BELIEF Eclectic Learning is paving the way in providing a multicultural approach to ABA therapy. Tune in on Mondays to hear from Founder/CEO, Mya Ndiaye.

The BELIEF Eclectic Learning mission is to deliver quality service and to bridge the gap in services for underserved communities. We aim to deliver a culturally inclusive approach to mental health services, particularly serving individuals with autism, by providing clinically proven and contextually appropriate services infused with an understanding of issues and barriers specific to their unique circumstances.

Hi, welcome to Mondays with Mya, I am so excited that you have

taken the time to visit us here.

This podcast is just to get everyone familiar with the work that we do

at Open Door Living Association and Belief Eclectic Learning.

Where we are just really focusing on how to be culturally sensitive and inclusive

in our work with clients with autism.

I am Mya Ndiaye.

I am the founder of open door living association.

My husband, Amadou Ndiaye, and I are the acting's CEOs.

The DBA for Opendoor living association is belief eclectic learning, which is the

Applied behavior analysis therapy clinic.

BELIEF is an acronym which stands for

Believe Enrich Lift Instruct Encourage Future Generations.

I started Open Door Living Association as Open Door Montessori Academy in 1994.

And that was our early child program.

Which basically was just, um, using the Montessori philosophy back then.

The Montessori model is really about following the child and realizing the

connection to learning is actually from the hand to the mind is what the

philosopher, Maria Montessori, believed.

And so as the bridge of Montessori schools and things kind of began to develop from

Maria Montessori's foundation of how she understood clients, how she understood

students, how to understood how children learn and really in that discovery came

about a hands-on kind of teaching program.

The children are exposed at a very early age to all of the curriculums

that we teach, math, science, language, geography, cultural studies.

All of those different components, practical living , adaptive skills is

all done through teaching in a hands-on way so that the child actually has a

experience with different materials that will advance their learning.

I always understood that children's learning is definitely facilitated

through a community approach through the world in which they live in.

I think that the idea started back then in 1994, where in our

Montessori program, we actually had different classrooms that were

representative of a different continent.

And the children will often have experiences from diverse backgrounds,

whether we had intern students or visiting students, and actually just

give them exposure to different cultures.

We ran that program and it evolved into several other arms open-door

living services, Open Door Living Association, which is our nonprofit.

And that's where we are today.

As I moved along in my career, I felt that a lot of our learning is really shaped

in who we are as a collective, and also what our worldview is basically made of.

So in that consideration, the child that is from Arabic family has similar

exposure to somebody that is from a different culture, but also very

individual experiences that are only relative to their particular culture.

And what I began to question is how culture influenced the way that we learn.

And how does culture actually impact the way that parents are

interacting with their children?

What is acceptable?

What is not acceptable?

The things that they value most.

So in expanding into the ABA realm, which is just the study of

behavior applied behavior analysis.

I discovered that that is really a missing component to understand how does culture

influence the way in which any service would be able to impact the child's social

behavior, their interaction into the world, and what are all of the variables

that need to be considered when we are working with a child that has autism?

And how do we work in a cultural context that is sensitive and

most relevant to the family?

Thank you so much for joining us.

And I look forward to seeing you next week and having more of a conversation