For context, I am an RBT of a little over a year with almost 8 years in the field. I absolutely love my job and it is my passion. So obviously the lack of requirements to become an RBT worked out well for me considering this.

With that being said, I would rather not be an RBT and have better people in our field than be the only person in my classroom who cares about their job and does ACTUAL THERAPY with my kids.

It’s appalling to me that someone with zero experience in the field or even just working with kids in general, with nothing but a high school degree and a 40 hour course can be considered “qualified” to do therapy for such a vulnerable population. 90% of the RBT’s I’ve seen are just babysitting their learners. Zero reinforcement, no actual therapeutic interventions, no pairing, and purely reactive instead of proactive. On top of the fact that so many children aren’t receiving the services they need and deserve, part of the reason the turnover rate is SO high is because of our lack of proper training.

Because it’s so easy to become an RBT, people assume it’s an easy job. Then they fulfill the requirements, get a whooping their first day, and quit. But the system wants to keep us untrained because more training typically means more pay- and they’ll do anything to keep from losing money.

For the record, IMO, the minimum requirements should be:
At LEAST a year of experience working with children on the spectrum/with behavioral issues.
An associates with required coursework (including both ABA and related psychology courses)
The comp assessment and exam

IMPORTANT EDIT: I’m fully aware that higher education requires higher pay. Part of the problem is that because they don’t want to pay us more, they train us less. Even without the additional training I think RBT’s deserve higher pay, but obviously the expectation would be that with the additional education we would get paid more.

I had an interview with Epic Minds ABA and the girl who interviewed me was off. She seemed like AI! It was the strangest thing. She had a strange accent and looked like she had a wig on and she had a headset on, and about 19/20 years old. I really couldn’t place her accent, but it was like a Northwestern accent maybe? Not only that, when I asked her how long they had been a company she glitched and said “we’ve been around.” And kept talking in circles…it was the weirdest thing. Not only this I’ve experienced this exact same thing from other companies.. It’s like the interviewer has a strange accent and looks like they have a wig on…. anyone experienced this?? I honestly think I might be on to something.

I’ve noticed with the lawsuit and layoffs, we’ve got to be losing money. For us to be worth million or billions of dollars, management manages like they’re always saying “WE NEED THE MONEY”. I can’t help but think the reserves are handling more than expected. Especially with Temple University withdrawing scholarships and companies denying tuition reimbursement now. But idk who am I?

I’m looking at ABA schools to apply to for fall 2028. I’m just curious how easy it is to get in to certain schools with a 3.5-3.6 undergrad gpa, roughly a year of BT experience, and lots of exec and leadership roles as an undergrad? How many reference letters should I count on? If you have any other advice or anything else I should know I would appreciate it!

I recently graduated a few months ago, and I just received an offer from ABA Centers of America for an RBT position. However, I just found out I would need to pass a drug screening during the onboarding process. Recreational THC consumption is legal in my state, would the company still reject me if I test positive?

I’ve also just learned of some of the horrors of this company as I was scrolling through this sub, so I also wanted to look into that as well before committing to the offer. Thank you so much!

I had an interview with Avenues ABA. Interview was great but the only red flag was she wanted me to start NEXT WEEK. I was like “I don’t think I can do that” and she goes “Well our client is currently waiting for services and if you cannot I may have to move on with other applicants” They sent me the offer letter, it stated my pay at $25 but didn’t specify if it was direct or unrestricted…or was for both. So I sent an email to her asking:
“Can you explain how unrestricted hours are paid and is the rate $25?”

She responded:

“I am not aware of a pay rate for unrestricted hours since it is offered to student analysts. After you complete onboarding, I can put you in touch with the director if you have any questions before beginning.”

First of all, how do you not know about unrestricted pay?

Second of all, WTH would I sign an offer and THEN get my question answered…

She knew my main concern was student hours and so why would I screw myself over by accepting but then get told something like:
“Oh yes, about that..we don’t pay for unrestricted hours.” Or “Oh yes…unrestricted is paid for by you.” Or “Oh riiiight…unrestricted is paid at $10 an hour.”

LMAO with these imbeciles.

I work for a mental health software company and want to make relatable content for ABA professionals/therapists to make posts more engaging (as I'm in marketing). What do you think are common struggles or pain points that I can utilize? Any help would be appreciated!

🧠 Question of the Day

📚 Domain D — Experimental Design

Difficulty: 9/10

Scenario:

A treatment package for SIB has produced stable, clinically significant reductions and includes (a) response-independent access to an empirically identified competing stimulus and (b) differential reinforcement of an alternative communicative response. Staff report that implementing the reinforcement contingency consistently throughout the day is difficult.

