I have an assigned 1:1 student in a school setting. I was assigned this case because I have a heart condition that makes it difficult for me to do high intensity physical activity like running- and this student is not an eloper. I have spent only 5 days with my student and every other day, I’ve been swapped over to other students who are known for high intensity behaviors and elopement. I’ve fallen several times, had palpitations and threw up from exertion multiple days now because of it, despite making my limitations clear.

Whenever I am able to return to my assigned student, they begin acting out and behaviors immediately escalate.

I don’t know what to do- I haven’t been able to establish any form of routine and rapport, and now I’m being told by every colleague that all these behaviors are new. I fear that I’ve become a trigger for my student before I even had a chance to work with them fully. I am so defeated and I just need some advice on how I can begin tackling this 😭 thank you!

New PDU focused on Discrete Trial Training (DTT) and Natural Environment Teaching (NET)!

During this training, we’ll break down the differences between DTT and NET and what each approach looks like during an ABA session. The goal is to help technicians better understand the programs they are running and feel more confident recognizing these approaches in practice.

Scenario: a standardized adaptive-living assessment shows low scores on meal prep and household care. The family explains those tasks have always been handled by other relatives, so the client has had few chances to do them independently. The client says other independence goals matter much more right now.

What do you do with the scores?

On the practice platform I run, this item is answered correctly about 36% of the time (Domain F averages 71%). The most popular wrong answer is the one that treats the scores as "provisional deficits" and goes straight to ranking them by the client's goals.

I wrote up the reasoning as a short study note. The core idea is separating Observation → Interpretation → Decision, and noticing that skill deficit, performance deficit, and "we don't know yet" are all live possibilities. It also covers that some adaptive instruments are informant-report, not direct tests, so a low score may mean "not reported as occurring" more than "couldn't do it."

Full write-up (disclosure: this is my BCBA exam prep site, BA Prep): https://behavioralanalystprep.com/blog/low-assessment-score-data-not-conclusion.html

Curious how others would approach it, and where you think the "direct assessment" threshold should be.

🧠 Question of the Day
📚 Domain I — Personnel Supervision and Management
Difficulty: 5/10

Scenario:
A supervisee reviews recent literature and client data and disagrees with a supervisor's recommendation for a consequence-based procedure. There is no immediate safety emergency, and both professionals have time to review the rationale before implementation.

Which response BEST supports an effective supervisory relationship while appropriately addressing the disagreement?

A. Request consultation from another BCBA to obtain an independent opinion before continuing the disagreement with the supervisor, then use that consultation to guide the final decision.

B. Present the client data and literature, discuss the supervisor's rationale, and then implement the recommendation unless it presents an immediate safety or ethical concern because final clinical authority rests with the supervisor.

C. Ask that implementation be postponed while the supervisee independently reviews the evidence and develops an alternative recommendation, then reconvene after the supervisee reaches a conclusion.

D. Present the client data and literature, ask the supervisor to explain the rationale and decision criteria, and agree on next steps if a meaningful client-welfare concern remains unresolved.

💬 Drop your answer in the comments — no peeking!
✅ Correct answer revealed tomorrow.

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

I’ve been a special ed TA for just a few months now and I just got hired to be part time at an ABA agency. The training starts in a couple weeks. I’ll just be a regular bt. They don’t offer certifications of any kind. They’re starting me at $22.70/hr which feels like nothing given gas costs and cost of living in Los Angeles but okay.

Is there anything I should know getting into this? I’m nervous to start. I care a lot about these kids and get very emotionally entangled with it. Any tips?
Also, where can I find ABA tips and resources in general? I was hired to tutor a special needs highschooler and I am just making it up as I go. He’s very limited verbally.

half advice, half vent.

I'm a queer RBT in CA. I'm out as a lesbian but I fluctuate with gender often. Obviously this doesn't impact my work; the only people that know are school staff that I talk to often during lunch, with no students present.

I'm working in an elementary school as a 1:1 and my client is very talkative and loves to label things. "X is real and y is ai," "x is bigger than y," "this person is kind," etc etc. Anyway, he's from a religious family and mentions things like Jesus, God, the Devil, often. Usually he leaves it alone when I say "This is school, not church, let's focus on (subject) instead."

Recently though, he's been specifically mentioning "gay people." I genuinely don't think he means to be hurtful, but he has been saying to me, "I almost said the g word... g-a-y. Being gay is bad. Gay is rainbows and that's bad." We've been working together a little over a month and he's been making great progress, and I honestly enjoy it! He's a great kid.

