Melificent

Work|Life Balance

I don’t usually blur the line between my hobby (blogging) and my career (behavior analysis), but I feel like this particular topic can benefit us all in this crazy culture that we are living in. For those of you that don’t know, I have another instagram (@behaviormagictherapy) where I share ABA tips + tricks, and I posed the question of sharing my thoughts on work/life balance and everyone replied with a resounding yes. So here I am.

My field (amongst others I’m sure) is renown for blurring boundaries and having severe burn out within the community. Working so closely with families day in and day out can cause you to always be “on,” and I was able to manage this pressure with relative ease for years…until I started a family. The second I became a mom and came back after maternity leave, I felt an insane amount of stress and anxiety with the task of balancing my child, my husband, my hobbies AND still being a kick ass analyst. And yes, although at times I feel bogged down and let my negative thoughts consume me, I know I am still good at my job. But that is because, although I learned to say no to others some time ago, I am just recently learning to say no to myself. And that by saying no to my overachieving, over anxious mind, I can still manage to do a good job without negatively effecting myself and other (honestly more important) areas of my life.

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Zimpli Kids Review

Being a behavior analyst, I am all about the sensory play! Ever since Luna was little I would have sensory days at least 3 times a week where we played with different textures and consistencies, so I was very excited to give Zimpli Kids‘ line of Slime Baffs and Gelli Baffs a try. I wanted to see how they worked in multiple settings, so I gave the Slime Baff a go in the bathtub and the Unicorn Slime Play in a plastic container for her to play with at a table. Both were a total hit with her! In the bath, she loved pretending the slime was Elsa’s ice powers, and in the container, the slime came with two unicorns that she loved to trap within the slime.

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World Autism Awareness Day

Quite a few someones actually….

April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day, but what we need more than anything is acceptance. When telling people what I do and the population I work with, I am often greeted with sympathetic expressions, generally paired with an ignorant statement, such as “Oh those poor children. They can barely do anything.” I’m not calling out friends, family and acquaintances as being ignorant, just not informed about these amazing children and all they are capable of doing. And I see it all the time. Ultimately, it is not their fault.

Unfortunately, what is being presented to people via the media is to blame. Our culture is inundated by propaganda stating that children have been kidnapped by autism or robbed of their lives. It makes it seem like these children are lost, never to be found. This cannot be farther from the truth. Every single day I am blown away by all the children I work with, and their abilities to grow and learn. It may not be in the traditional way their peers do, but they are more than capable of achieving goals just as their peers.

This is not a death sentence, and I think that is what I would like people to understand more than anything on a day like today. These are very special children that deserve love, acceptance and opportunity. We are the ones robbing them of that, not autism.

If you are not familiar with autism, educate yourself here.