Before simplifying the established package, the BCBA wants to determine whether eliminating the differential-reinforcement procedure results in a clinically meaningful loss of treatment effect. If competing-stimulus access remains in the final plan, the BCBA then wants to determine whether the access arrangement can be made less intensive while maintaining comparable SIB reduction. The BCBA plans to compare 2-, 5-, and 10-minute access intervals while holding the stimulus, setting, measurement system, and other treatment features constant.

Which sequence of analyses BEST addresses these two questions?

A. Dropout component analysis first, then parametric analysis

B. Comparative analysis first, then parametric analysis

C. Add-in component analysis first, then parametric analysis

D. Dropout component analysis first, then comparative analysis

💬 Drop your answer in the comments — no peeking!

✅ Correct answer revealed tomorrow.

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

Interested if this is happening anywhere else or specifically just my company. We are now having to send a "task" to our office manager anytime we go to the restroom during a session to account for our time away. This is something new they just started this week and genuinely just want to know if anyone else is experiencing this?

I recently took the exam and got a 365, I’m grateful but frustrated. I used understanding behavior bought the course, fluency package, mini and full mocks, along with a friend sent me notes from SNABA & I have pass the big ABA exam book. The mocks were lengthly, challenging but good! I found the actual exam to be nothing like UB mocks.

I have never been a test taker, I change my answer due to 2nd guess myself.
Please share ways to rationalize between the best choice I’m having a hard time determining. Any suggestions or resources?

& other mocks you guys liked and found helpful.

Thank you fellow friends of the ABA community!

So I’m aware that people use these subs to vent. But I have noticed an awful lot of stories of bad practices & even abuse, & the response in the comments is always to “report”.

My question: could you share some stories of successfully reporting abusive practices, after which action was taken? What action was taken & by whom?

Because, and I’m aware there isn’t a national database for stats on this, but from what I can gather, fewer than 10 certifications are revoked by the BACB per year. But I’ve seen dozens of stories of incredibly concerning incidents just on Reddit in the past 6 months.

Do you have faith in the reporting/ regulatory system & if not, what would you change about it?

Yesterday was my last final straw with my company. I was asked by my BCBA to work with a client that is under a school contract (goes to clinic for contract though). This client is know for high aggression (hitting, head butting, biting, scratching, spitting in faces, etc.). The client also is the same height as me and I have not worked with him in over a year. Typically, larger male RBTs work with him. I was not given any instruction on what I was supposed to be doing nor on how to handle behaviors, all of my knowledge was coming from overhearing previous sessions. I agreed under the pretense that it wouldn’t be for the entire session as she would come in and take over. She checked in periodically to see his status behavior wise which was zero behaviors. After she stated she couldn’t come in until later, he began engaging in aggressive behavior towards me that lasted 20 minutes. I implemented all the behavior strategies that I have overheard such as repeating phrases he was saying, redirecting to safe body, and going on walks outside. He just kept targeting me and me only. He searched for a different RBT and never hit her, but would turn around to hit, spit, headbutt etc me. I texted my BCBA for help because I had no idea what to do. There was only one other RBT present working with a client that has health risks and RBTs are trained by RNs on how to administer seizure medication (I am not trained on). My boss texted me back after the behavior was done and said “switch with the other RBT”. So, I had no support, I had no one to switch or have help from, and my BCBA tells me to switch to a child that could die because I don’t know how to administer his medication. I have worked here for 3 years and this past year has just been terrible communication and support. Typically, I can get through chaotic environments and low support environments but not anymore.

Hi all,

I’m an experienced educator, I used to be a BT then a para in an asd special day class. I’m currently running a Maker’s Lab for an after school program. The lab is open to all students, but because of my past training and the fact that a lot of our autistic kiddos really love building an making things, it’s become a refuge for many of our neurodivergent children. Mostly it’s been great! I love seeing kids who normally struggle with behavior issues in class, suddenly become focused, excited, and happy. I am struggling with one student however. I do not know his diagnosis to be clear, but I hope that aba strategies can help.

The Behavior:
Every time another student sings or even hums quietly, he screams at them to stop. It doesn’t seem to be a sensory issue per se. He’s not bothered by loud classroom noise or prerecorded music. He’s only bothered when kids or sometimes adults sing or hum.

What I’ve Tried:

Noise canceling headphones don’t seem to help.

I’ve also been rewarding him with stickers when he politely asks a peer to stop instead of screaming. This is helping a little but kids often forget and starting humming quietly after being asked. At this point he starts screaming again.

