I can see the love for her and that’s a huge deal for us.” An Environment of Learning and Growing at Hopebridge She is a unique case with multiple diagnoses, but they have catered to her needs and recognized her potential since day one. “I told her that she changed the course for us! I started crying,” said Melanie. That is when Mandy approached Melanie and asked if she knew the girl in the store was her. Mandy had begun her supervision hours as a fellow and started working with Stella under her previous BCBA. Though their initial connection in an Albertson’s store is what launched the relationship, it wasn’t until Mandy was already part of Hopebridge’s fellowship program to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst ( BCBA) that she and Melanie met up again. They’ve helped me with my confidence as a new BCBA,” said Mandy. I attribute a lot of success to my brother and sister, Matt and Abby. I think it gives them some form of relief to know that I can relate to many of their home-life situations. I’m passionate about my siblings’ care and I’m currently my sister’s legal guardian. “When families talk about their concerns, I can let them know I’ve been there. She applied to Hopebridge and began working as an ABA therapist and RBT soon after. She had never heard of it before … which surprised her and piqued her interest because her two siblings have autism and are a big part of her life. Someone at her college suggested she look into working in ABA therapy. While in her undergraduate program to become on occupational therapist, she was placed in a fieldwork setting she didn’t connect with and had become discouraged. Mandy’s introduction to applied behavior analysis (ABA) at Hopebridge had started just a bit earlier than Stella’s, but was still fresh. It took us less than two months to have Stella start therapy, much of that time due to the move and working on insurance.” “Just seeing Mandy that day was a blessing and a godsend. We worked through getting her set up on disability and Medicaid again, and it was all so overwhelming,” said Melanie. “Leaving Stella’s services behind in Idaho was the most daunting, scary thing for me, knowing that we’d need to rebuild and figure out what we could do for her in this new place. After learning about Hopebridge, they were drawn to the provider’s 360 Care model, which offers all services in one place*, and scheduled an ABA evaluation for her. Until that point, they had yet to find autism services in the Phoenix area and tried to find ways to keep Stella busy in and around their new home-all during Arizona’s record-breaking heat. On the day they met, Melanie’s family had recently moved from Idaho, where she and her husband, Brad, had Stella in ABA therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. ![]() The Introduction to ABA Therapy at Hopebridge Neither knew it at the time, but that would be the start of what Melanie calls “the cutest bond” between her daughter and Mandy … and a path of victories for all of them. ![]() Stella, a Hopebridge kiddo, with her clinicians.
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