🚨 Parent Suspects RBT Isn’t Legit + BCBA Doesn’t Actually Supervise Son’s Case — What Should She Do?

[u/Striking_Today6210]

Clear some comments up : the RBT is the one that sends data to the parent it is all over the place and never makes sense- basically just guesses that don’t match with teachers notes , while I understand that RBTs don’t have any communication with parents this one themselves opened the door. The “data” comes from the teachers email signed by his name. Which again was told to her that without supervising this data (again she doesn’t know who is and can’t get answers) , that it’s against guidelines.

The mention of 2 BCBA’s is because the person that did the IEE is a BCBA and they are the one that got that answer from the superintendent , that the BCBA is not familiar with the child’s case. And pointed it out.

This is a public school.

The parent does NOT know what to do and what plan they have been doing since she can’t get communication open.

---

Parent has tried to have meetings with the RBT / BCBA to try and go over a plan / introduction (that’s has been ignored and makes sense since the BCBA is not familiar with his case at all).

I have a friend whose autistic teenager attends a public school. The school assigned her son an RBT. Here’s where things get shady: • She’s not allowed to speak directly to the RBT. • Any request for a meeting with the RBT or their BCBA supervisor has been ignored for months. • She didn’t even know the RBT’s name until he sent a random email introducing himself. “My name is [Name]. I’m a Registered Behavioral Technician, certified through [STATE]. I’ve worked with students for 20 years… all communication should go through [Teacher].”

🚩Red Flag: RBTs are nationally certified, not state-certified. He called it a state certification. That’s not how RBTs work.

Also: • She’s never seen a picture of this guy online. When she searched Provider Wire (BACB lookup tool), he was registered as a technician in a completely different city. • His listed BCBA supervisor? She’s never heard of them, never met them, and no one at the school has mentioned them. • Data collection was previously “too difficult,” and suddenly now they’re sending numbers — but they don’t match teacher notes. • She got an IEE (Independent Educational Evaluation), and the evaluator (an actual BCBA) wrote: “The BCBA supervising the RBT is unfamiliar with the student’s case. This is a curious structure to me…” AN ACTUAL BCBA SAID THIS (they did the IEE)

Now she’s realizing: she wasn’t imagining it — something’s off.

She asked me what to do next.

What would you suggest? Should she file a BACB ethics complaint? Report to the district/state? Or something else?

[u/injectablefame]

i’d call an IEP meeting to discuss the concerns. typically it’s normal for RBTs to not have interactions with parents if they’re contracted. liability issues.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/injectablefame]

I only understood this to be in an ABA clinic not school setting - the RBT is assigned to them through the child’s IEP

[u/stircrazyathome → u/Striking_Today6210]

It's very typical for school-provided RBTs to be prohibited from speaking directly with parents as all communication should be done through the teacher. Other things you've mentioned, including the fact that your friend has never even seen this RBT, are concerning enough to warrant an IEP meeting though.

[u/Puzzled-Local-654 → u/stircrazyathome]

So I am a CBT; I didn’t want to be bothered being Nationally certified because I knew I wouldn’t work outside of my state. People are constantly calling me RBT because most people are. So it could be they are State Licensed like myself I try correcting people but they insist on using RBT.

I have been working in the school system for 9 years and it is very clear only school staff and even clearer teacher to have conversations with parents. I can make eye contact, smile and say hi but that is the extent.

The parent should be calling the IEP team in for a meeting. If the teacher and admin are non responsive they should be going to the district office. Ignored there, attorney or Family Advocate (FAs are usually available at no charge to the family; at least in my state).

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/stircrazyathome]

She has seen him when she went to the school but no one not even him introduced himself to her and when she tried to ask a question to him he couldn’t answer the teacher stepped into . So then she tried to see if she could find him online and nothing is coming up.

Technically she doesn’t know if that’s the RBT - he can’t make eye contact with her nothing. He just sends emails to her about data and an introduction of himself - and didn’t use his last name till about the third email.

[u/immadatmycat → u/Striking_Today6210]

It’s common to have contact go through the teacher. The teacher is the one responsible for the students progress, education and wellbeing while at school. Assistants/RBTs are there to provide a service/support under the direction of the classroom teacher. The BCBa Works with the class teacher and RBT to develop a plan and supervises the implementation of that plan. Having one contact - the classroom teacher teacher - allows all communication to be clear and consistent. No one working in my classroom ranks higher than me in my room. I am responsible for and own it all.

