Collaborative Communication
with Kayla Lopez
Behavior Bites Podcast - Ep48September 11, 2024How often do you take culture into consideration when interacting with learners and families?
Do you examine your biases and check your ego before trying to collaborate with others?
During today’s meal— I speak with a behavior analyst, school consultant, and lover of all things Disney about interpersonal skills, new projects, and collaborating with others.
-
Amuse-Bouche
Tell us your plans for your new Instagram account
Appetizer
How did you get into Behavior Analysis?
What are important tips for supporting language needs for our learners?
Palate Cleanser
Describe your favorite meal in New Mexico
Entree
Something you wish you could have told yourself when getting started?
If there were no barriers or constraints, what would be your dream project?
Dessert
What do people seem to misunderstand about you?
Your favorite thing about what you do?
Excerpts from the Episode
(*Paraphrased highlights)-
I was basically raised in Albuquerque. We are a minority majority state, and our culture is all Mexican, Native American, Indigenous.
Being in the classroom, you see where the barriers and pitfalls are. It's never assuming that English is their main language. So the first thing is make sure you know what the home language is.
With schools, we don't always think to send things in the second language. Then teachers are frustrated that homework is not being completed, but parents can't help if they can't read it.
Also, when doing a preference assessment, you need to make sure you're asking preferences in regards to culture, whether it's activities, foods, or traditions.
You have to make sure you have that collaboration open with families and caregivers. You're building rapport in order for them to be willing to share languages, culture, all that stuff. If you don't have that collaboration, there's no way that's going to happen.
-
It is okay to fail.
I have held myself to such a high standard. My parents have held me to such a high standard. It just never felt like it was okay to not succeed.
You go into this field, and it is so huge and wide, and it covers so many things, and you do not know everything. You have to swallow your ego and say, "That's okay." And it's okay to fail until we find an answer.
That's how I've learned best, through errors or being like, "Okay, clearly my hypothesis was wrong. Let's try something else."
-
Two things, that I'm mean or that I'm intimidating. I still don’t understand how that's the vibe people get.
I think my passion often gets miscommunicated as, not even assertive— aggressive is the verbiage I get. I'm like, okay, I'm sorry. I'll correct them, “I'm being assertive.”
But it's the intimidating one, and I'm like, I am not doing anything to intimidate you. I feel like in my 30s, I’ve found myself and I've become more confident. If you would have met me in my early to mid 20s, I was very self-conscious and just lacked confidence in all things, even though I wanted to be perfect.
These perceptions would really hurt my feelings because if you know me, I am probably going to be your loyalist friend, your biggest supporter and cheerleader.
If your immediate thought is she's mean and intimidating, you block the ability to get to know me, and it's been really difficult professionally trying to figure that out.
ABOUT Kayla
Kayla Lopez, M.A., BCBA
Kayla is currently working as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in the school setting in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Prior to her current position, Kayla worked for an ABA agency that provided in-home services as a BCBA/clinical manager. Before passing her board exam, Kayla was a special education teacher for 5 years and taught grade levels K-5.
Kayla was also a cheerleading and dance coach and coached for 12 years before focusing on her current career full time in 2021. She enjoys spending time with her dog and all things Disney.
CONNECT with Kayla
Instagram: @Behavior_In_WonderlandJoin us for our CEU workshop on 9/26/2024!
“Check Your Ego at the Door: Collaborative Strategies for Behavior Analysts”Please support our podcast by leaving a rating or review!
(When on Apple Podcasts, scroll down the episodes to find the review area.)
Visit my Podcast page to learn more about Behavior Bites!
