I work at a clinic with a lot of patients under 6 and lately I’ve noticed so many patients sitting on their RBTs lap, sometimes for awhile not just 1 or 2 minutes. I know only one patient that has it in their program that they can earn cuddles in reinforcement. Now don’t get me wrong, I love cuddles and
When it’s family, I’m all for it. But when my patients try to climb up on my lab, I offer them a hug and have them sit back down in their own chair. I just don’t think it’s professional in a clinical setting for the patients to be sitting at RBTs laps. thoughts?

what is everyone’s attendance policy? i’m getting fed up with my company because the same rbt’s who call out 2 times+ a week still have their job. just wondering how other companies are handling this and if this is normal

I sometimes work with a nonverbal client in a school setting and recesses genuinely trigger so much anxiety for me because of what I know I’ll see.

This learner is prone to invade personal space but never aggression, and is primarily nonverbal. There are a group of kids that bully them relentlessly, shouting things like “EW THERE’S A SPECIAL KID ON THE PLAYGROUND!” And whatnot. My learner doesn’t understand their words and when they make jokes at their expense. What my learner does understand is when this group surrounds them and then starts screaming at the top of their lungs right in my learner’s face, that they need to escape.

I had stepped in as quickly as I could and tried to get another staff member to talk to the bullies, but my duty is to my student and getting them out of the situation because of the maladaptive behavior they displayed before I could intervene. (Playground equipment is not easy to climb, please understand)

The silver lining of this whole thing breaks my heart because I got to record data that my learner’s first words with me were “It wasn’t my fault”. Unprompted.

The playground supervisors did nothing and no one else intervenes when I see this happen every single recess. I’m just so frustrated that the sped department and maybe the occasional administrator are the only ones that are advocating and treating these kids fairly and like they’re just as important as any other on campus. Don’t work in schools unless you are ready to invest in EVERY student, no matter how “difficult” they make your job that YOU PURSUED. Anyway, thank y’all for listening!

Hello guys! Looking for some opinions on this matter that happened the other day.

I have a client who is 3yo and has some challenging behaviors. The other day I was being supervised by my BCBA and my client was having a hard day and didn’t want to do his work during a DTT session. While trying to get him to do his work there were behaviors occurring, my BCBA kept pushing demand completion for 20+ minutes and trying to wait him out, but eventually gave up because it was time for his OT. After we walked him to OT they went back into their office without giving me any feedback on the situation! It seems like they were annoyed and just over it.

I personally feel like we should have offered him some time to calm down with some type of reinforcer because he was having such a hard day then re-presented the demands, and I feel like my BCBA should have said something instead of just ending the supervision with no further communication..

Thoughts?

I need help!!

My first full month being an RBT, I was supposed to accrue 3 hours of supervision, but based I only received a third of the supervision hours that I needed.

However, now I am back on track with supervision and have met the requirements for this this month, the second month as an RBT.

Should I wait for an audit or self report? I don’t want to lose my certification and reapply in 6 months lol.

My client is a 9 year old boy who spends most of his time in a SPED classroom. At lunch he sits with general education peers and expressed concern about making friends. His goals are primarily reducing physical aggression and destruction of property maintained by escape from demands.

His replacement skills are using his words (FCT to mand for breaks) and NCR breaks throughout the day between classroom tasks (5 minute fidget break between all activities). Basically nothing to do with yo mama jokes.

During lunch I sit with him to pair and help him make friends (peer reference, social modeling). Today him and another boy really hit it off by making yo mama jokes. No bad words or inappropriate words. Just "yo mama so dumb she went to the apple store for real apples", "yo mama so fat she sat on the world and made it a pancake".

Lunch lady came around and scolded me for allowing them to make the jokes. This lunch lady is always in everyone's business, talking on a microphone basically the entire lunch, way too serious about her job.

Basically, I didn't see an issue. Client was connecting with a peer and she lowkey PMO by scolding him for it. Its an age appropriate junk behavior.

Hello

I have a kiddo that tends to obliterate dry erase markers so fast. Are there any brands that can withstand smashing and banging on the table? i tried clicking ones and they helped the smashing but when they hit them off the table it breaks the clicker.

I’ve been dying my hair since I was 18 and I’ve been working as an RBT for three years now. Generally my hair color is not an issue, especially with in home/in school cases. The kids love it and I’ve used it to help with annunciations as well as learning colors. After working with a certain in clinic company for 6 months all of the sudden my pink hair was labeled as “unprofessional” (i had several face to face conversations with the head of hr at this point so i think it was retaliation for complaining about the ceo but i digress). my main question is should vivid hair be considered “unprofessional” in ABA? And why is it mostly clinics that consider it unprofessional?

