Every ABA Therapist interview is important because it provides us with a window into great employment opportunities.
But interviews are also quite harrowing experiences for most of us as we are often asked questions that leave us speechless. That is not only because we do not know the answers but also because we may be just too nervous to provide the right answers.
ABA Therapist Interviews should not be taken as traumatic experiences – there is much to learn from an interview even if we know that we may not be hired for the position we have been interviewed for.
Being prepared for what an interviewer may ask is actually the key to success; if we have some inkling of what we will be tested on during an interview, we can ace the interview. The tricky part is to prepare.
While it is a given that we need to understand the job description of the position that we are appearing at an interview for, many of us do not bother reading it well.
Believe it or not, just reading the job description carefully can provide us with many ideas on what an interview will entail.
The following set of questions and answers for the position of an ABA therapist will give you an idea of how to answer some important interview questions that an ABA therapist is posed with:
See also: ABA Therapist Resume
ABA Therapist Interview Questions and Answers
What do you think is the essence of an ABA therapist’s work?
An applied behavioral analysis therapist assists clients in social skills development, language acquisition, self-help strategies and development of daily living skills by applying various behavioral therapeutic interventions. ABA therapists assist patients in changing their behavior with a view to make them more productive, socially active and healthy-minded.
Do you consider Autism as retardation?
Definitely not! Some children with Autism have a higher IQ than even the most intelligent of people.
Imagine that you are working with an Autistic child. What measures would you take to assist him or her to indulge in extrovert activities?
It is difficult to provide a standard answer here as each child with autism has different learning abilities and limitations so each child has to be treated according to these. The first thing I do in a situation such as this is to entice the child’s imagination so that he or she can determine the fun associated with an extrovert activity. The rest depends on how they react; I just take their cue.
What kind of patient-therapist relationship do you avoid when treating patients?
It is very difficult not to get emotionally involved with a patient. For the most part of the day, a patient is in my care and it is up to me to provide him or her with everything that he or she needs both physically and emotionally.
While it is difficult, I try not to get emotionally involved and still maintain compassion and understanding so that I can treat them effectively.
Name some therapeutic techniques that you like to use most?
I usually decide the techniques after evaluating the case however the ones I use most commonly and have found to be very effective include: pivotal response training, positive reinforcement systems and incidental teaching
What is the basic information you collect while compiling initial case history?
The initial case history data form includes information like the name, age, the gender of the patient, his or her medical history, marital and socioeconomic status, birth order, observable physical and behavioral problems and the like
Share a time when you had to face an obstacle? How did you handle it?
I was treating an autistic child using a combination technique that utilized pivotal response and incidental teaching methods and the child was responding positively to the treatment. All of a sudden his condition got worse and I was disappointed. I changed the strategy but still could not attain the desired result.
On further investigation, I found out that the child was being bullied at the school by a new class fellow. I coordinated with the teacher and the issue was finally resolved
Tell me about an experience where you had to convince parents regarding the treatment of their child/ children?
I had the case of a chronically depressed boy aged 11 who was from a broken home and was under the care of foster parents. I developed an individualized treatment plan for him which among other techniques included some positive reinforcement methods.
The parents were reluctant to practice those at home. I had two detailed sessions with them to explain the treatment and its benefits with special reference to that child’s case and eventually convinced them
What measures do you take to ensure effective coordination in your team in order to achieve set targets?
Whenever I am assigned a team task I schedule a daily brief plenary meeting with all team members and a weekly progress development analysis meeting. This enables ample communication and exchange of information regarding the case or cases and the future treatment plans are also chalked out in these sessions collaboratively
What kind of people do you get along with best and why?
I am a straight forward person and work best with people who word out their expectations of me. However I do have an adaptive personality and usually enjoy positive relationships with my employers, colleagues, and clients
What do you enjoy most about being a therapist?
I enjoy every phase of the therapeutic process. I thrive on the challenge of diagnosing the case, devising and implementing the most appropriate treatment plan and above all I enjoy watching the plan work