Time as a BCBA: 3 years
Time at AnswersNow: 1 year 10 months 
Location: Panama City, Florida

How Drea Found Her Calling as a BCBA

Drea Ward knew she wanted to work in ABA at age 20. She was pursuing a psychology degree in college — and through a recommendation by a professor — was working an externship at an ABA company. In her very first week working with a family, she watched her client mand his grandmother's name for attention. It was the first time in over ten years his grandmother had heard him speak.

"That's when I fell in love," Drea says. "I fell in love with how effective ABA is. I'm actually going to be able to work with the population I want to work with.”

Drea’s Path to AnswersNow

Drea graduated in 2020, just as the field was shifting from fully in-person care toward hybrid and telehealth models. She initially worked at in-clinic ABA settings, but wanted to pivot to telehealth. She wanted to work in an environment that was flexible, provided the opportunity to grow as a clinician, and had a supportive work environment. AnswersNow checked all three boxes, including being fully telehealth.

Her prior in-person clinic experience was a different world: unpredictable work schedules, incredibly high pressure, and involved the added weight of directing RBTs and improvising solutions on the fly, like covering for a call-out or an RBT who wasn't trained on a particular client. "It was a lot more hectic," she says. "Even though I had less clients, it was a lot more people and a lot more tools to manage."

One of the biggest differentiators of the AnswersNow model — and Drea’s favorite part of working here  — is BCBA-direct care. "The biggest difference, both being a BCBA doing direct care in previous settings and doing it at AnswersNow, is a lot more caregiver input and involvement here, to really be able to master those goals quicker," she says. "We're actually able to meet the clients and their family in the moment, in their environment, and adapt our sessions to them."

Drea's Favorite Parts of Working at AnswersNow

• An incredibly supportive team. "AnswersNow has been the most supportive environment," she says. "If you need help, there's so many people on the team coming to help you."
• Being able to take care of herself as a human. "I'm actually able to take care of myself as a person, to where I'm not feeling burnout," she says. "At AnswersNow, you're encouraged to take care of yourself."
• Genuine connection with other clinicians. Drea says it's easy to feel isolated once you reach the BCBA level. However, at AnswersNow, collaboration and support are a regular part of the job. "That psychological safety — I don't feel like I would have found this anywhere else,” Drea says. 

Drea’s Proudest Moments as an AnswersNow BCBA

Nothing warms Drea’s heart more than seeing the positive effects of her work everyday in the families she serves. 

One caregiver, a single mother juggling a new job and a new environment, told her that for the first time, progress in therapy felt steady instead of like a moving goalpost. "She knows that if she does this, her child will be regulated, and she can be regulated too," Drea says. "Just to help someone have that peace of mind — that's amazing to me."

Another caregiver told Drea that a recent IEP meeting was the first she'd ever left without feeling devastated or frustrated. She was able to advocate for her child’s needs proudly and confidently, using clinical language she'd learned from Drea to request specific support. "It wasn't just the skills we were working on with the client," Drea says. "It was seeing how their caregivers could really utilize what we learn and shape their environment for their future."

What Drea values most about AnswersNow, above all else, is knowing how much the company cares about families and their progress. "AnswersNow truly cares about the client," she says. "It's not, are you caring more about the authorization being maxed out, or are you caring about this client graduating? Here, they truly care about the client graduating, and getting families access to care."