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I saw this listing on indeed:
Behavior Technician Compensation and Schedule
• Position: ABA Behavior Technician - 16 year old boy
• Location: Sicklerville, New Jersey
• Job Type: Part time
• Schedule: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 4:00PM - 7:00PM
• Salary: $18 - $25 per hour
• Male provider needed

🧠 Question of the Day

📚 Domain B — Concepts and Principles

Difficulty: 7/10

Across otherwise identical seatwork sessions, low-level disruption produces 10 seconds of teacher attention on the same schedule. Before some sessions, the student has 5 minutes of teacher interaction; before others, the student has 45 minutes without teacher contact. Disruption occurs at a substantially higher rate after the 45-minute no-contact period. In brief choice probes conducted at those same times, the student also selects teacher interaction over a leisure activity more often after the longer no-contact period. Which interpretation BEST accounts for this pattern?

A. The absence of teacher interaction is an SD because it signals that disruption is more likely to produce attention than appropriate seatwork.

B. The increasing disruption proves negative reinforcement because independent work becomes progressively more aversive as the session continues.

C. Extended lack of teacher contact may function as an EO by increasing attention's reinforcing effectiveness and evoking attention-producing behavior.

D. The increasing disruption demonstrates matching because responding automatically shifts toward whichever alternative currently produces the most attention.

💬 Drop your answer in the comments — no peeking!

✅ Correct answer revealed tomorrow.

#ABA #BCBA #BCBAExam #BCBAPrep #AppliedBehaviorAnalysis #BehaviorAnalysis #DomainB #ABATaskList #BCaBA #RBT #QuestionOfTheDay

I genuinely need to vent because the more I try to figure out how to complete my supervised fieldwork hours, the more frustrated I become with how this whole system is structured.
I’m currently pursuing my master’s in ABA, and I completely understand WHY supervised fieldwork is required. I actually think it’s incredibly important, especially in a field where we’re expected to work with vulnerable populations and make decisions that can significantly impact people’s lives.
What I don’t understand is why finding opportunities to complete these hours is made so unnecessarily complicated.
We’re required to complete thousands of supervised hours to become BCBAs, yet students are essentially left to figure out the entire process themselves. Universities offer the coursework but often don’t provide placements, and finding a BCBA willing to supervise you doesn’t automatically mean you have somewhere to actually gain experience.
And that’s the part that really gets me. How am I supposed to independently find clients or meaningful fieldwork opportunities when I’m literally entering the field to LEARN how to do this work in the first place?
I’ve been reaching out to clinics, organizations, and professionals, and while some have been helpful, many don’t respond at all. Meanwhile, a lot of the supervision opportunities I come across involve paying someone for remote supervision, which still doesn’t solve the problem of finding an appropriate setting where I can actually gain hands-on experience.
I also find it strange that there’s such a strong emphasis on meeting the unrestricted hours requirement, yet finding opportunities to perform those activities as someone with little to no experience can be incredibly difficult.
It makes me wonder why ABA programs don’t have a more structured fieldwork system, similar to clinical rotations in other healthcare professions. Obviously, the professions and their training requirements are different, but wouldn’t it make sense for universities to establish partnerships with clinics, schools, hospitals, and other organizations to help students access supervised experiences?
I’m not saying students shouldn’t take initiative or be responsible for their own professional development. I’m more than willing to put in the work, learn, volunteer, and start from the bottom. I just don’t understand why something that’s an essential requirement for entering the profession feels so disconnected from the actual educational process.
And honestly, I worry that this system discourages people who could become wonderful BCBAs simply because they don’t have the right connections, financial resources, or luck to find appropriate supervision.
Maybe I’m missing something, and I’d genuinely love to hear other perspectives, especially from current BCBAs who have already gone through this process.
But does anyone else feel like the system itself needs some serious restructuring? Or is this just one of those things everyone struggles through and eventually accepts?

As the title suggests, I'm 18 and on the Autism spectrum, and I'm freshly out of high school. I'm not very interested in attending college as I'm not passionate about what any of the majors have to offer, what I'm really passionate about is helping children and working with them. I'm not interested in social work or teaching or daycare/nanny stuff, so I thought that RBT would be the best choice for me. I live in one of the major cities, so maybe I'll be able to make a career out of this. I guess I'm looking for advice on whether I'll be able to make this a career, if I should re-consider college (I'd be going to a community one), and anything else that might seem relevant to mention. The only things keeping me back from getting in ABA/RBT is that it'll overstimulate me easily, but that's something I'm willing to deal with in order to help children that're just like me. Growing up, no one really advocated for me as an autistic girl and my mom didn't have the proper resources to deal with my behavior, so things were just really hard for me, and I don't want anyone else to have to go through what I had to. I know I'm mentioning children a lot, but I'm also fine with helping teenagers and autistic adults :-) I hope that this is enough information!! All advice is welcome even if it's harsh or not what I would want to hear.

