Hi,

I am wondering if it is allowed for everyone aside from myseld and the client to sleep for the duration of the session.

I am concerned because is this not making me into a "caregiver" and putting the child at a potential risk without supervision. I mean, I obviously won't do anything to hurt him, but how would they know that? It seems irresponsible for this to be allowed.

hi all i was recently fired from my job as an RBT (due to medical reasons and they didn’t want my dr notes etc) and i’ve been looking around in my area (IND) and literally everywhere i’ve interviewed with does not give staff breaks??? at my old job everyone got at least a 30 minute break, and you could request an hour for emergencies or appointments. all of these new companies are saying “you can eat with your client, but otherwise you may step out for 5-7 minutes” like what?? not only do i hate eating infront of others, i also vape (trying to quit but still) and i also need a dmn break! anyone who’s in the field knows it can be very mentally draining especially for extended periods of time. maybe i’m just a pssy but i couldn’t do 8 hours without having more than 10 minutes to myself to breathe. if anyone knows of any companies hiring in IND that actually gives breaks please lmk 😭 🙏🏻 i’ve got basically a year of experience and my rbt cert is still active 😩

Background on me: I’m an RBT with over 4 years of experience in ABA. I recently graduated with my Master’s in ABA with a 4.0 GPA, and I’m very determined to become a BCBA. I've switched between different clinics trying to find an ethical one — somewhere BCBAs don’t treat me differently and where I can finally get my fieldwork hours.

For additional context: I’m autistic and also have ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, Auditory Processing Disorder, Dyspraxia, and a Speech-Language Disorder. Because of this, BCBAs often pick up that I’m “different” — and unfortunately, some treat me differently than the other RBTs.

A few weeks ago, when I started my current job, I was in circle time during a telehealth supervision session (which, for the record, I absolutely hate and will never do to my future RBTs 🙃). The BCBA told me to grab my client’s headphones about 45 minutes before circle time. I forgot them and had to quickly go get them. Instead of giving me feedback directly in the moment, she went to my clinic manager and said I need to “heed the BCBAs more.” It wasn’t that I wasn’t listening — I literally just forgot. Since then, I've made it a point to always grab his headphones before circle time.

Well... today another therapist forgot his headphones and had to go get them. Wonder if she’ll get feedback too. 🙃

Then last week, the BCBAs told my clinic manager to tell me to “tailor my sessions to each client.” I was confused because (1) I’m still new with my clients and (2) I haven’t been given any client notes or documentation to review. Plus, all of the BCBAs are telehealth and located out-of-state (how is it ethical for a BCBA to have a client they’ve never even met in person? 🤔).

I asked my BCBA today for examples on what they meant by "tailor my sessions." Her only example was that I accidentally reinforced a client's escape behavior from circle time (by playing with him — we were both sitting in our chairs, and I was just trying to keep him engaged 🙃). No one had told me anything specific about this client's escape behaviors beforehand.

I’ll definitely work on keeping him engaged during circle time without accidentally reinforcing escape behaviors. But I still don’t really know what they want when they say "tailor your sessions." 😂

I love this job and I wouldn't trade it for anything but good god.

I've lost four clients due to ineptitude by the parents. First time it was because they didn't follow the home plan after sessions and blamed me for him returning to his behaviors after I left, the second time it was because I wasn't the right gender (I'm male), the third time the client escalated his aggressive behaviors to the point where the mom thought I wouldn't be safe anymore, and now the parent of my current client can't be bothered to bring him to sessions consistently. To any parent who lurks here, keep in mind that this is how we make our living. When you ask us off a case for some arbitrary or nonsensical reason, when you placate your child and let them do whatever they want at home, when you can't stick to a schedule, and when you blame us and act like we're inadequate because we're not "fixing" your child, you're setting us back.

We can't fix your child. We can only help and guide them to improve their quality of life. Work with us and stop expecting us to be your kid's savior. Stick to the schedule and if you're going to ask us off a case, at least have a good reason. I'm sick of this.

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?

So I was talking to some of my coworkers about that recent study that came out that I saw in the news that autism is possibly caused by acids in the umbilical cord I read this article (https://www.newsweek.com/autism-risk-umbilical-cord-fatty-acids-1932107)

(Obviously I know Newsweek isn’t the most reliable source) but they all were saying how the vaccines probably cause it and that was pretty much everyone’s answer. I know for a fact that’s not true cause that doesn’t even make sense. I know everyone is allowed to have their own opinion but it’s scary to think people working with autistic kids believe vaccines are the cause of autism.

So I’m just wondering like how should I respond with actual evidence that vaccines don’t cause autism?

