Dream

I believe I have mentioned this before but what I would do if I won the lottery would be to work at  the Yale Child Study Center. "Why?"you may ask.< Because it would allow me to be what Dr. James McPartland aptly refers to as a Clinician/Scientist by combining two of my greatest passions 1)  directly interacting with and improving the quality of life of children and their families and 2) Being actively involved in scientific research to improve identification and treatment of individuals with developmental disabilities.

Why Yale? They are involved in cutting edge ASD research including early identification, early intervention, Pivotal Response Training,biologically-based tools to for objective identification and treatment, and gender differences.

My personal experience with the professionalism and outstanding quality of care that my family and I received during my experience of learning that I had an epidermoid brain tumor as well as it's removal. Why me? Why would I be a good fit? Insatiable appetite for learning. Specifically, unlike most people who relax by binge watching television shows, I immerse myself in learning everything I can about my special interests of neuroscience as well as best practices in naturalistic/behavioral ASD treatment.

Clinical experience as a BCBA has helped me anecdotally identify the strengths and  weaknesses of various treatment approaches.

My thesis on audiovisual-speech perception in children with ASDs using eye tracking and ERPs as well as the influence of social functioning on performance. 

Personal experience of having a brain tumor in my frontal/temporal lobe and how it's effect on my thinking and behavior potentially including characteristics of how ASD presents in females (social anxiety, camouflaging, difficulty reading social cues, executive dysfunction, incredible ability to hyper focus, attention to detail, obsessive compulsive tendencies including controlling my food and pursuing my special interests, sensitivity to sounds, cognitive rigidity, social naivety etc.