Her Story
About Pamela
Pamela Strong is a registered behavior technician and lead behavior tech with 10 years of experience in ABA therapy. She is state certified and holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education. Previously a fifth-grade teacher, she now works with children with autism, providing behavioral intervention and supporting therapeutic learning environments. She trains new staff in her role as lead behavior tech and belongs to the BACB board. One notable achievement includes helping a nonverbal client with behaviors graduate to a general education classroom. She attributes her success to hard work, asking questions, and the example of her mother, a single parent of seven children. Pamela values kindness, compassion, and lifelong learning, advising others to be patient, ask for help, and support families as well as clients.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Pamela
01What do you attribute your success to?
I'd say just working hard. Asking questions if you don't like it where I work. If I don't believe in something they're telling me to do, I question it, and I explain why I don't like it. But also to my mom, my mom was a very hard worker, with 7 kids. Whenever I think I'm struggling, I just think of her and how much she struggled, how much adversity she faced, being a single woman with 7 kids, trying to get a job, trying to buy a car, trying to buy a house.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Patience. I always use that when I'm trying to have patience, and don't be afraid to ask for help.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Make sure you always keep up your learning. You should be a lifelong learner, so you have the knowledge to help the kids you're working with. And besides just helping the kids, I believe we're also there to help the families. The family's not technically a client, the child is, but you have to look at the whole picture, because if you're not working with the family at home, your child's not going to succeed as well.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Some days it is very hard, because sometimes you have an aggressive client. You might get hit, you might get yelled at, you might get screamed at. We have one kid that swears all the time, but just don't take it personally. That's their way of communicating, because they can't communicate properly what they need.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being kind, compassionate. I want to make people feel like they are loved. Make people know that they have people out there to support them, and just be kind to people. Be generous. Help when you can.
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