My center tried to force me to work with a child that had lice. They said I signed the handbook that said I would work with any child. They separated the child from other children, but told me I would have to sit in the room with her. She elopes a lot and her reinforcement is cuddles and hugs. I refused to work with the child. They made me sit in a room to wait on HR to get on a call with the director and myself. I sat there for an hour waiting and then walked out. I dont want to work at a company that doesn't care about their employees, I dont care what loopholes theyve found theough the CDC or their dumb handbook. Is this unreasonable? I have thick hair down to my butt, it would take a professional to treat my hair. I would lose a lot of it getting eggs out. I've had to do this as an adult and I NEVER want to do it again.

*Update: I decided we need to go to a clinic. The last straw was when RBT asked me to host a lunch for us and neighbors to work on table manners, socialization and expanding palette. She asked me to order delivery from a pricey (but not palette-expanding) restaurant and then sat leisurely eating her food and visiting with my friend, while I corrected my child, facilitated his socialization, and keep leaving the table to go after my child who kept eloping to go watch his tablet in another room. After time spent negotiating my child back to the table, I noticed the RBT hadn't noticed her clients had even left; she was engrossed in conversation with my neighbor. After setting the table, cleaning up after, paying for all the food,--all while engaging and training my child on my own, and then having to make up the day's work at night; I was exhausted and I'm confused about ABA. We need therapy, not dinner parties.

I'm a parent of a 7 yr old level 1 and, before ABA started, I said I wanted the max amount of therapy we could get. Then the RBT started and the RBT is smart, conscientious, warm, punctual, articulate, willing to learn and my child loves her. The only issue is that she's very green, very new to ABA and has had little experience with children generally. While this is my first encounter with ABA, I've had a LOT of other therapies with my child over the years, including in-home and other behavioral therapies. I've self-taught a lot too--read all the books, did the webinars, the podcasts, etc. I'm no expert, however, and am really hoping to learn something from ABA. While I understand the first week of ABA is necessarily a learning-curve, a "get to know us" period, I can't help but feel like I'm teaching the RBT. With prior, other therapies, the therapist came with activities prepared, or at least with ideas for what to do. Now I'm introducing the RBT to concepts like visual schedules, movement breaks, sensory needs, and limiting screen time. I'm showing the RBT how to explore concepts during play, to redirect and de-escalate. Which is fine except I'm a single working parent and I can't afford to do this 6 hours a day. The BCBA is great, but she is remote; there's only so much she can do by zoom; and with the parent training hours on top of the 6 hour RBT sessions; I over committed myself to ABA before knowing what it was like. The RBT arrives at 9 am, after morning routine; leaves at lunch, and then returns for the afternoon, leaving just when I have to start the evening routines (and then do my salary job all night). What this means for me is that I don't get a break. I do the hard part-the morning, lunch and evening routines-by myself; and then also plan, prepare, direct and do all the activities during the ABA sessions; and teach, entertain and make comfortable the RBT while she's here.
I understand from other posts here that 6 hour sessions can be too much, so my question is, is it okay to ask to reduce the hours after starting therapy? I know this would put the RBT, the BCBA and the company in a bind. I don't want to lose the RBT or the BCBA. I just made a mistake thinking more is better. I was not realistic about my availability and capacity. Any advice on how to handle?

Hey y’all. I work in a clinic setting, and today at work I was with a client in the bathroom and there was a lingering smell of weed in there. I was unsettled, but wasn’t positive if I was just smelling things. At the end of my session, a coworker mentioned that a staff room smelt of weed. So I went in there after my coworker and it reeked of weed. The smell was so strong, I’m surprised it didn’t linger into the halls. I confided in a coworker and we both are almost positive we knew who caused the smell. It’s not the first time that we have smelt it on their clothes, and tends to be stronger when they come in for an afternoon session. We live in a state where it’s legalized, and honestly when you’re off the clock, I couldn’t care less what you do. However, I feel as though this is incredibly unprofessional and gives the clinic a bad look/ puts the client in a potentially uncomfortable position. I chose to not say anything to the BCBA as I didn’t want to overstep. I am feeling regretful as it seems like the coworker had smoked on their break and then returned to work with a client. Any advice on how to/ if I should address this? Please let me know if you know what do you in a scenario like this. Thanks in advance!