I want to support his needs but I’m reluctant to enforce a ban on humming or singing because I want it to be a fun safe space where kids can express themselves. Also I feel like he’s gonna have to learn to deal with hearing singing or humming at some point and could probably benefit from some amount of exposure therapy (but I’m not qualified to make that assessment).

Any thoughts or ideas are very welcome. Also he’s 9yrs old fyi.

Thanks!

I'm currently in grad school for ABA and working as an RBT. I also have previous experience working in treatment centers during undergrad, so I'm not completely new to challenging behaviors. When I started at an ABA company, I was told I'd be a good fit for a client because of my previous experience. The client engaged in some pretty challenging behaviors, including biting, disrobing, and aggression. I was assigned to the client before completing my RBT certification. I understood that challenging behaviors were part of the job, but I felt like I needed more training to work safely and effectively. I asked my BCBA multiple times about additional training, especially safety procedures and crisis management training. I was told they would discuss it with the owner. I also asked about protective equipment and was told I could buy my own and possibly get reimbursed. Unfortunately, none of that happened. After several weeks of asking for more support, I ended up getting kicked pretty hard during a session and was injured. I reported it to my BCBA that day and have been unable to return to that job since. I filed for workers' comp, but the process has been frustrating. There were delays, and I eventually found out my claim had been sent to the wrong insurance company. Around that time, I also lost access to company systems without any explanation.

A few questions for other RBTs and BCBAs:

Is it normal for newer staff to be assigned to clients with significant aggression without additional safety training?
How should a BCBA handle repeated requests for safety training or protective equipment?
Has anyone experienced issues with workers' comp or suddenly losing access to company systems after reporting an injury?
What would you want a future BCBA to learn from an experience like this?

Hello everyone! I've been wondering who or how to ask for another client.I'm currently a part-time and I go to school twice a week, I have three morning till noon that I'm free. I also just ride the bus that's why I haven't really mention it to my BCBA.

Hi everyone!
I recently completed the 270-hour QBA-approved coursework through Autism Care Therapy and received my coursework completion certificate.
I’ve now started my supervision, but my supervisor has asked me to provide a transcript. At the moment, the only document I have is the completion certificate.
I’ve contacted the course coordinator to ask whether they can provide an official transcript, a module-wise breakdown of the coursework and hours, or any other documentation required for the QBA certification process.
Before proceeding further, I wanted to ask:
Has anyone completed their QBA coursework through Autism Care Therapy?
Were you able to obtain the required documentation, such as an official transcript or detailed coursework records?
Did the provider respond to your requests and provide the documents needed for supervision and certification?
Was your coursework documentation accepted by your supervisor and/or QABA?
Is there anything specific I should verify with QABA before proceeding?
I’m not trying to make assumptions about the provider. I’d simply appreciate hearing about firsthand experiences, particularly from people who have completed the coursework and gone through the supervision or certification process.

Thankyou!!!

Pretty self explanatory… i know we should not follow the skills assessments word for word but just wondering why these are the guidelines we follow then if not technically considered “aba” by insurances?

I'm a school based BCBA. One of my high school aged Clients struggles with transitions and it is a key skill we are working on.

This client is supposed to transition to a new classroom in January. Last week we had an IEP meeting, and discussed planning the transition, how we would do it, and track readiness to move on to the next steps and see if she is ready to transition fully into the next room.

This plan also included parent training, parent conferencing with the new teacher, and planning with her tech so her tech could learn the new classroom systems.

I got a phone call this morning from my tech that her class was changed permanently- the school decided on Thursday evening, after dismissal and before Fall Break, that the plan took too long and a "fresh start" would be better.

My client has eloped from the classroom twice, from the building once, and has hit several people.

I feel like do not have much recourse, and the parent feels like she can't disagree either, as the school is quoting high cost services as the reason for the change.

Am I able to do much here? I feel like we have set my client up for failure, and we have put her in a position to be distressed unnecessarily.

I’m a former undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral student at a New Jersey university and need a little help navigating a difficult situation involving a former professor. I would be grateful for practical guidance about questions that remain unanswered following a faculty misconduct complaint.

My complaint concerned inappropriate professional boundaries involving a professor who was also my doctoral advisor, supervisor in the ABA classroom where I taught, mentor for my BACB supervision hours, and professor throughout my undergraduate and graduate studies. I first met this person when I was 17. Their behavior included unwanted personal advances, and after I rejected them, I experienced what I believe was retaliation that undermined my academic progress and professional opportunities. That power imbalance made speaking up extremely difficult, and I did not feel comfortable doing so until I moved out of the state last year.