I’m not sure what to put on my resume for my time at this company.

I’m native to state A, where anyone with a high school degree can work in the ABA field. Becoming an RBT in state A is an extra qualification that can open you up to more jobs and higher pay. I had experience working as a “life skills coach” at a company in state A with no RBT certification.

I recently moved to state B. I found a job opening for an RBT that said they would train you and help you become certified. I interviewed with the office manager and got the job. In my interview the office manager saw on my resume that I have experience in the ABA field and a bachelors degree. I was asked to send them my college transcript. When I did they told me they had reviewed it and I didn’t qualify for a higher position but could still become an RBT with them.

The office manager explained that I would need to complete the 40 hour RBT training course and pass the exam before working with clients. I agreed and began completing the course.

A week later I receive a call from the company’s sole HR agent explaining that the office manager had left the company and asking me to come in. I came back to the office prepared for a second interview but instead was asked by the HR person to shadow someone working with a client on the spot because she wanted me to complete my shadow hours so I could start with clients as soon as possible. At this point I’m confused and say to her that I thought I needed to complete my RBT certification before working with clients. The HR person confidently tells me nope, I just need a certain number of shadow hours before I can begin.

So I come in the next week and complete my shadow hours while still picking away at the RBT course at home. After a certain number of hours shadowing, the HR woman asks me if I can start working with clients next week. I say sure, but again bring up my confusion about incomplete RBT certification and she brushes it away. I conclude that the office manager was wrong about what she told me because I’ve done ABA work and data collecting already with no RBT certification in state A.

Right before my first client session the HR woman gives me a crash course on their data collection, which they do on paper. She tells me to sign my name at the bottom of my notes and write “BT” next to my name. I figure this is a position below RBT in qualifications. I spend six weeks working with clients, signing my notes “BT.” The whole time this is happening I’m slowly finishing the RBT course at home.

The HR person reaches back out to me and says I probably qualify for a higher title and pay because of my previous experience. She asks me to send her information about how many hours I’ve worked with clients in state A and what their ages were. I email her that information and mention that I had previously sent in my college transcript and been told I don’t qualify for a higher position.

HR woman calls me within twenty minutes and tells me to cancel all of my clients for the week. She’s made a terrible mistake and assumed I was hired as a BT, but my college degree doesn’t qualify me to be one. I can’t resume working with clients until I pass the RBT exam.

At that point I have no hours, no pay, and have to pay out of pocket to take the exam. I passed the RBT exam but other things happened that made me decide I have to quit this job anyway because of their poor management.

What do I put on my resume? This whole ordeal was over two months of my life. I am now RBT certified, but never worked as an RBT at this company. I signed my notes as a “BT,” but apparently don’t have the correct college degree or courses to actually qualify as one in this state.

Hello all,

I have been an Rbt for going on 4 years now and have worked in home and in clinic. I recently started at a new clinic and the staff is great. However, I feel brand new and somewhat discouraged. This clinic has each Rbt working with a large number of clients, which I love and hate. I am personally used to building a relationship/working 1:1 with up to 2 or 3 clients max. I feel that working with a max of 2-3 main clients helps me to maintain a positive rapport and build instructional control. At this clinic I have 9 different clients that I can work with and I can have 2-4 clients in a workday. I feel as though I am not able to fully build a solid rapport and learn my clients this way. I also am having a hard time keeping up with everyones new programs or program modifications due to hopping from client to client so often. I absolutely love this place... but I am starting to feel a bit discouraged because I feel as though I am not able to bond with my kids in order to have the most effective sessions. I will also note that most of the staff has been working this clinic for an extended amount of time (2-5 years). Has anyone ever been in a similar situation?

