work experience. Here is a snippet from my current resume. I added it under the section explaining my work responsibilities, since the internship is an extension of my current employment.
Tender Home Care Providers • 950 Taylor Station Rd. Ghana, OH 43230• May 2017-Present
A home health agency that promotes self-sufficiency for your loved one at home, through a multiplicity of services such as skilled nursing, physical therapy, home health care, and personal assistance.
Home Health Aid
Provide daily home health care for a child with autism, as well as academic tutoring. Track data and implement ABA regulated home therapy through Nationwide Children’s Hospital Child Development and Autism Center Internship.

d. Perform a self-evaluation: How do you feel you performed at your internship? What were your strengths? What were your weaknesses?
In my opinion I feel I performed very well at my internship. My client and I have a prior relationship, so adding ABA therapy into our daily routine was an easy task to accomplish. My biggest strength was the behavior intervention techniques, as stated before my client and I have a previous relationship so it was easy to implement new behavior techniques. My weakness was balancing the home health care requirements with the ABA requirements. Although they were easy to implement, it was difficult to create a schedule that worked for both companies. It seemed as if there were not enough hours in the work day. Lastly another weakness of mine was coming up with ABA activities to ensure my client had variety throughout the week. I used assistance from Youtube, Google, and even textbooks from school to come up with material.

e.

How did your internship and this course affect your career aspirations? Do you have a better understanding of your future career or field? What questions do you now have about the field or how to attain your career goals?

This internship as well as the course helped further my career aspirations. I was able to apply to Nationwide for a full time position. Furthermore, I have a better understanding of my future career. I was able to narrow it down to exactly what job position I was looking for and use indeed to apply for several behavior technician positions in Columbus. My biggest question that I have about the field is what is the best way to go about getting your state certifications. Should I try to work for a company who will pay for my certification, but often that comes with contract stipulations, or should I pay for it myself and complete the course to make myself more competitive in the job market before

applying?

f.How do you feel about the internship ending?

What will you miss? (If you are continuing your internship after this semester, think about when you will leave it in the future – how will you feel then?)

I am continuing my internship until August. The plan is to see my client off to Middle school in the fall. What I will miss the most is the family I worked for. My client is a great kid with a supportive family. They welcomed me into their home and feed me dinner and lunch when I work long hours. I will definitely feel a little sad when I leave, because she was my first client.

g.What concerns do you have about life after graduation? What specifically will you do to prepare yourself for this transition?

My biggest concern is salary, and having to pay all my bills on my own. I was lucky enough to receive a scholarship in undergrad that assisted me with housing. As a behavior technician the average pay is around 15$ an hour. That is not a lot of money annually. Since I graduate in August I am going to save whatever refund check I get this summer, as well as work full time hours this summer to help save for the transition.

h. What advice do you have for new interns? What do you wish you would have known when you first

started?
Top 3 pieces of advice for new interns:
Do not be afraid to network with people at your internship. You never know who will help you in the future.
Always put your best foot forward. This will help you in the long run, incase you want to work for the company you intern for.
Get to know your supervisor on a personal level so they can vouch for you when you need a letter of recommendation or a future job reference.
I wish I would've known about the networking. I really only talked to my supervisor during my internship ,which was good because she helped me get an interview for Nationwide, but I feel like if I would have gotten to know more of the staff it would have increased my chances of getting the full time time position, and really set me apart from other candidates.