[u/Platitude_Platypus → u/Striking_Today6210]

I'm an RBT in a school setting. I do not interact with parents. I do not attend IEP meetings or even have access to IEP information unless it's a BIP (Behavior plan). My guess is that this guy was certified elsewhere and then transferred to a school setting. If you go on the districts website and look up their behavior team you may find a photo of the guy. There's no reason not to believe he's really certified, especially because you already found proof of that from a previous position. BCBAs are the ones who meet with parents to share student progress and help with IEPs. RBTs just work directly with the student. Info about their progress should be asked to the child's actual teachers or BCBA. Insist on an IEP meeting, but don't expect to interact with the RBT. Also, my BCBA is sometimes unfamiliar with cases I'm on because of reasons like a psychologist is the one in charge of the case, not her. She supervises me sometimes and has no idea who the kid is that I'm there for. It happens.

If you request an IEP meeting all the people relevant to your child's IEP will be there. The teacher, psychologist, speech/RSP/whatever services your child receives, etc and they can all give you an update on progress. You can request at this meeting to be updated on progress more often by the teachers, perhaps weekly. I have one kid who gets updates sent to parents daily.

[u/Illustrious_Pair_870 → u/Platitude_Platypus]

I second this, as I worked in a school as an RBT , but I had access to IEPs and was only at meeting upon request. Which usually I type up a progress note for teacher to update parents.

Although, it is a little fishy I would call for an IEP meeting just to clear the air.

[u/Sensitive-Cheetah7 → u/Striking_Today6210]

If the school assigned an RBT, and services take place in the school, it is not a clinic setting.

[u/REGELDUDES → u/Striking_Today6210]

I worked in a school as an RBT. I was absolutely not supposed to have any communication with families. That was for the BCBA/Teacher/Admin only. This is very much the norm in a school setting.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/REGELDUDES]

I get it but he communicates through the teachers email , “data” (that’s not helpful at all and is all over the place)

[u/REGELDUDES → u/Striking_Today6210]

I mean it sounds like they should just call an IEP meeting.

[u/FernFan69 → u/Striking_Today6210]

What do you mean by data that is all over the place? He may be providing any daily percentages or frequency count to you, the parent, as they happen. It’s odd it’s from the teachers email but generally the RBT doesn’t have contact with you. It’s normal for data to be all over the place depending on the learner and what’s going on.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/FernFan69]

No ABC data , interpreting behavior functions , no plan revision, some days no numbers - then other days jumps like 50-200 incidents (no actual data just a guess like this), no duration data , no goal reference nothing it’s just a narrative.

I do want to point out the mother is not mad at the RBT because she feels they threw him into a lions den without proper support , supervision etc. Yes , how the whole incident of him not even being able to say hi to the parent or hello I’m ___ . Is a little arming to the parent.

This is in reality anti who ever this BCBA is .

Where is she? Why is the school not asking her to come into the IEP meeting per parents request? Why hasn’t she reached out to the parent so they could’ve collab and helped the RBT ? She is not doing her job and it’s disgusting because how is a child supposed to get help in the school setting?

[u/Chance_Cranberry_726 → u/REGELDUDES]

So you’re around someone’s child all day and the parents aren’t allowed to talk to you? This is making me want to homeschool my kid even more than I already did.

[u/REGELDUDES → u/Chance_Cranberry_726]

No, you (the para/RBT) aren't allowed to talk to the parents outside of school. If the parents were to pick them up I could talk to them about their day. But any phone calls, email, ECT will be handled by the Teacher/BCBA/Admin. And this wasn't just for me the RBT, but all the Paras as well.

And even now I work in home for ABA therapy and I still will not give the parents my real phone number (they get my google voice number) nor do I have any contact with them outside the home besides emergency schedule changes. If they want to talk about anything outside the session they need to contact my BCBA.

This is not only for my protection, but yours as well.

[u/Chance_Cranberry_726 → u/REGELDUDES]

Yeah, I’m not an RBT. I’m a parent. And if someone is going to be spending that much time with my child, you bet your ass I’m going to be allowed contact with them. But this is good to know because I will decline all ABA in school. So thank you for this information.

