Meet Debbie McCarthy, a Senior RBT on Team Amherst! After making a living as a preschool education teacher, Debbie made a switch to working in ABA, bringing her expertise in the form of innovative learning activities. She is now in charge of the monthly curriculum, organizing new themed workshops, crafts, and more for the little ones at her center. Her strides in creating new ways for sensory exploration has allowed for a unique experience at her center, and we can’t wait for you to learn more!
Have you always been interested in this sort of profession?
Nope, I always knew I wanted to work with little kids. That’s what I went to college for, and I did that for many years. My mom used to take care of kids in the nursery at a church, and I would go with her to the nursery. I might have been 9 or 10, and that was where I think I did decide I wanted to work with like groups of little kids. But Behavior Technician, I accidentally fell into almost a year and a half ago. I was looking for another preschool teacher job and this kept coming up on my Indeed feed, and I clicked on it one day to see what it was about. And I was like, “That’s very interesting. I know how to do most of those things.” I didn’t know the terms, but, in my preschool classrooms, we used a lot of visuals, we used a lot of token boards. We were very into social emotional education.
I was looking for a change. I was used to being in a classroom of 20 kids with two teachers and so this was I feel like a nice change to have the one-on-one. I really like that we’re like that. I was glad that I tried it out. I was a little nervous at first because being older and changing to something new, but I feel like I’ve done alright. And I passed my RBT exam last July. I hadn’t taken a test in a long time. I passed it though, so I’m very glad that I took the leap into this. I wish I had known about this profession sooner.
Can you tell me more about the monthly curriculum you put together for Amherst?
I’ve always been in the Amherst Center and last June, and I think it was Nikki (The Clinical Director), who asked me to take on the curriculum aspect of the Amherst Center. I’m a Senior RBT and I’m in charge of monthly curriculum here. I’ve always done [curriculums] in preschool teaching, and I try to have a cohesive monthly theme. I don’t like to hop too much too fast because sometimes you have to go by what the kids are interested in. I like to be able to expand on things, like if you want to work on something a little longer, I want to have the option. I do the art projects. I do our dramatic play room. I have my own corner of the room that I changed the dramatic play monthly, and it’s good for vocabulary and social skills.
So today I set up a pizza shop and they have menus and they can make pizzas and there’s a table set up so they can sit and somebody can serve. I put out aprons and hats so there can be chefs. There can be people at the restaurant. I’ve done a birthday party, which was a hit. Everybody liked the birthday party one. We just finished the doctor’s office. So, every month I change the little dramatic play corner. And [the kids] really like it, too. Because it’s a big room and they get tired of the same toys, so they get excited when they walk in and they see something there. So, I do the art, I do the dramatic play, and then I do the sensory projects.
I do sensory bins in the sensory room and then I also do the special sensory projects that are later in the day and then we have on the schedule a “fun food Friday.” So, on Friday, I try to do a food project. And it’s not just [eating]. Sometimes it’s taste testing, but a lot of times it’s building or a STEM activity with the food and then they get to eat it, too. It’s there if you want to try it. It’s good at expanding some of the kid’s food opportunities. They might not want to eat it, but they’ll smell it or they’ll lick it or so. It’s just an exposure to foods.
What’s your favorite part about what you do here?
I feel like because I add these extra activities, the kids are really getting a full preschool experience, which makes my heart so happy because I always loved early education. I feel like, yes, we have a block room, we have a car room, they have those. But, I feel like putting these extra things in, they’re getting a full whole preschool experience because these are things I did in my preschool classrooms for years. So, I feel like they’re getting the same kind of opportunities that kids in neurotypical developing preschool classes are getting, which makes my heart happy that I can offer that to them. I love to see when they get so excited and involved in things. And I hear from so many of the BTs, “Oh, so and so loved that project.” So that makes me happy. I do it to make them happy, which makes me happy.
What do you think would surprise somebody about your role?
I think maybe all the time I put in to thinking of things and getting the supplies and just the time that it takes to put the things together. I spend a lot of Saturdays at the Dollar Tree looking for things for sensory bins or things for art projects. So, I think the amount of time that I actually put in, I think they would be surprised.
What inspired you to take on these activities?
I like that they’re getting a whole preschool experience and my educational philosophy is the whole child and a play-based curriculum. I know a lot of times in early childhood education, they really try to promote getting more science in. So, the sensory projects are not just sensory, it’s also a lot of science. I say science, but it’s like baking soda and vinegar. But, that’s anticipating what’s going to happen. So, like I said, I just like that it’s the whole child and then I’m bringing all the stuff that I used to do in my preschool classrooms.
What do you see for this upcoming year?
That’s a hard one because I’m so busy, but we’re doing it day by day right now. But that’s okay. One of the BCBAs said to me today, I was putting a sand in a sensory bin, and she said, “Oh, it’d be so cool to put different colors in together and mix them.” So, I think just talking to people in the center and getting more ideas from them and hearing what they would like to see in things, and then figuring out how to put that in into the curriculum. I feel like that’s a good thing to work on this year.
I’ve been so busy just trying to get things done, but I do see a lot more fun activities. Springtime is always fun. Summer is fun, too. I’m looking forward to being outside again and maybe getting, in the summer, some different water table activities going. I feel like I tried last year, but I really want to expand on the outside curriculum this year.
If you had to choose one word to describe your team and then your center, what do you think you would choose?
This is probably the easiest question. Definitely for the team: supportive. I feel like this is a really supportive team. Everybody supports each other. I just feel like we’re a really nice, cohesive team. Then “fun” for the center. The fun of the energy, the energy of everybody else helps me, too. And like I said, when I see people having fun, I get excited, which makes me want to do more.
I feel like I accidentally fell into this job. But, I just want to say how pleased I am with it. And I really am glad that I took a chance and found it. And I love that it brings my passion for early childhood into it, that Nikki’s allowed me to do that. I’m so appreciative of that, and she saw that my strengths in that. It makes me feel good that I feel like I brought something into the center.
By using dramatic play and sensory activities to introduce new concepts, our learners can experience new situations in ways they understand and in a safe environment. We are immensely grateful for team members, like Debbie, who are passionate about making a life-changing difference for out little ones and use their clinical excellence to do so. With her background in early education, the learners in our Amherst, MA center are truly getting all-encompassing care.
Currently offering ABA Therapy, Occupational Therapy, virtual Speech Therapy, and the VIS, learn more about our Amherst center here!
Written by Eden Osiason
