Where is the Programmer?

Okay, don’t get me wrong here – I love my job, but it often leaves me stuck between a rock and a hard place. I was trained as an ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) Therapist before I was able to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree. Therefore, although I knew the programs cold, I couldn’t implement them myself; I could only follow them. I also tended to become frustrated when the programmer would ask me for advice when it came to troubleshooting because I’d get this fabulous idea and then the programmer just didn’t see things the way I did. This kind of goes back to my early years, when my piano teacher tried getting me to read notes, and I simply would not. I wanted to play songs by ear, the way I knew how to play best – why on earth would she try and change that? Whatever, guess that’s just my stubborn self talking . . .

Annoying programmer issues aside, Ben’s programmer – get this – failed to show. Let me also add here, that there are many programmers I work well with. I simply have one request: I just ask that you do your job. Many of them do, but Ben’s programmer was already on my bad list because, well, she didn’t.

I soon learned two things about Ben’s programmer – that her name was Jessica, and that she was super savvy when it came to excuses. In the meantime, I just worked on the basics with Ben, however, after four or five sessions, I was feeling kind of strange, considering I’d been doing my own thing. I became extremely frustrated since I longed to just program the thing myself. Oh well, what could I do.

After three weeks, Jessica finally showed for a half-hour session, and left me a measly note that basically stated I was doing a good job, and that I should keep continuing. Oh, and she left some graphing sheets.

Of course, my note back suggested a team meeting, but I knew it would be a while before I got a response, let alone a date.

In my previous experience, I had found that a supportive family (e.g., parents who are willing to work with me and not stand aside while I “cured their kid”), as well as a dedicated programmer was the recipe for success. Looks like I was in for a real challenge with Ben, because I had neither of those. Yippee.