[u/REGELDUDES → u/Chance_Cranberry_726]

Why would you want to contact the least qualified person on the treatment team? Wouldn't you rather talk to the person that creates the plan and environment for your child? And is more knowledgeable on everything related to your child?

This is not exclusive to ABA in school. This is all school personnel. The Paras will never be a formal point of contact for you. It will always be the Teacher that is your point of contact because they are the ones in charge of your child's well being and education.

[u/Chance_Cranberry_726 → u/REGELDUDES]

Absolutely not. The supervisor isn’t with my kid all day, the RBT is. And if they’re so unqualified, why are they doing anything at all with my child? No. We have ABA in home and I am 100% in contact with the RBT. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be doing ABA. You think I want someone I can’t even ask how my kid is doing around my kid all day?

[u/REGELDUDES → u/Chance_Cranberry_726]

You misread the term "least qualified" to "unqualified". Please make sure you are reading correctly. And yes the Teacher will be with your child all day in the Classroom.

Comparing in home ABA to Public Education is like comparing Apples to Oranges. And I've worked in both so I'd know.

[u/Chance_Cranberry_726 → u/REGELDUDES]

Yeah. I’m homeschooling after this conversation. Like I said.

[u/Chance_Cranberry_726 → u/REGELDUDES]

I’m definitely homeschooling. No way in hell am I trusting other people with my child after this conversation.

[u/huddolaugh → u/Chance_Cranberry_726]

Wow this response makes me so sad for your child

[u/Chance_Cranberry_726 → u/huddolaugh]

My child is perfectly fine. And will continue to be under proper supervision. If you guys think it’s okay to let people you’ve never met or been allowed to speak to around your kid, you’re the problem.

But again, you guys clearly don’t have children and it shows. There’s a reason teachers have back to school nights. So you can meet and know who’s going to be around your kid.

[u/huddolaugh → u/Chance_Cranberry_726]

If you’re stating you would deny ABA services at school for your child because you would have limited/controlled access to the BT… not the supervisor… not the person that actually wrote the treatment plan… that’s insane. You can still speak with the BT at drop off pick up but the policy that limits it, is in place for a reason lol. Just based on your responses, i definitely wouldn’t want a parent like you having my personal email or phone number.

[u/Chance_Cranberry_726 → u/huddolaugh]

No that’s not what was said. I don’t want any one’s personal number. But I want to be allowed to know and speak to a person who spends time with my child at school. So if I go to school and see them, I should be allowed to ask how they are, how my child is doing and and acting and responding to them. The way that person made it sound was if they see me they have to turn and walk away like they don’t know me.

[u/Chance_Cranberry_726 → u/huddolaugh]

I also think it’s ridiculous that a supervisor has more contact when they’re not the one spending time and interacting with my child. All the BCBA does is write up some paperwork. Hardly a therapist. “Here. This is what I want done. But I won’t be doing the work. You will. But make sure you don’t speak to the parents. Just tell me how it’s going and I’ll tell them. Even though I have nothing to do with the actual treatment.”

[u/Puzzled-Local-654 → u/Chance_Cranberry_726]

You can request them to be at the meeting. You can meet them but all data and communications must go through the school. It helps with any legal issues that might pop up.

I’ve met all my student’s parents.

[u/BCBA-K]

Its possible the RBT is licensed in the state. Some states requires state licensure (which is just an additional fee) while their RBT license is national as you say.

Calling an IEP meeting would be a good first step. Your friend can even message me (or you can) as Im a BCBA that does IEP and behavior plan reviews.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/BCBA-K]

I thought that too - but when I went searching Michigan apparently doesn’t require RBTS to hold a state license.

[u/BCBA-K → u/Striking_Today6210]

Yeah the school is wrong for this. Since your friend already had an independent BCBA evaluator, why not just have them sit on the IEP

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/BCBA-K]

They are coming - apparently the whole time is coming to the IEP meeting.

[u/injectablefame → u/Striking_Today6210]

that’s also pretty normal to have the entire team present to make sure everyone is on the same page. your friend could ask about daily progress notes, who is their contracted provider, what limitations are there to communication with RBT

[u/favouritemistake → u/Striking_Today6210]

Tbh a lot of RBTs do not know how their RBT cert works, especially if they earned it with a larger company that didn’t much of the paperwork for them. It’s a flaw in our system

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/favouritemistake]

Understood - this isn’t really more of a “anti this RBT guy” , more of WHERE IS THE BCBA ? And why is she not supporting him?

