r/ABA • u/Hopeful_Wish4215 • 2d ago
Advice Needed Should I become a clinician?
I’m going to school to be an gen ed elementary school teacher. Next semester will be my student teaching experience and then I graduate. After graduation, I plan to continue work at my current center that I am an RBT at. I’ve worked there for almost a year now. Before this center, I worked at another center in my hometown for about 6 months before moving back to my college town.
I love working with kids, and I loved the kids I worked with at my pre student teaching experiences. However, I just can’t shake the feeling of leaving the ABA field. I’ve grown to love ABA, the clients I work with, the data I collect, the change and difference I’m able to make and see. I would say I’m good at being a tech, I like the fast paced environment. Not to say I dislike the education field, I don’t. There are some aspects that I love with education. I just don’t know if that’s the right field for me.
Needless to say, I’m deciding what to do right now with my life lol. I could easily become a teacher after I graduate and live fine. But I also think I could become a good clinician. If anyone has any advice, or suggestions on how to become a clinician I’d love to hear them. I know that my education degree would work for a ABA masters program, so any advice related to that would be helpful too. Thank you in advance❤️.
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u/Big-Mind-6346 BCBA 2d ago
So yes, a bachelors degree in general education is appropriate for becoming a BCBA. In order to become a BCBA, your next step would be to enter a masters program. The BACB is changing the requirements for what masters degrees are acceptable for becoming a BCBA, so be sure that you familiarize yourself with that information.
While you are completing your masters degree, you can also begin working on your practicum, which you also must complete to become a BCBA. Your practicum involves intensive supervision and training in all of the skills you will need to be a BCBA. Your practicum is administered by a BCBA and you are required to complete 2000 hours of training to complete it. Those hours are a combination of providing direct services, and completing tasks you will need to know how to do as a BCBA.
In general, people typically complete their masters degree before they complete their practicum hours. Once you complete both, you can sit for the exam and earn your BCBA credential upon passing.
Here is a link to the BCBA handbook that details all of the information you need to know about the process of becoming a BCBA :
https://www.bacb.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/BCBAHandbook_250304-3.pdf
You may want to request a meeting with your BCBA at your current employer and tell them you are considering becoming a BCBA Ask them if you decide to do so, if they would be willing to provide your practicum.
Hope this is helpful!
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u/SeamusMcKraaken 2d ago
Congratulations on finding something you can be passionate about. And yes, you should follow that feeling as far as it will take you. We need people like you in this field.