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Throughout her undergrad years at University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Krista Hendrick envisioned a career in occupational therapy. But soon after she graduated in December 2023 with a degree in exercise science and a minor in psychology, she saw a new path. 

Hendrick’s job as a registered behavior technician at Mosaic Pediatric Therapy in Charlotte, where she works with children on the autism spectrum, introduced her to applied behavior analysis and led her to Northeastern University Charlotte’s ABA program, which she joined in August 2024.

“Once I found ABA, I was like, `Oh my gosh, this is it,” she said. “This is what I’ve been looking for.”

Here’s what the Asheville, North Carolina native has to say about her new career path and how Northeastern University Charlotte is preparing her to be a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA®). 

Northeastern University: What led you to your ABA studies and desire for a career in applied behavior analysis?

Krista Hendrick: I was out of college and needed a job. I was planning on going to occupational therapy school and then I realized I favored the psychology side. I looked for entry-level ABA jobs and immediately fell in love with it.

NU: Do you have a personal connection to autism that makes working in this field particularly compelling?

KH: Autism was new to me, but disability and intellectual disability have never been new to me. I have an aunt who has cerebral palsy along with intellectual and developmental disabilities, so I have always seen the societal view on people with disabilities and seen that judgment and bias toward people with disabilities. Working in autism made me realize even more how much society is not shaped around disability.

NU: What is particularly rewarding about your work?

KH: Oh, there are so many things. Every day there is something new — a child learning to use the bathroom for the first time or learning to take a bite on their own for the first time, hearing kids speak their first words when we are working on communication and seeing kids work through behaviors. When you have a kid who is very worked up about something and they don’t know how to express it and then to see them functionally communicate and get the point across of, “Hey, I don’t like that,” it’s rewarding, so is seeing the smiles on their parents’ faces.

NU: After you complete the Northeastern ABA program and pass your BACB exam, what do you want to do?

KH: I want to be a BCBA in a clinic for teenagers and young adults, which is different from what I do right now. I have always been drawn to that age group and feel like they get missed. We have early intervention, which I work in, but they phase out at 10. Where do they go next? For that age range of 15 to 22, they need to learn independence.

NU: How is Northeastern preparing you?

KH: All of my professors are phenomenal. They all have a lot of field work and are speaking from experience, not a textbook. In a field that is so individualized that is so important. The courses also line up well with our exam requirements. Another piece — this doesn’t directly apply to me, but I’ve heard it from classmates — is that when becoming a BCBA you are required to get 1,500 fieldwork hours and Northeastern does offer that practicum experience for students who aren’t necessarily working in the field right now.

NU: Anything surprise you about Northeastern’s ABA program?

KH: I work with two other students who go to different schools and hearing the comparison of what I get to do in class versus what they get to do in class is surprising. Northeastern makes it a more hands-on learning experience and allows you to build professional relationships and connect with classmates through the hybrid coursework. You are collaborating with your peers and working through problems together versus doing it independently. We aren’t on discussion boards just doing this to get a check by our name. And the learning is fun. That’s the thing: the learning is so much fun. I always leave class so refreshed. I have my people here.