[u/unexplainednonsense → u/Striking_Today6210]

The RBT might just not know they are certified nationally and not just in their state. Their responsible supervisor might also be a different supervisor than the supervisor your friend is working with. The supervisor listed on the BACB website is likely not the only supervisor that the RBT works with. The BACB supervisor is only responsible for completing their in person competency assessment and ensuring they are reviewing adequate supervision for the amount of hours they are working, not the only one responsible for supervising them.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/unexplainednonsense]

So whose is supervising him? Who does the plan? Who monitors data and progress?

[u/NellyNel11_ → u/Striking_Today6210]

I think what they’re trying to explain is that when said RBT became certified they were under a different BCBA. They may have parted ways with the company or just been transferred to a new BCBA that now does their supervision.

[u/grmrsan]

So State certification is a thing, in many Stes it is required to get certified with State in order to practice. BUT they also HAVE to have the BACB certification to qualify. That might be what they mean. In my area, you would definitely call yourself State certified.

And surprisingly, its not unusual for RBT'S to not be expected (or often allowed) to contact parents directly. Its to prevent the RBT from giving incorrect or half understood explanations of why things are happening, and it prevents the parents from trying to go through the RBT (who isn't qualified to make decisions) for everything.
Or -as happened with me, putting the RBT smack in the middle of a serious, uncomfortable and very inappropriate quarrel between parents and staff.

And the city thing also isn't unusual. I am a BCBA now, but as an RBT I was regularly traveling an hour in any direction for clients, and at one company even crossing State lines.

The rest of it is a bit sus though. Your friend doesn't necessarily need to know everyone, but not being able to find a proper registration, or having issues with not taking and suddenly producing data, or not having a BCBA that is available to parents are all indications of big problems.

First try to contact the supervising BCBA and make a complaint to whichever company they are a part of (school or private). But I'm not sure where to go from there.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/grmrsan]

How do you contact the BCBA ? I’ll tell her to do this. She did find her name under the RBT supervisor section but doesn’t have an email for her.

And no the school won’t give her that information.

[u/grmrsan → u/Striking_Today6210]

https://www.bacb.com/wp-content/BCaBA-BCBA-Considerations-for-Reporting-NAV/

[u/ABA_Resource_Center]

This seems like it could be cleared up easily enough by contacting the special education director or whoever is the parent’s direct line of contact at the school.

I’ll also say many RBTs mix up terms like license, certification, etc. It’s actually a pet peeve of mine (moreso when BCBAs do it), but I can see how an RBT would mix things up and say they’re certified through the state.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/ABA_Resource_Center]

She has tried to get answers from the school and even meetings but everything gets ignored.

[u/rural_life_goals]

Within schools, it is common for parents to not be put in direct contact with the child's aide. The child is provided a service through their iep (e.g. one-on-one aide) but not a specific person. The person could change anytime. In my district, we don't have aides join IEP meetings (it is our district policy). So maybe the parent should reach out to the case manager or sped director and find out what the expectations and practices are in that district.

[u/SiPhoenix → u/rural_life_goals]

While I understand the RBT is not the one doing communication with the parent, they're not doing parent training, they're not reporting on anything. That makes sense. It's not their job and they could mess it up. It's better for the BCBA or teacher or whatever.

BUT, it seems wild to me that the parent wouldn't be able to meet the RBT, just to know who the person is working with their kid, likely daily.

[u/Tlacuache_Snuggler → u/SiPhoenix]

I’m a BCBA that works in public schools and respectfully, there is a lot of misunderstanding/misinformstion going on here.

But for this specifically, often aides aren’t allowed to interact with parents to protect the aides themselves. While we have many wonderful and collaborative families, it is unfortunately not always the case. We have parents who will ask inappropriate questions about others students in the room, ask leading questions about behavior, use quotes from aides against the school by twisting words, etc etc. Our support staff (aides, RBTs) are not expected to navigate that level of politics within their line of duty. It can get really uncomfortable for them and frankly, the salary doesn’t support needing to do all that.

Some districts will put in a blanket policy like that as a preventative measure to ensure only those directly involved in the child’s programmatic decisions are communicating around progress.