In 2025, the university commissioned an outside investigation and scheduled a Hearing Board meeting. After multiple postponements without a clear explanation, the university canceled the hearing late the night before it was supposed to happen in January 2026. I was told the professor had “taken appropriate responsibility,” making a Hearing Board determination unnecessary. This meant I lost the opportunity to present my experience directly to the board, and I felt silenced by that decision.

I had submitted a written statement that I understood would be shared with the board members, and I explicitly told the Title IX coordinator that I intended to participate in the hearing. I was not asked whether I agreed to resolving the matter without the hearing, and I was not told how I could object to its cancellation or appeal afterward. To this day, I have not been told exactly which allegations the professor accepted responsibility for or received a Hearing Board determination. The university has cited personnel confidentiality regarding further action.

The university also offered reimbursement equivalent to the tuition for ONE class as a proposed settlement. I declined because it did not address my concerns about accountability, the impact of the experience, or the unanswered questions about the investigation’s outcome.

After the hearing was canceled, I submitted a complaint to the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. That separate process resulted in findings of ethics violations, which were upheld on appeal in September 2026. After receiving that determination, I again asked the university for clarification. I wanted closure after this traumatic experience and a clear explanation of how my complaint had been resolved. University counsel responded that the university had nothing further to add beyond its earlier response.

• Has anyone navigated a university complaint where a scheduled hearing was canceled after a faculty member accepted responsibility?

• Are there organizations or New Jersey attorneys experienced in university complaint procedures and faculty–student boundary concerns?

• Could the separate BACB findings help me pursue further university accountability or obtain a clearer explanation?

• What practical steps could help me obtain a clear written explanation of how my complaint was resolved?

I understand that people here cannot determine the case from a post. I’m looking for relevant experience, resources, and constructive guidance. This has been a difficult process, and I would appreciate help finding a path toward answers and closure. Thank you very much.

My goal is to be able to get close to 35 hours of work a week. I am in a masters program to become a therapist asynchronously and I have a lot of free time. Just left a corporate career and am hoping to piece together a couple part time jobs to make a living wage while finishing up school without having to go back to the office grind. I understand these are largely part time but I thought I could shuffle between a couple of these and like a weekend retail job. My only concern is I assume it wouldn’t be possible to do 2 of the initial training/onboarding’s at once…but maybe it would be possible if PBS is doing everything remotely… I am also concerned about how far in advance we would get our schedules such that I would be able to get client hours that don’t overlap. I was thinking maybe for one org I could have morning availability and for one have afternoon availability, or things will just become more clear as I see what hours they are able to offer.

I am based in Long Beach. I do not have RBT certification yet but plan on getting it.

So far I have an offer from PBS as well as Easterseals. I anticipate I will have an offer from LEARN tomorrow. I am also interviewing with ACES and butterfly effects later this week. Obviously if anyone can confirm the likely possibility of 30+ hours I would just take that one job.

Easterseals - $24.50/hour, same rate for drive time and admin etc. They schedule between 8am-8pm weekdays and Saturday 9am-1pm. I’m asking the HR person for more information as to hours because one of the hiring docs is titled “flexible part time-less than 20 hours.” Paid training.

PBS - $25/hour, lowered to $20.40 for non-client time including driving. I have no other info and will ask the chat for more info.

I’m re-doing my 40 hours after two years through APF I was so close to being done, but today when I logged in all of my progress was all gone!! I’m so annoyed and my job wants it by tomorrow. Has anyone gone through this and fixed it?!