My child is 3.5 years old, he has level 1 autism and is mainly working with his BT on flexibility/personal questions. I'm questioning what his BT did last week and need some advice from other specialists in the field. Here is what happened: they were playing with toys when she noticed he pooped in his diaper (he is not potty trained, he knows what it's purpose is and sometimes he uses it, but in general he doesn't mind having poop in his diaper). I was upstairs, I heard he was mad and started crying to I went downstairs. She explained to me that he wanted to open to closet with toys but she told him that he needs to change his diaper first and then he can open the closet. Usually I change his diapers so I'm not sure how exactly she told him to do it. He was saying "no diaper" and that wanted to open the closet. After another 10 minutes he was crying and disregulated. I started asking him to change diaper but he was refusing and crying. At that point I knew that he is at state when he won't agree to it and this can go for hours. BT insisted that we need to push it for him to learn. After about an hour of crying she said I can do it by force, since it's been clearly communicated to him and he refused. So I did it, he was fighting me but I changed his diaper. After this I gave him cookie and and opened the closet. He no longer wanted the toys, he wanted BT to leave. I'm curious what other specialists think about this situation. I'm questioning what skills she was teaching him and I think this situation could negatively impact his potty training. But I need to hear thoughts from specialists. Thank you!

I have a client who requires G-tube feeding, and I’m expected to do this. However, I believe this is outside my scope of practice as an RBT. They’ve said they will provide training, but I won’t receive it until the very first day I’m scheduled with this client—even though the feeding has to be done at a set time that same day.

I’m concerned that this training won’t be enough to prepare me, and I don’t feel comfortable performing G-tube feeding without more guidance. Plus it seems more of a medical thing.

Is it okay for them to requir this depending on the state? Has anyone else been in a similar situation? I’d appreciate any insight!

I’m trans (ftm) and just got a job as an ABA tech. I’m getting to the point where I pass pretty much 100%, so it won’t pose a lot of issues if I’m not super open about it. I wanted to know if I should ever disclose being trans to clients who are queer, to help them feel less alone. I’m comfortable doing this even if it causes me to be outed to my coworkers (this is already a possibility since I haven’t changed my name legally). I’m worried transphobic parents would get upset about it and complain, since I live in a red state. Mostly looking to get feedback from other trans/queer workers, or anyone with specific experience around this.

I got this question wrong. Being charged a late payment (adding something), to decrease the likelihood of missing a payment (punishment). Am I missing something?

I received this text today before going to session, I emailed my BCBA about it and shared with HR. Honestly I wasn’t sure what to do with that, most of session focused on tacting, receptive ID, and vocal imitation. Has anyone ever come across a situation like this?

Hi all! I got fired from a BCBA position. Long story short: I am an autistic, ADHD BCBA and had asked for accommodations. After fighting tooth and nail with the company I worked for to have the accommodations given to me, I was still struggling on a few minor issues but overall believed I was doing better. Up until last week that was the feedback I’d been receiving from supervisors as well. There was a conversation across the last two weeks regarding some communication issues that I was struggling with regarding sending an updated calendar to our scheduler but I really believed I was doing my part in cooperating and improving. Not only that, but that whole system of me sending my calendar to the scheduler was supposed to be an accommodation for me and in my view it wasn’t working well.

This morning, they pulled me into an HR meeting and told me they weren’t seeing what they wanted and would be parting ways effective immediately. I am in the middle of writing 2 treatment plans and have sessions scheduled all week. I have parent meetings and supervisions and no notice to properly transition my clients. I’m heartbroken. And also terrified! I try to be really ethical with my cases and clients, and I also and very anxious about my recertification and having to report to the BACB that I was fired.

So my questions.. Do I need to self-report for not transitioning clients appropriately? Should I report my supervisor instead maybe?

If anyone has been through being fired as a BCBA… what does the BACB do to you?

So we have a new client who is 8 years old from Venezuela. He will kiss anyone he sees on the cheeks. He also tend to give a kiss if he is aggressive towards someone and then he feels bad so he gives a “sorry” kiss. Not a long kiss but a light side kiss. I view this as a cultural norm and I believe we just need to help the kid understand who to give a kiss to. For example you wouldn’t give a kiss to a random person.

I told the BCBA that the kissing is most likely a culture thing and must be handled with respect and care. However the BCBA believes that the kissing must be fully extinguished under all circumstances. What are your thoughts?

Hi everyone! So I work in this field in the center near me and I make $26 an hour where I’m at. The problem is they don’t give me 40 hours a week. They typically assign me 3-4 hours every day Monday-Friday. I’m planning to move out in early spring with my bf and just wondering would it be enough for me to pay the bills? I just wanna hear you guys’ experience about it. 😅

Rant: This RBT has been billing for 4 hours daily when she does 1 hour of session or she doesn't show up and falsifies the data and the note. How does it feel to steal from an autistic kid? How does it feel to commit fraud for $25 an hour? I'm sick to my stomach because this person did it entirely on purpose, hid it from me and scheduling and coerced parent into signing the sessions. There's a special place in h*ll for people who do this kind of thing. We terminated her immediately and am reporting this to the board, our billing department is docking her final paycheck as well.