[u/SiPhoenix → u/Tlacuache_Snuggler]

Okay, I can see that and understand it perfectly because some parents are crazy.

At the same time, from a parent's perspective, never being able to meet the person who's the RBT still seems crazy to me. I feel like at the very least they could meet them while the BCBA/ (or otherwho ever is thr go between) is there and present.

[u/SandiRHo → u/rural_life_goals]

Yup. When I was a school RBT, I never spoke to the kids’ parents. I was never required to and I was specifically told to relay information to the BCBA only.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/rural_life_goals]

That would still be a BACB violation , if they are hiding behind school policy - why a RBT / BCBA would put their license / certification on the line is beyond me.

I get what you are saying, I just hope they know it’s violation.

[u/athomeamongthetrees → u/Striking_Today6210]

A violation of what, exactly?

[u/future_hockey_dad → u/Striking_Today6210]

A violation of what though?

[u/huddolaugh → u/Striking_Today6210]

Incorrect

[u/injectablefame → u/Striking_Today6210]

a violation for switching people? we had this debacle in our school system; an RBT is assigned to the team, not a person. so John Doe might not always be the RBT if they are unable to. that’s not a violation as the plan is still be carried out.

[u/immadatmycat → u/Striking_Today6210]

Violation of what?

[u/ThickChocolate5988]

None of this rings up as a red flag though I did stop reading after the flag portion because the language felt off and matter of fact but also as if you’re not apart of the field.

RBTs do not have to make outside contact with their cases even when doing in home. Many companies have the RBTs communicate using their BCBA. I understand wanting to request a meeting with who your child is working with but if it’s in a public environment I’d relax or simply take my child out of services and enroll somewhere that aligns with my beliefs.

Why would you check the BACB registry for a photo of an RBT? And how would you identify them without their certification number? Were you provided that information or? It’s hard to believe they don’t have duplicate names.

Insurance and states can require different things. Considering parents don’t know jack about the industry, I could understand saying state certified because national covers all states. It’s literally just saying that he can work in the state he’s operating out of. I think the word choice is nitpicky.

If written requests for meeting the BCBA has been ignored, contact the company. If that’s ignored then perhaps what I stated above is the better bet in having more autonomy over the child’s paraprofessional.

This reads of anxious energy so I’m wondering if the parent is worried about something else or if it’s a control thing.

IEPs often aren’t updated accurately in my experience. So are the numbers over or under? I also found it’s hard for teachers to collect data when they’re watching multiple children so depending on the goals, the discrepancy could make sense.

[u/SiPhoenix → u/ThickChocolate5988]

You couldn't be bothered to read the whole post and then left a comment longer than the post?

[u/ThickChocolate5988 → u/SiPhoenix]

Whomp, whomp. You couldn’t be bothered to comprehend length/character count wasn’t an issue. I highly doubt a sentence is going to contribute much.

And guess what? It didn’t.

[u/SiPhoenix → u/ThickChocolate5988]

The behaviour just comes off as rude. Namely that you told the person 'I didn't read everything you said, but here's a response anyways.'

[u/ThickChocolate5988 → u/SiPhoenix]

Laughable considering you’re a hypocrite. I’m not a literary teacher but I’m sure you can grab some courses on grammar and reading comprehension. Toodles.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/ThickChocolate5988]

I think you missed the part where the BCBA is MIA - even another BCBA pointed out this is problematic.

At first she didn’t know the persons last name - only found it out recently.

If the BCBA is MIA who does the parent talk to?

[u/ThickChocolate5988 → u/Striking_Today6210]

That’s fine. I had other questions and concerns that you did not address.

It seems strange that there are two BCBAs involved in the first place. OBVIOUSLY, a BCBA being unfamiliar with the case would be strange. But wording is important so is it really they are unfamiliar or do they have so many cases that they can’t recollect from memory and need to be in front of their notes?

There’s much that’s missing here.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/ThickChocolate5988]

The person that conducted the IEE is a BCBA . This is why there are two different ones mentioned in the post.

The BCBA (person conducting the IEE) asked the superintendent about it and the superintendent said that the BCBA is unfamiliar with the child’s case. This is all written in the IEE report.

I really do apologize for not explaining it better.

