In February 2024, we had the opportunity to sit down with Mariah Sierra, the Instructional Coach for Autism at one of the great specialized schools using Motivity, Clovis Municipal Schools.
1. Can you share your journey in ABA therapy and what inspired you to pursue it?
I stumbled into the field after college in 2015. I became super passionate about ABA almost instantly, and I went on to pursue my BCaBA (2017), then my BCBA (2021). I worked providing in-home services and it was so amazing and rewarding to see the progress the children and the families could make with our guidance. I loved working with the families and I was blessed with great supervisors along the way who were truly able to help foster my passions and dreams within the field.
2. What's been the most rewarding aspect of your role as a BCBA?
I love to see growth in the clients and their families. I also am passionate about teaching practitioners and training them and teaching new skills to them as well. I just love to see knowledge skills grow in all those that I work with.
3. Share one powerful ABA strategy or technique you find impactful for your clients.
Building rapport is such a huge part of what I do. Building rapport with students/clients is critical, but maybe an even more powerful tool is rapport building with the staff that I work with and train. Our district is also really working to revamp some of our policies and procedures relating to FBAs/FAs, so we are working towards utilizing truly function based interventions based in data, and Motivity has been a huge help with that because we have had easy data collection at our fingertips.
4. Outside of work what's a hobby or interest you're passionate about and how do you balance it with your professional life?
I love to read and spend time with my family! I spent so much time in school throughout the past decade, so all of my reading was school related. Now that I'm not in school, I can enjoy books that I choose and I get to foster a love of reading for my kids as well.
5. One thing you love about Motivity?
It is so user friendly! We have a lot of users who are not trained in data collection measures, and they are all able to use Motivity easily and accurately after a bit of guidance.