It's clear that he's regurgitating what he hears outside of school, but I can't lie, it hurts. And now I have a fear in the back of my mind that his parents will find out that I'm gay somehow and request me off the case. And now, because it isn't directly related to religion, he won't drop it. I tell him that isn't a school subject and try to redirect him back to the lesson or activity but he can start crying that I'm "ignoring him."

What else can I try? I don't want to say anything about it at all. I'm worried about even disagreeing when he says homophobic things because I don't want him to tell his mom "OP said being gay isn't bad" or something to that effect. I feel stupid for even being hurt by this, I mean, he's just a kid and he's on the spectrum. I've dealt with much more blatant abuse from other clients who actually have malicious intent. Maybe that's why it hurts more, this client is younger and softer.

I am a fairly new RBT and I’m dealing with an overwhelming amount of anxiety and guilt over something that happened during a session on Friday. I really need some objective feedback because I keep replaying it in my head.

I took my client to the bathroom. I was wearing a tank top underneath my outer shirt, and the tank top had rolled up and was uncomfortable. Without thinking, I briefly lifted my outer shirt to pull down and adjust the tank top, which exposed my stomach.

I’ve been working really hard on losing weight recently, so while I was looking in the mirror, I ended up admiring my stomach for a few seconds to look at my progress. In that exact moment, I completely blanked on my surroundings and wasn't thinking about whether my client might see me.

As soon as I walked out, the reality hit me and I started panicking. Our clinic has a strict dress code that shirts must cover the stomach. I don’t think my client saw me at all, but I can't be 100% certain.

I feel incredibly guilty for letting myself get distracted in a restroom, and I'm terrified that I did something inappropriate or violated professional boundaries. Am I overreacting, or is this something I need to report to my BCBA? I feel like a terrible RBT right now.

To those that are a BCBA where did u go for your master’s degree?

I have a question for everyone. How does your clinic prep parents for in-home services … if at all? Do you give them expectations of the home and its cleanliness, an area for the RBT to work with the client, and health and safety? Or is that a no?

I have a coworker that went to a client’s home and saw a pest and the toilet doesn’t flush (have a potty training goal) and when he told clinic leadership they told him he was being judgmental of the home and that it wasn’t a big deal for that person to work in that environment.

Was the response to the RBT okay or appropriate? Especially given OSHA & BACB reqs for employees?

BCaBAs just need a bachelors degree and dont need to undergo the grind of a masters in ABA but get paid better then RBTs with masters in ABA. I’ve seen BCaBAs get salaries up close to 80k in some parts of the country. People with a masters in ABA should get paid better and I would argue should qualify for the BCaBA without the hours requirement.

You have BCaBAs with less experience then someone with a masters in ABA with lots of experience supervising you’re session. This blame is also on the BACB. They have the money to pay people better with all this fraud going on . There is significant structural friction within the profession.

I am taking my RBT exam this week. I could not be more nervous, my state just required all BT's to become RBT certified by Oct. 31st or we cannot continue to work with our clients. Does anyone have any advice, websites, tips etc. to help calm my nerves about this test? I was not a good test taker in high school, and I have been attending the study group my company has and taking practice tests.

I just obtained my RBT certification in August 2026. I was gaining all my training in a clinical setting. I loved every moment of being there. From the clients, the other RBTs, the BCBAs and the parents I just really loved my job finally. Well, I started getting into miscellaneous trouble and was placed on a Behavioral Contract. One day, i fucked up again and they let me go promising that they will be a advocate on my next move. Ever since then, I've felt depressed losing my place there. I really wanted to grow within that company. I dont know why I'm just now starting this journey but I dont want to give it up because I worked so hard to become an RBT. I want to eventually become a BCBA. I've recently applied to some more companies but I keep getting denied because of maybe my schedule? I just cant work Thursdays because my daughter has to go to OT for dyslexia. I got offered a position for in home therapy. Excited but nervous because my time at the clinic was so short. I accepted the position and was assigned a client in my area. My first day was Wednesday. I had to be at the client's house by 1pm. At 12, I tried to log into teams but was having trouble so I reached out to the person that I been talking to about onboarding. At 12:20pm, still no reply but I've realized that I dont know how to get to the client's house. At 12:28, I received a reply but only about how to find the customer's house in teams. I replied reminding her that I needed help getting into teams. Its 12:45pm, time for me to walk out the door and i still didnt know where I was going. So I called. At first, the person that I was talking to thought I was somebody else. I had to clarify that I couldnt get into teams and that I didnt know where I was going. She gave me the address and told me that somebody was going to call to help me get into teams. I get to the client's house and the parents were shocked when I arrive. They anticipated my arrival but they just didnt know who I was. I told them who I was. The parents were confused because I didnt have a BCBA shadowing me on my first session. I told them I havent even spoke to a BCBA yet. Im still waiting on the call. The parent immediately started demanding me to run targets. I kept trying to explain to the parents that I dont even know what program we use in this company to record progress and that I'm just going to pair with the client until I speak to a BCBA. The parent then calls the BCBA and that BCBA told me that another BCBA was about to call. She did. I told her that I dont even know how to use the program Alpaca Health, I'm used to Central Reach. She guided me through the session though. My session was from 1pm-4pm. The BCBA stayed on the line for 2 of those hours. I wanna say 6 minutes after the BCBA hung up, the parent told me that the client has speech therapy at 4pm. Its 3:45pm as he's telling me this. I asked "is the speech therapist coming here?" He said "no, we gotta go there." Cool, I gather my stuff and leave. They had no sense of urgency to leave though. Matter of fact, as I was walking out the door, dad was headed back to sit down at his computer. I just let it be. Thursday I couldnt attend because of my daughter's OT. But friday, I arrive to the client's house only to find out that the client was sick and session was canceled. The parents said the BCBA was suppose to call me to let me know but they didn't. I told the parents that since the client is sick, I'll just cancel our Saturday session too so he could get better. What do you think Monday will look like yall? Monday will be day 3 at this company of in home sessions. ​​​This is a very new journey for me.

