The Emerald Newsletter | Kappa Delta Chi Sorority Spring/Summer 2019 | Page 13

#BaylorLights Profile:

Kristen Padilla-Mainor

"I kept a quote that one of my students sent me, and it says, "Too often we complain about the darkness. 'I don't like this job. These people are so negative. Nobody has a good attitude,'" said Kristen Padilla-Mainor, Director of the Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities (BCDD). "Ask yourself, 'Why do you think God put you there? They don't need more light in bright places. That's an opportunity for you to shine.' I've kept that with me."

The BCDD is a place where Padilla-Mainor can shine a bright light. It contains four clinics-The Baylor Autism Resource Clinic; The Clinic for Assessment, Research, and Education; The Speech and Language Clinic; and the Baylor Spring Literacy Clinic. She's served as director since 2015 but has been instrumental in the development and operations since its inception in 2013.

Individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities that might include Down syndrome, ADHD or expressive and receptive language delays can receive services. The Center is a collaborative partnership between Baylor University and Baylor Scott & White McLane Children's and is located at the Hillcrest MacArthur Center in Waco.

"We try to provide training experiences for our undergraduate and graduate students specializing in certain areas, while they provide services to children and their families," said Padilla-Mainor, who also oversees the clinical work of students there.

"We try to provide training experiences for our undergraduate and graduate students specializing in certain areas, while they provide services to children and their families," said Padilla-Mainor, who also oversees the clinical work of students there.

Students from a variety of disciplines including social work, applied behavior analysis, school psychology, and speech and behavior provide families wrap-around care.

Regan Weston, a PhD Educational Psychology major, is a graduate student researcher and clinical supervisor for the BCDD. "Kristen is exhausting resources, developing relationships and working toward growing the center into a large multi- and inter-disciplinary organization," she said. "Not only will it provide many opportunities for research, education and collaboration across the Baylor community, but it will also meet the needs of so many underserved families in the Waco community."

Padilla-Mainor chose her field because of an experience while teaching pre-K early in her career. A student with behavioral issues prompted her to seek out ways to help.

"I'll never forget trying to work with this student and also being asked to do things above and beyond my job description to meet the needs of this one child. At the time as an inexperienced educator, I didn't see how I was going to be able to do that when 22 other kids were needing my help," she said. To read the rest of the article click here.

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