The First

Blogging... I never thought I would do this. I am not a big reader of blogs, although there are a few that I enjoy checking in with from time to time. The purpose for starting this blog is to give me a place to talk about all of the things that I notice throughout my day that relate to the field of study I am a part of. I am studying to be a behavior analyst. Any time I tell someone that, I get asked the same question: "What is a behavior analyst and what do they do?" 

The answer to the first part of the question is rather simple. A behavior analyst is a person who studies behavior and how to increase, decrease or change that behavior. The second part of that question is more difficult. Behavior analysts can do many different things. There are behavior analysts who work for businesses, helping increase productivity, employee satisfaction and safety within the workplace. There are also behavior analysts who study the behavior of criminals and help catch the bad guys, by looking at patterns of behavior and predicting, based on the scientific process, what the criminal is most likely to do next. There are also behavior analysts who work with the elderly. I will be a behavior analyst who works with children with developmental disabilities. I am currently working with children with developmental disabilities, but I am not yet a behavior analyst. 

The purpose of this blog is not to talk about my job, as I cannot really do that and maintain the confidentiality of my clients. Rather, I would like to show people through this blog that behavior analysis is a big part of everyone's life. I probably do not have the time right now to be starting a blog, but hopefully this will help me get some information out of my head, so my thoughts are not always swirling around in my brain at night keeping my awake. I also hope that my blog will get other people interested in the field of behavior analysis.