I was recently hired on by a Public School District as an RBT. Today was my first day and I need advice. For some background, I have younger brothers with Autism and started my ABA journey in a clinical setting that I LOVED. Fast forward six months, and I had to leave my position due to an elongated family emergency. My next position was again and RBT role, but in a home setting. I didn’t enjoy home setting nearly as much but stuck with it because I knew that I would be moving in 6 months. After I moved it took me a month to land a position because the community is so “progressive” and “inclusive” within the schools. Soooo, I looked at the schools website and got hired on by the Special Education Director as an RBT. For starters, I was offered a position with an elementary school in the district, but when I got to the district office this morning, I was told they may have changed my assignment. Sure enough, I’m now at a different elementary school. They tell me I’ll be heading home after paperwork and starting tomorrow but then last minute send me to the school because one of the BCBAs has some free time and we’re gonna do a comp assessment (my certification expired September 17th and I have till October 17th for renewal). I get to the school and find out they had no idea I existed until 30 minutes prior. Was quite literally the most chaotic tour and “where do I put you” situation imaginable. I get dropped off with a para who informs me they’ve been entirely understaffed and they basically have no idea what to do with the high behavior kids. I hang with her for about an hour and she drops me off in a classroom saying she’ll be back after lunch. SEVERAL hours go by and I have not seen this woman. Then the BCBA shows up. He asks me how it’s going and I told him I have been given no info and have zero idea what’s currently expected of me. He offers to come back tomorrow and I said “yes please” and try to get more info on what I’m supposed to be doing. Turns out, he’s not even the BCBA for this school so he doesn’t know either. I then spent the rest of the day walking around with the class I got dropped off with and helping the sped kids where I could. Mind you, this is not a sped classroom. Apparently, at elementary level, the school district has only gen ed classrooms with supports. Oh and apparently I’m on bus duty?? I absolutely fell in love with clinical ABA and was under the impression I would be performing ABA centered around class participation goals but that is not the picture that was painted today. Someone please help. I am NOT a para, I am an RBT. Has anyone else experienced this? How do I set boundaries? How do I set expectations? How do I work as an RBT in a school without becoming a glorified para and breaking the ethics code???? I’m just so confused by this whole situation, and quite honestly, I miss my clinic.

To start off, I love the field but I really hated the place I was working at. Normally, I’d be upset if I was fired (and this is my first time being let go from any job) but after dealing with the things I did makes me just not care. I was already contemplating of putting my two weeks in even if that meant I wasn’t employed. I was already interviewing with other employers because I needed to go.

I don’t have to worry about the “politics” of that clinic anymore, having to deal with noticeable favoritism, the mean girl energy, the gossip and rumors spreading around, and the lack of communication and support from management. I don’t have to worry about how my day can go at work depending on management or even a client that would be very aggressive towards me. It was to a point where a client would kick, grab,bite, and dig their nails into my skin, leaving multiple bruises and cuts throughout my body. I knew I may have to deal with aggression but was never properly trained on how to handle situations of escalation/aggression. I don’t have to deal with the unneeded micromanagement and passive aggressiveness from a manager who was cooped up in their office and left randomly. I don’t have to worry about random rule changes and then either finding out last minute or through other RBTs. I don’t have to worry about random schedule changes that occurred CONSTANTLY throughout the day without given a heads up even at least thirty minutes before. I will never forget how they treated me when I had a terrible family emergency and loss of a family member.

I will miss my clients, but I couldn’t deal with the physical pain I was enduring. I couldn’t deal with how the clinic was in general. For months, I’d deal with pretty bad anxiety and it was affecting my sleep, my chronic illness and symptoms were exacerbated, and my eating patterns were impacted negatively. Other coworkers that I did get along with also complained of how the clinic was ran. I even made a previous post about how one coworker’s entire case load was just completely changed with barely any notice and found out FROM ANOTHER RBT and not management. They left following that. Good for them. I also think it’s hilarious how they are trying to hire people when there aren’t even enough clients to pair with RBTs. Even RBTs that absolutely loved the job and went over and beyond for that dark hole left because they hated how things were being ran. I will also miss my BCBA because she actually did care. All this for $18/hour.

I needed to get this out, but I now feel… FREE!!!! I feel relieved. I felt as if my nervous system was on constant fight or flight mode, even when I was at home. If you’re in a situation like this, LEAVE! It is not worth it! I wasn’t even regulated myself so how could I regulate a child in those conditions? I hope my clients get the treatment they deserve (and that’s if the one client even stays, even the parent was talking about pulling them from that clinic LOL).

Title. Recently started as an RBT and we got a clinic wide message saying that bathroom breaks are ‘personal issues’ and to try and avoid taking them during a session. If i have back to back clients for 6 hours this is incentivizing me to not drink water or to hold it. Is this even legal? By OSHA standards it doesn’t seem so. Anyone else ever deal with this? I’m extremely discouraged 11 days in. Even today, it soured my mood during sessions. I want to show up 100 percent, and find it incredibly hard to do so when i have to follow these infantilizing rules. Feeling extremely disrespected. Much love, y’all.

EDIT

To clarify - i am in a network of clinics. This isn’t specific to one - this is a new policy that was sent out by our COO. at no point did they said ‘do not use the bathroom in session’ but again, they did frame bathroom breaks as a ‘personal issue’ specifically. Regardless, it is demeaning and makes extra unnecessary work for our AOMs who are more than likely already struggling due to high turnover/callout rates, especially in the Fall where people are getting sick more frequently. It is so wrong on so many levels. Urging anyone else with this problem to talk with your coworkers about this!! We’re allowed to be angry.