I have been getting feedback lately that I've been needing to increase my learning opportunities-- okay, great. My learning opportunities have been increasing in general with some lower learning opportunities sessions, usually when the client has had a more difficult time. Now, I'm getting feedback that I'm not doing enough pairing with them before placing a demand. In this specific instance, I was told that I had only been interacting with the client for "like a minute" before placing the demand. I'm supposed to be getting 40-50 learning opportunities per hour. How am I supposed to do that if I'm interacting with the client for multiple minutes before placing every demand? I'm starting to feel like I can't get it right with my BCBAs anymore. It was also weird of them to do my performance review with a client I had expressed particularly struggling with my learning opportunities with, rather than any other client. I've been trying to stick it out but it's starting to feel like I can't do anything right. I don't want to leave the field but I'm considering moving to another clinic. I just don't want to leave a clinic before I've even been there a year.

I’m curious for those working in ABA: if you’ve ever been physically assaulted at work, did management provide a structured follow up or debrief afterwards?

I need advice, encouragement, or someone to share if they went through something similar.

I have been an RBT for almost 4 years. I am aware RBTs need to keep a record of our own supervision hours to stay compliant with the BACB. Unfortunately during the first 5 months I was a RBT, I trusted my BCBA too much. My BCBA told our entire team she was keeping our records for us and not to worry about them. She often was telling us if we had met the 5% requirements or not. Then 5 months in she gave us a Google Sheets template and told us we were now going to be responsible for our own supervision logs and we needed to communicate if we had not reach the 5% requirements. She never gave us a copy of the supervision logs and never had us sign anything.

For the next year or so we used Google Sheets. She would print out our logs and have us sign them. She would then scan them and send them to her work email. She never gave us a copy of these signed records.

After about 2 and a half years of working with this BCBA she changed locations. We both stayed at the same company. When she left I asked her to give me all my RBT supervisions logs, because all the logs I was taking she archived and I could not access. She did unarchive the files and everything seemed in order at the time (this was about a year ago).

I recently started school to become a BCBA and I am taking the Ethics course and refreshing my knowledge on the code of ethics. As well as recently taking CEUs for my RBT credential on the RBT code of ethics. I recently decided to do a personal audit on my own RBT supervision logs and noticed there was a huge gap in my supervision records that I thought was sent to me a year prior. I reached out to that BCBA and the best she could do for me was submit a IT ticket to the company to give me access to the archives supervision logs. The IT department essentially said they don’t have access to the logs the BCBA is asking about.

This BCBA seems very unconcerned that there are multiple months missing of my RBT supervision logs. I am just confused, because I thought according to the code of ethics the BCBA also needs to have a record of the RBTs supervision records. But, it seems the records I am asking for she does not have. I am particularly confused, because I know she 100% has at least 1 years worth of my logs with the signatures somewhere in her work email, but she is acting like she doesn’t have them anymore.

I am planning to self report, because I would rather not be audited and loose my RBT credentials or worse. Based on my research I have better chances of the BACB being forgiving and letting me keep my credentials if I am honest.

Has anyone else been through some similar or have any advice?

If you were having trouble uploading CEUs - I submitted a ticket and this was the response:  

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I’m a BCBA and I have been doing private contract work on the operations end of things for a small ABA company out of state (think building documentation systems, revamping intake processes, making sure they’re compliant, managing auths etc). They’ve asked if I would be interested in helping them set up a clinic in my state (Georgia). The salary they are offering is way better than I could get at any other clinics in my area plus I would have the freedom and control to build things from the ground up so obviously this is super appealing to me. I have been seeing however that a ton of people are saying it’s horrible idea to open a clinic so I was hoping I could get some advice? There really is no financial risk for me since I am not bankrolling the project, I just would lose out on a great salary if things didn’t work out but I do anticipate that it will be a ton of work. Thoughts?

Just got hired with them, basically on the spot. That normally is a red flag for me…

I won’t lie I am really desperate for a job that I think I will just take it. The pay is attractive and just what I need. But idk it feels almost too good to be true? I have friend who recommended the company to me. He likes it and they pay him very well as well.

I just don’t know almost feels too good to be true? Someone please give me any negative or Patrice insights you have working there.

I’ve been a BT since August in a school setting - everything is still so new to me. I only recently started my training course 2 weeks ago (but also am only given a few hours a week to complete it at work, so I’m not even a quarter of the way done). My BCBA has only come in to supervise me maybe 4-5 times since I’ve started, but not for long at all each time. Half of the time I don’t know what I’m doing, and a lot of the kiddos I work with have very aggressive behaviors (I’ve already been bit at least 5 times).

I feel like I have no support and was never given true training, despite reaching out and explaining my concerns. I love working with the kids, but I hate not knowing how to handle situations and it constantly leaves me dreading going to work every day.

Is this how it is for a new RBT?? Is the feeling just something that will go away over time? And is it normal for your BCBA to hardly ever supervise despite being completely new to the field?

EDIT: lost not los :(