There Is No Expiration Date on Advocacy: From Behavioral Analyst to Senior Care Leader
By Ashley Caldwell Business Development & Marketing Manager Amada Senior Care Modesto
I didn’t plan to work in senior care.
My early career was rooted in behavioral analysis within special education. I worked with children navigating developmental delays, emotional regulation challenges, and learning differences. My days were built around behavior plans, data tracking, family meetings, and celebrating small but meaningful milestones.
I was trained to look beyond behavior and ask:
What is this person trying to communicate?
What support does this family truly need?
How do we build structure that creates safety and growth?
What I didn’t realize at the time was that those same questions would follow me into an entirely different chapter of life — senior care.
Today, I serve families through Amada Senior Care Modesto, where we provide non-medical in-home care, long-term care insurance advocacy, and guidance through some of life’s most vulnerable transitions. Instead of advocating for children, I now advocate for aging parents, spouses, and families navigating dementia, hospital discharges, long-term care insurance policies, and end-of-life planning.
The population changed.
The mission did not.
The Behavioral Lens Never Left
Behavioral analysis taught me something that shapes every interaction I have today: behavior is communication.
When a child melts down, there is a need beneath it.
When a senior with dementia becomes resistant or agitated, there is also a need beneath it.
It might be fear.
It might be loss of control.
It might be confusion or pain.
The principles are the same. The application is simply more layered.
In senior care, we often enter families’ lives during moments of crisis — after a stroke, a fall, an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, or the realization that Mom can no longer safely live alone. Emotions run high. Roles shift. Adult children become caregivers. Spouses become decision-makers in ways they never imagined.
My behavioral background allows me to step into those rooms calmly and observe patterns — not only medical patterns, but relational ones. Who is overwhelmed? Who is avoiding the conversation? Who needs reassurance? Who needs clear structure?
Support is not just about tasks like bathing, dressing, or meal preparation. It is about stabilizing the emotional ecosystem of a family.
From IEP Meetings to Care Plan Meetings
In special education, I sat in countless IEP meetings advocating for children’s accommodations and long-term success.
Now, I sit in living rooms helping families answer questions like:
How do we activate long-term care insurance?
What does 24-hour care truly cost?
How do we prevent hospital readmissions?
When is it time to consider placement?
How do we preserve dignity while accepting help?
The complexity is different — but the heart is the same.
At Amada Senior Care, our work extends beyond providing caregivers. We help families navigate funding solutions, particularly long-term care insurance claims, so they can afford quality support. We bridge gaps between hospital discharge and home stability. We focus on keeping seniors safe while honoring their independence.
The analytical mindset I developed in behavioral work allows me to break overwhelming situations into actionable steps. Families do not need more chaos. They need clarity.
And clarity is leadership.
How This Work Has Shaped Me as a Mother
Becoming a mother while building a career in senior care has reshaped me in ways I never expected.
Working with seniors reminds you daily that time is finite. You witness the full arc of life — childhood stories, midlife achievements, and the fragility of aging bodies. You see the consequences of unresolved family dynamics. You see what regret looks like. You also see what intentional love looks like.
It changes how you parent.
I am more patient because I understand developmental stages more deeply — both at the beginning and the end of life. I am more aware of how independence is built slowly and how quickly it can be lost. I am more intentional about modeling resilience, communication, and responsibility for my children.
Watching adult children struggle to navigate aging parents has made me fiercely committed to raising children who understand both compassion and accountability.
And watching seniors fight to maintain dignity has made me more protective of my own.
Success Does Not Have a Deadline
One of the greatest lessons I have learned is that success does not operate on a rigid timeline.
I left a stable career path in behavioral analysis to step into something unfamiliar — business development and marketing in senior care. From the outside, it may have looked like a pivot. For me, it was an expansion.
My advocacy skills did not disappear. They matured.
My leadership did not shrink. It sharpened.
Today, I am deeply embedded in community partnerships across Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties, working with hospitals, financial advisors, home health agencies, and families to reduce gaps in care. I help families understand funding options. I support caregivers who often become extended family members. I build systems that bring structure to emotionally complex seasons.
And I do it with the same foundation I started with: behavior, empathy, and accountability.
Advocacy Has No Age Limit
If there is one message I would leave with other women navigating career transitions, it is this:
Your past experience is not wasted. It is layered.
The skills you build in one season will resurface in another — often in ways you never anticipated. Leadership is not about titles. It is about impact. It is about stepping into rooms where people feel overwhelmed and becoming a stabilizing force.
I once advocated for children who could not yet speak for themselves.
Now, I advocate for seniors whose voices are sometimes fading.
Both deserve protection.
Both deserve dignity.
Both deserve structure and compassion.
And in serving both ends of life, I have grown not only as a professional — but as a mother, a leader, and a woman who understands that purpose evolves.
There is no expiration date on meaningful work.
Only new chapters.
