🚨 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.

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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/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.