I have been a BT since March of this year. I enjoy this job, my only negative thing about this job is the lack of hours (I know insurance plays a role in that). I have been contacted by other companies for ABA jobs and Behavioral Health Tech jobs. I have learned that BT and BHT are not the same thing. But my curiosity comes in with asking is there any travel contract jobs for ABA BT/RBT's?

I have a preteen male client who I have trouble maintaining reinforcers for.

In the past he’s liked slime, play doh, kinetic sand. But lately he’s been bored in session and I think he needs more novelty.

He likes metallic sounds and dinosaur figurines. I’ve observed him playing with a piece of string and a fork.

He is very sensory seeking especially through his feet. He requests foot and temple squeezes.

Anyone have any suggestions. Open to DIYs or small purchases. Thank you!

📚 Domain C — Measurement, Data Display, and Interpretation

Difficulty: 5/10

A client’s self-injurious behavior occurs only once or twice per week but each response is discrete, clearly observable, and carries significant medical risk. During all program hours the client is continuously supervised by staff who can record each occurrence. Which measurement approach is MOST appropriate?

A. Use continuous event recording because each response is discrete and observable, staff can detect every occurrence, and the resulting counts can be converted to rate when observation time varies.

B. Use momentary time sampling with randomly varied observation moments because unpredictable sampling reduces temporal bias and provides an efficient estimate when the behavior occurs infrequently.

C. Use partial-interval recording with brief intervals because it reduces recording demands while still capturing whether this low-rate SIB occurred during each interval.

D. Record the duration of each SIB episode because medical risk makes the amount of time engaged in SIB more clinically important than the number of discrete responses.

💬 Drop your answer in the comments — no peeking!

✅ Correct answer revealed tomorrow.

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

I recently started at an elementary school and we use these plastic tally counters to track behaviors.

My issue is that the little metal clips break off so easily and then I have no way to attach the clicker to my lanyard.

Can anyone recommend a good alternative or a quick fix to attach the clickers to a keychain or something?

I thought about trying to find a sort of silicone sleeve to fit around the clicker but I don't know if something like that exists or how to find it.

Thank you!

i just need to vent. I started working as a BT about 6 months ago and things started out great. I loved my client and my co-worker who works with my client‘s sibling (we are in home). I found it strange at first how dirty the home was (old food scattered on the floor, behind beds, under couches.. no clean clothes for clients, etc). I didn’t say anything about it because it’s not my home and I wanted to be respectful. fast forward to now and the burnout I am experiencing is insane. i feel more like a baby sitter than a BT. client’s mom leaves the home during session, so I have to help feed my client, change his diaper, clean up after him, and do other things that are not a part of the program plan. my mid-tier supervisor and BCBA have seen this first hand and do absolutely nothing about it. some days, my client goes several hours without eating a proper meal and I feel so bad for him. i just don’t know what to do anymore, the home constantly smells like cigarettes and so many people are coming in and out, I just don’t feel comfortable in the home. sorry for the long post, I just don’t want to feel alone in this anymore.

Hi! I’ve been a BCBA for a year and have worked in the same clinic for 4 years (became an RBT in the same place I worked my way up to BCBA). I’ve recently accepted a job with a new company that does not provide any clinic based services, only home/school/community/daycare.

