After graduating from John F. Kennedy High, I married, had a family and was a stay at home mom for many years. Unfortunately, after 11 years of marriage, I divorced my high school sweetheart and was faced with the challenges of being a single parent. I enrolled in a 6 month secretarial course at Sawyer Business School and received a certificate in Wordprocessing/Secretarial. I worked at the Barnert Memorial Hospital as a secretary in one of the administrative offices for over seven years and eventually relocated to South Florida. I remarried in South Florida and had one more child. The child who would change my life forever. He was diagnosed with autism when he was two and a half. I was devastated. After observing his significant progress through applied behavior analysis therapy, I decided to pursue a career in applied behavior analysis and work with children with autism. I enrolled in my local community college, struggled with the adjustment to school again, and graduated in 2005 with an Associates of Arts degree. I then transferred to a 4 year institution and completed my Bachelor of Arts in Exceptional Student Education. I worked as an ESE teacher in a middle school and had 5 students with profound autism and comorbid disabilities. In 2008 I enrolled in a Masters degree program and completed my Masters in Counseling with concentration in Applied Behavior Analysis in 2010. I am currently in my second year of a doctorate program. I am pursuing my doctorate in education with concentration in special education and minor in autism. In September I will be taking the behavior analysis certification exam in order to be a board certified behavior analyst. I currently work as an autism tutor and provide behavioral interventions to children with autism. My tentative graduation date for my doctoral degree is June of 2013.