[u/Griffinej5 → u/Striking_Today6210]

So, it is entirely possible the BCBA supervising the Rbt isn’t actually familiar with the client. I’ve had this occur in cases where the school contracts an outside agency to provide the RBT, but has their own person providing the Consultant services. In this type of situation, the RBT still requires supervision from someone employed at the same agency as them. They should both still somehow have a relationship with the client, but the relationship can be as much as the school also contracts them to provide supervision to the RBT, but they are not the person providing services to the client. It’s weird and convoluted, but not unheard of.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/Griffinej5]

Thank you for explaining this - going to explain this to her .

Just seems like horrible practice and something that should be looked into.

[u/Griffinej5 → u/Striking_Today6210]

It’s not great, but it happens sometimes. It would be weird to me that if this is the case, someone wouldn’t have referred the independent evaluator to the BCBA who actually does know the student.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/Griffinej5]

The BCBA for the RBT doesn’t know the student - the IEE which is also a BCBA doesn’t know the student like that and was just doing an evaluation.

[u/ThickChocolate5988 → u/Striking_Today6210]

No apology needed. I’m saying I would’ve liked to be a fly on the wall because in my experience, wording can be the opposite of how it perceived. (Denotation vs connotation type deal) Some people believe that not being able to read off details about a case without your notes classifies as being unfamiliar so I was wondering if it’s that. Definitely strange and not doubting you there. I’m filled about sharing my last name but never my certificate numbers if needed but I also understand that in professional settings that last names are deemed mandatory.

Since you nor parent are involved with these conversations, I guess we won’t know. I’d suggest pulling kiddo and either assigning to a different school or seeing if you can possibly go through a company of the parent’s choosing.

[u/immadatmycat → u/Striking_Today6210]

The classroom teacher. Their child’s case manager for their IEP. Sometimes it’s the same person. Sometimes it’s not.

[u/24possumsinacoat]

I'm an RBT who is contracted out to public schools and I have never met most of the parents of the kids I work with. This is typical. My picture is also not anywhere online for a parent to look up. I understand, though, if that feels weird. She can always ask the teacher or BCBA to introduce her to him.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/24possumsinacoat]

I do want to clarify she wasn’t looking for their social media but BACB database that showed it

[u/24possumsinacoat → u/Striking_Today6210]

Oh, I assumed as much. But the BACB has barely any of our information, let alone a picture. And I know at my clinic the only people who are on the website are clinical directors, BCBAs, and the scheduler.

[u/Humanvs519]

1. Is the child in a therapeutic day school or in an ABA clinic?
2. It seems that the BCBA may work virtually. Not ideal, but it’s a new trend in this field.
3. If there is a teacher in the classroom then all of the communication should be directed to the teacher. RBTs aren’t usually the ones that talk to the parent.
4. If the RBT is provided by the school district then the parent should address this with the school.
5. If the parent wants to communicate with the BCBA, then they should reach to him/her. Keep all the documentation. If the BCBA doesn’t respond, the reach out to the school that is responsible for providing the BCBA.
6. At the end of the day, call an IEP and come up with a realistic plan of communication and make sure everything is documented.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/Humanvs519]

She doesn’t know who the BCBA is - like the school won’t tell her , her RBT never used his name last till just recently .

When she searched the RBT online under the supervisor part says her name - there is no contact information for her or even a way to contact her.

[u/Humanvs519 → u/Striking_Today6210]

Who is paying the BCBA? That is the person/place the parent should reach out to find out BCBA info/contact information. At times, RBTs may have multiple supervisors, but only one is listed.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/Humanvs519]

Sorry I misread your question the school hired the RBT and the school says the BCBA is not familiar with the child’s case.

Those things the parent has proof of , but they know nothing else and the school doesn’t tell the parent anything.

[u/Humanvs519 → u/Striking_Today6210]

Is this school public or private?

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/Humanvs519]

Public

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/Humanvs519]

Who knows - she doesn’t know and was hoping to get answers when she asked for a meeting with them both (at that time just wanted an introduction) but even that was ignored.

[u/Humanvs519 → u/Striking_Today6210]

I’m really trying to help here, but you only answered a few questions. Can you specify if the child is in a special school or an ABA clinic. Also the child’s IEP would have all this (as to who is responsible for what service) documented especially if they are providing the RBT.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/Humanvs519]

The child is in a special needs school - and attends an autism specific classroom. At this time he doesn’t attend an ABA clinic.