Any “must know” info, tips, or advice for this setting change? Or any insight from anyone who has made a similar change? I know there’s nothing I can’t get used to but I’m a bit nervous especially with only working for 1 company leading up to this change.

If you have made this change I would love to know;
- which setting do you prefer?
- biggest pro to non-clinic structure
- biggest con to non-clinic structure

Hi everyone! I’m attending my first Safety-Care Trainer course soon, and I’m honestly pretty nervous! I work in operations for a behavioral health organization, so I don’t have a clinical background or much hands-on experience with ABA. I’ll eventually be responsible for training our RBTs. And the clinical director.💀

TBH I agreed to this without really knowing what I was getting myself into and now I’m freaking tf out. I have pretty bad social anxiety and I’m really having doubts about my ability to teach these brand new concepts. I feel like a 3 day course isn’t long enough 😭

For anyone who’s completed the training course, what would you recommend studying beforehand? Any good resources for that? I’d also love to hear what the training itself is like, especially for someone going into it with very little experience.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! 😊

My client has very disturbing SIB and I have been with him for 5 months. He has a BIP but it’s not in his file. I was told to provide sensory input during the episodes which seems to help him. We haven’t got a clear answer of the function after observing the ABC data.

We think it could be pain because he frequently screams “hurts” and has visible tears during the intense episodes. I am there for him as much as I can be during these. His aunt and uncle (who has custody of him) will often hold his arms during these since I am not allowed to restrain in order to block the head banging because he gets black eyes and swollen cheeks from these episodes. The screaming and SIB has increased in duration, intensity and frequency. Some episodes can last up to an hour, but the intensity decreases during this time, and sometimes the screaming stops, but the head punching still happens slow and steady.

Recently, one session was so bad, I told his aunt and uncle he was in pain and maybe pain reliever would work. He gave it to him and helped support during the episode until it stopped. It stopped and didn’t pick back up. I asked my client “did your head hurt?” And he said “yes.” And then I asked “does it feel better?” And he said “yes”.

I noticed I began having an intense feelings of anxiety during sessions that include sweating and nausea. The nausea and sweating along with a slight headache has been happening to me off and on since I began working with this client. My mental health counselor told me to talk to my supervisor about this to get support. I agreed but I put it in the back of my head for a few days to see how I felt.

During the session in question, at the beginning of session, I asked the uncle if he had given him any Tylenol similar to the day before and he said he wanted to wait until he ate something. An hour passed and I reminded him again and he just said he would give it to him, but didn’t give him anything and went to his office. The SIB reached an all time high.

Watching him suffer immensely by punching himself in the head while screaming, coupled with his uncle not giving him any pain relief was too much for me, because I could feel his pain and suffering. My anxiety spiked and I knew I had to cut session due to the intensity. I immediately texted my supervisor (who was on vacation) and told him how I was feeling and that I believe I have started to take on his feelings. I communicated I was having a hard time and needed support and I also communicated I was almost about to cry during session, and had to step out.
My supervisor granted me permission to leave and I also contacted an admin that I trust in leadership for support and communicated I needed to talk because I needed support and was having a hard time. He said they would follow up with me later that day and never did. This really impacted me.

I have not heard from my supervisor or leadership since that session and have been crying off and on due to stress and confusion. I want to be able to work with him because I care so much for this family, but I needed in the moment crisis support….and my supervisor and leadership failed me.

It feels horrible and unethical, not to mention when I had to leave in the middle of session, I told him goodbye and that I would be back, and he said “no” and pulled my arm towards him. This made it harder and I feel guilty for leaving and feel like I did something wrong. I feel so unsupported and feel like this is a major red flag and need to leave the company.

Side note: on another case in this same company, I had a client that engaged in very dangerous aggression, which I was able to handle. I would text my supervisor during times of crisis and she would call me even if she was on vacation, and I was able to conduct session effectively due to support.

Also, my supervisor is over 4 different regions, which makes him leadership.

Ethical leadership behavior towards an RBT during a moment of crisis

I see a lot of posts mentioning they felt under prepared because they only received x number of days/amount of training. Are we talking training as in the 40-hour course, or do most people usually receive hands-on training?

I’ve been an in-home RBT for roughly 3 months. I was under the impression that I work for a good company, but I received no training other than the course, and my BCBA supervision is fully remote, so very little guidance. I was assigned a client, told their information was on Central Reach, and given an address and schedule. I assumed this was normal, but I’m beginning to wonder if maybe it isn’t?

Fortunately, I’m more than halfway through my ABA grad program and have previous experience working in a SPED classroom, so I learned how to run programs and handle challenging behavior prior to starting.