ABA Focus
with Sameli Mena
Behavior Bites Podcast - Ep73January 7, 2026Happy beginning of the year!
Have you mapped out your plans for 2026?
Are you attending any professional conferences?
During today’s meal— I speak with a remote behavior analyst about what her typical day looks like, how she balances her many roles, her favorite skill to work on, and her 2026 conference plans.
-
Amuse-Bouche
Do you have any trips or plan to attend any conferences this year?
Appetizer
How did you get into Behavior Analysis?
What’s the story behind aba.focus?
Palate Cleanser
Describe one of your favorite holiday traditions.
Entree
What’s a typical day in your life look like?
How do you practice self-care?
Dessert
What is the best compliment you have ever received?
Your favorite thing about what you do?
What is one of your favorite skills to work on?
Excerpts from the Episode
(*Paraphrased highlights)-
I work out in the morning. I take my lunch breaks, and I make sure that when I'm clocked out, I'm clocked out.
If I get messages or emails when I'm clocked out, I typically (unless it's an emergency) respond the next day. When it comes to text messages, I do respond right away, but I put send later to like 9 a.m. because I know I'm going to forget to respond.
I don't want that individual to think they can reach me at 9.30 p.m. and I'm going to respond right away, because I don't want to start a bad habit. If they are contacting me during that time and I respond the next day, hopefully that's a prompt for them to know that I am not available. Sometimes it works, sometimes people don't get the hint.
I consider that self-care because we have to make sure that we can split up work and personal life. Have those boundaries and separate yourself.
-
I was providing parent training and one thing mom had a lot of difficulties with was helping her child complete homework. Come to find out it was because there was a language barrier. Whenever it was time to start homework he would start crying. So I started off helping him directly and translating it for mom, but I was able to make it fun for him. Mind you, this was all remote. I've never actually met him in person.
He actually started to enjoy homework time. What I was doing was using activities that he enjoyed. He loves dinosaurs, so we created an environment where he would be the teacher and the dinosaurs are his students. When we were done with homework, we would do other activities with the dinosaurs role playing, and he really enjoyed it.
Then my director wanted me to go on another case. I told the mom that I would have to let go of this case. I had to break the news to the child that we were no longer going to be together.
He cried, which made me cry. That showed me like, wow, I had a really big impact on him. He was seven or eight, and he was like, “I'm going to miss you. Don't ever forget me. I would never forget you.” It made me emotional. The mom texted me saying how grateful she was for me and then saying he is still crying like an hour later.
So that was a compliment for me because I saw the impact that I was able to make remotely with this child who hated homework and actually enjoyed it because of the environment that we were able to create together.
-
I would say advocacy skills. Our clients need to be able to tell us when they don't want to do something. So that's teaching them to say no. When they're able to tell us that, no, this doesn't work for me, I love that. They have the right to say no. They should learn that it's okay. You don't have to do everything someone tells you.
ABOUT Sameli
Sameli Mena, BCBA, LBA
Sameli is a remote Board Certified Behavior Analyst and content creator based in Washington DC. She provides family-centered ABA services with a focus on collaboration, accessibility, and culturally responsive care.
Through her brand, ABA Focus, she designs tools, trainings, and digital resources that help BCBAs, RBTs, and caregivers apply behavioral principles in practical and meaningful ways.
Her mission is to make high-quality ABA support easy to understand and accessible to every family and professional she reaches.
CONNECT with Sameli
Instagram: @aba.focusTiktok: @aba.focus_Website: ABAfocus.storeBCBA Caseload ManagerPlease 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!