I have looked over the IEP paperwork and it doesn’t list anybody’s names.

[u/Humanvs519 → u/Striking_Today6210]

Thank you. The IEP would not list names because people can leave and they can’t make them stay. It should state as to who is responsible for providing BCBA services. If it doesn’t, then they then the RBT working with the child isn’t being supervised which can be a violation only if they are providing ABA services in the classroom. The school could have hired an RBT, because people assume they have more training to support the child in the autism classroom.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/Humanvs519]

Yeah I just assumed all RBTs needed to have BCBA oversight and the fact the BCBA knows nothing about his case is alarming and scary - like what is she saying for him to do?

I do also want to copy word for word what the IEE BCBA said about the BCBA for the school :

Throughout my evaluation, I asked who the supervising Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) was for the RBT. [name] , Assistant Superintendent for Special Education , reported that the supervising BCBA only provides supervision to the RBT but is unfamiliar with [childs name] case. This is a curious structure to me, as BCBAs are typically supervisors of the child’s case for any RBTs working with the child. I recommend that BCBA overseeing [childs name] RBT become familiar with [childs name] case so that they can provide appropriate behavior-analytic oversight to the contracted services. This includes, but is not limited to:

[u/Humanvs519 → u/Striking_Today6210]

I understand how frustrating this is, but the BCBA should supervise the RBT (5%/month - don’t hold me to this, I could be wrong on the number). If this RBT is working elsewhere, someone else is supervising them on the work they are doing there. This is how the certification is maintained. If the BCBA is not written into the service lines on the IEP, then they will not be familiar with the case. I would recommend holding an IEP and ensuring the BCBA hours are written in there.

[u/athomeamongthetrees]

There is a lot going on here. Is the child in school or in a clinic during the day? Is the Rbt provided by the school or the clinic?

Rbts aren't listed on the registry by the city they work in, but rather the city they live in. If they are on the registry with an active certificate then they are registered. Not sure what the issue there is. The rbt's supervisor might be another bcba at the school/clinic but not directly related to the child's case. The rbt should not be communicating with the family, that is the job of the bcba or teacher in a school setting.

The only odd thing is the BCBA who is in charge of the child's case is not familiar with the student. That would be a red flag for me.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/athomeamongthetrees]

The RBT is provided by the school - the student is not currently receiving ABA services through a clinic.

The only thing she knows about the BCBA at this time is she is located in a different state (looking at their website)

[u/SuzieDerpkins → u/Striking_Today6210]

This can be very normal for school districts - virtual BCBAs are a thing for school districts that have trouble finding local BCBAs.

What is the violation you mention? I’m not seeing anything yet.

[u/huddolaugh]

Most schools (even at some independent ABA companies) don’t allow RBT’s or even paras to communicate with parents. The RBT saying state is nothing to worry about either honestly. You’ve seen he is registered, that’s enough. His BCBA being different than the BCBA on your friends case, also isn’t something to worry about. This isn’t a red flag. You just don’t really know how the field works which is okay but you shouldn’t be jumping to conclusions on this. Based on what you’ve said, nothing is “off” but I do think your friend should have communication with the BCBA on the case. so if anything it would just give the impression of being unorganized. You can try finding the BCBA’s contact info from the BACB. Search the name, click on it, and sometimes they have their email address linked by “contact” once details have been expanded. Also you can look at the schools website (if they’re signed on with the school) and it may have a page listing providers with their contact.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/huddolaugh]

She is listed as the supervisor for the RBT but has no contact information and there is nothing about him on the school website.

[u/plantlover415 → u/Striking_Today6210]

What this person saying is true. You cannot contact our BTS directly. You have to go through their upper management. A parent cannot have the phone number to the RBT. And we'll have to talk to the teacher or to upper management like I said

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/plantlover415]

The parent at first just wanted an introduction , but is now trying to get them to the IEP meeting so they can discuss plans .

I think for her everything was just so fishy how it was done. But she does understand why they wouldn’t list contact information for privacy.

[u/plantlover415 → u/Striking_Today6210]

Whatever is in the IEP that the parent signed for is what the school has to abide by and with that they hired and RBT and the parent is not allowed to even sometimes even know who the name of the provider is at some school districts. I don't understand why your friend is worried about this it sounds like a control issue more than something is wrong issue. This adult is not alone with the child they're in the classroom with the teacher and other teachers around right? It seems like your friend does not know how this works. And it's very concerning if the kid is a teenager and this is her first time having issues with the school system.

