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Bridget Mangrum Brown is a Regional Site Supervisor for the Central Region of Your Life ABA in Virginia. She has a passion for teaching other people how to work with individuals with special needs and has made a huge impact at Your Life ABA. Learn more about Bridget and the amazing work that she accomplishes.

Q: What is your favorite thing about working here?

My favorite thing is being a witness to the individual growth that each one of my clients' experiences during their time in Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Therapy. The most rewarding moment in my day is to see the smiles on my clients' faces when they have accomplished a goal. 

Q: What keeps you coming to work each day?

The children’s faces, their smiles and laughter, and those little moments of joy. I also love to see them learn new things. It is always a celebration when we have met our milestones.

Q: How do you make an impact on individuals' lives?

Some clients start ABA services with limited communication and social skills. Sometimes, these limits can lead to the display of interfering behaviors. We develop treatment plans to increase communication and social skills while reteaching age-appropriate ways to effectively communicate and socialize. I provide parent training sessions that focus on supporting the family with their individual needs.  Coaching and modeling how to effectively handle inappropriate behaviors have been beneficial to parents. Through this process, some clients have been able to interact in the community with their families more often than before.

Q: What does a “day in the life” look like for your role?

In my role, I have the ability to support children as well as adults. My mornings are spent conducting therapeutic consultation sessions with adult clients, collaborating with staff at group homes, and day support centers. At midday, I can be found conducting parent training and preparing for the opening of our ABA clinic. Afternoons are spent providing direct ABA sessions to my clients and supervising Behavior Technicians and Registered Behavior Technicians. 

Q: Can you talk a little bit about your career trajectory and what led you to where you are now?

I started out in public schools as a special education teacher for 17 years. I worked with children who have autism and other special needs, then moved to a private day school setting to continue working with children with special needs, at Rivermont Schools.  At that time, I had completed my Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) coursework and supervision. In 2017, I transitioned to becoming the Supervisor of the Autism Department of Rivermont Schools. I worked for Rivermont Schools until June of 2022 when I decided to support the opening our onsite ABA clinic, Your Life ABA.  Your Life ABA, Petersburg, VA location has been fully open since June 2022. 

Q: What has been your proudest moment or accomplishment in your role?

The proudest moment that I remember was when I was working with a child who had limited communication skills. I would spend each moment that I saw him prompting him to say my name, when he wanted attention.  I worked with him over a six-month period on this same task during every interaction.  At one point in time, I was out of the office for more than a week. When I came back, I was very busy completing another task and walked by him, without saying anything. As I was leaving the classroom door, I heard a voice, from across the room yelling out my name. I stopped in my tracks and immediately ran over to this child and gave all the praises. He had said my name for the first time, in a loud tone of voice, and without me prompting him. This was the most rewarding feeling I have ever felt.  This still brings tears to my eyes.   

Q: What is something about you that not many people know?

I am a homebody at heart and love to spend my weekends at home watching reality shows.

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