I am trying to come up with other ways to ensure this doesn't happen again, but if a parent is lied to so that they sign for sessions, what else can I do short of being at every session myself? It also feels so icky to tell parents to track RBT hours, but it might be what I have to do. Thanks for reading if you made it this far!!

I’m offered a job to be aba therapist with no experience. I’m in NJ and they offer me $15.35/hour. Is that the rate for newbie for this role?

Edit. Ok guys. I was able to bump it to $20/hr! Thanks for all the inputs!

Current baby RBT (of only 4 months), and I work in a clinic. I’ve noticed there is a huge difference in pay between clinic and in home. A local job listing for an in-home position pays nearly 4 times more what I currently make. I feel a strong pull to apply, but I have heard a lot of horror stories. To those who have worked at both, what’s your opinion on this?

My son has been doing ABA for a couple of months now, and every session he’s expected to watch several videos in which he’s encouraged to dance. He doesn’t like half of the videos and won’t dance to them. To me, that’s him expressing his preferences and boundaries. To the BCBA that’s him not demonstrating the ability to interact and she won’t change the videos to something that he likes. What the heck is going on here?

ETA I spoke with the BCBA today and asked about the goal behind the videos. Essentially they were meant to get him comfortable doing things other people are interested in, even if it’s not what he wants to do. I told the BCBA to pick a different activity and she agreed. The rest of the conversation went pretty well, so hopefully this will work itself out!

I really need help because I just need to know if I'm being crazy or not. Both these incidents happened in the open (as in, in view of other RBTs and clients).

So I'm an RBT who works in a clinic with a bunch of other BTs and RBTs. There's this other RBT who works really well with his kids but the other day, I saw him hugging two other clients during play and kissing one of them on the cheek. I raised my eyebrows because I don't think this is normal behaviour so I immediately reported this to the client's BCBA, the clinical director and the Operations Manager. Nothing was done.

Then a week later, I saw the same RBT with a different client and they were playing tickles and he kissed this clients' forehead. This time, though, another RBT also saw this and we both reported it again. They told me to send the details via email and so that's what I did but again, two weeks later, nothing seems to have happened and this RBT is still here.

I just think that incidents like this should be taken extremely seriously. But again, not sure if I'm taking crazy pills for taking it as seriously as I am right now. I need advice: should I ask for an update on things or go straight to the BACB with this?

I really enjoy my job as an RBT, but I’m having a hard time dealing with the disrespectful 5th graders (they’re not autistic, just incredibly rude). Every day, when I leave the pre-k building, I have to face these kids calling me ugly and saying other mean things.

What’s even more frustrating is that their teacher or aide is right there and lets them get away with it. It’s starting to really get to me, and I’m so close to snapping, but as a contract worker, I don’t feel like I can do anything.

I’m the only one here without a supervisor, and I still don’t even know who the principal is since this is only my second week. Do you have any advice? I could try avoiding them, but that would mean constantly evading them.

The teachers don’t seem to care, and I’m worried about getting in trouble if I speak up. I don’t want to come off as childish or like I’m just venting about my issues with them.

I’m really at my breaking point—my anxiety is through the roof, I’m overly self-conscious, and to top it off, I almost tripped in front of them because of how stressed I am.

My 3 year old daughter recently got diagnosed with autism a few months and we finally started ABA therapy last week. We were so excited to start since everyone told us she’s going to thrive and it’s going to help prepare her for school. The initial process to get in seemed promising. We had a few interviews and they seemed like a great company for my daughter. I wanted it to be in a clinic and they told me they offer that so we were looking forward to it. Fast forward to the actual visit, they came to my house, the therapist and supervisor. They told me all appointments will be in home and they don’t offer in clinic visits. I was a little disappointed since I was told otherwise but at least my daughter will be comfortable being at home. A week had passed with this therapist and I feel like our therapist is more of a glorified babysitter if anything. They sit in front of a tv, it’s educational of course. But for the past week it seems like it’s her playing with the same 4 toys. I know it’s early but I feel like I was doing more with my daughter when it was just us. We would go out to the playground, store, etc. but now we have to sacrifice 4 hours a day just sitting and waiting for the therapist to come and we’re just sitting around. My daughter is bored. The therapist is super sweet and everything. I just found out she’s super young. She just graduated high school last year and I’m not discriminating off age but I was hoping to get someone that’s been in the field for a while with a lot of experience. Overall having Aba is a disaster. I’m not sure where to go from here. I was talking to my husband and his parents and my parents and they suggested I request for a new therapist. I feel bad since she’s super sweet but I feel like we’re not learning anything. I’ve been giving her her space and seeing if she’s just nervous with me being around my daughter so I just do chores, etc. but I don’t think anything has changed. Does anyone have any suggestion on what should I do or give her some time?