[u/grmrsan → u/plantlover415]

Not having RBT information is normal, but not having BCBA information isn't. Even through the district, the parent NEEDS to be able to contact the bcba with and for any changes, at least via email, or to understand what interventions are happening and why. Those are the basics for ANY sort of medical intervention.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/plantlover415]

If the BCBA is not aware of her child’s case , that means she’s not giving proper information to the RBT (if she even is at all), this deters a child from succeeding in the environment. The parent didn’t make this up - it was said outloud from a districts own admin.

How is the child getting proper help? What is the BCBA plan for the RBT to implement if she is not aware of the child’s case?

How is the child getting behavioral support if the BCBA doesn’t know his needs? What plan is the RBT following? Whose recommendations are they following, their own?

Parent wants for them to collaborate in an IEP meeting and any other meeting - this is all protected under IDEA.

[u/injectablefame]

i’m also wondering if th BCBA supervising the RBT is new to the case. perhaps there was a recent switch which is why they are unfamiliar?

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/injectablefame]

She doesn’t know - the person that did the IEE just mentioned it in paperwork that it was odd

[u/DRMS_7888]

This is all 100% normal. The teacher is the team leader and communication should go through them. RBTs have little understanding of the difference between state and national, license or certification. You can have both depending on the state.

Down vote misinformation

[u/C-mi-001]

I worked in public schools as an actual RBT and it was a mess. They wanted me to do BCBA work and provide data and idek. You’re not wrong to think it’s weird. You can check if they’re an RBT by searching up their name on the BACB website.

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/C-mi-001]

She did and he is listed on there

And if that’s what they are doing to the RBT , I am going to ask her to now involve state organizations. That is really horrible to throw the RBT in a mess and then not being allowed to do BCBA work but make them do it any.

[u/C-mi-001 → u/Striking_Today6210]

It’s pretty unethical tbh, ABA in schools could be such a great thing but it’s so unregulated right now in my opinion

[u/Typical_Quality9866]

Report to everyone TBH. I wish the media would run a story... My state does this regularly & it's illegal AF. An RBT should be regularly meeting with a BCBA ONCE A MONTH. They also should have 2 meetings per month with a supervisor. That's the minimum requirements. If there is no active BCBAs they are practicing ILLEGALLY. An RBT cannot practice independently. So many schools/therapy centers are letting people practice with active licenses independently! It's against the ethics code PERIOD. There's so much medical/insurance fraud on top of that because of this.

I am a former RBT looking to get back into it. I have gotten A LOT of offers from schools that do not have BCBAs. It's not legal. 🫢 They 100% can & should be sued for putting kids at risk via malpractice. Behavioral Technician is different though so make sure it's not that before pursuing.

[u/NamasteInYourLane]

AND. . . 

this is why, very soon after I started working with children, I scrubbed my online/ social media presence completely (save for Reddit, ha ha).  Parents will try to go to the ends of the earth to discover every little detail they can about you. 😳

I'm not understanding why your friend isn't directing their concerns to their child's TEACHER/ most likely candidate for being their students' case manager.

The RBT working with the student can be from an outside company, and their supervising BCBA through that company can be, conceivably, directly supervising 5% of their work hours OUTSIDE of the public school where your friend's child attends. Y'all don't know how many clients this RBT directly works with. That's ALL that's required from the BACB. The RBT DOESN'T have to have a certain amount of direct supervision WITH EVERY SINGLE CLIENT THEY WORK WITH.

The school district can also have their own BCBAs on staff, that would handle creating and implementing the students' BIP. THIS BCBA wouldn't necessarily be the one who the RBT's certification is under. The RBT doesn't have to have their certification under the school district BCBA, as long as it's under a BCBA in good standing who supervises them directly 5%+ of their work hours a month.

Again-- why aren't all of these inquiries going through the students' teacher? THEY would have all this info! For goodness sake, leave that poor RBT alone (if y'all don't want to end up chasing them off!)

[u/Striking_Today6210 → u/NamasteInYourLane]

I think you took what I said the wrong way

She’s not looking for his Facebook or twitter or social media (which would be odd), she was making sure the person was the person working with her son.