I've been an RBT for about 3-4 years and currently work at a clinic as a BCBA "candidate/student/fellow" (I know people refer to it differently). I've been trying to accrue my unrestricted hours for over a year, but due to my clinic's short staff and also being in school full time, the opportunities for meaningful unrestricted tasks are few and far between.

I just wanted to hear what everyone else did for meaningful unrestricted activities/tasks that they might've been able to do in direct sessions or while at home (with approval, of course) so that I can gather some more ideas. The two BCBAs at my clinic are tremendous. I know mentorship is critical, but with the short staffing, sometimes they get thrown into doing direct service themself. It's tough to get that 1:1 time to learn, and I figured at this point, going into more depth about specific ideas/topics would rely on me looking things up and doing work that way. TIA :)

I live in a remote part of VA that has very limited access to ABA services. I’m interested in opening up my own business in the area starting in home and eventually opening a clinic depending on how well we can do in home. I do want to hire on RBTs as well as BCBAs but starting off I would be doing direct as well as supervision to get started. I have two years of experience as a BCBA and 5 years in the field. Anyone have any advice or suggestions on what to know before I start? I’m really passionate about it but nervous with only have two years as a BCBA.

Hello all I'm looking to do some self research into behaviour analysis. In the last year myself and multiple loved ones (separate incidents) by people who i genuinly believe are 'on' the psycho spectrum. Even prior to these incidents I have seen the violence in my family, culture, society, etc. I need to know more so that i can try and protect myself and my loved ones and community. I stumbled upon Chase Hughs while looking for answers about how to 'read' people and then i read from multiple sources that he's not credible.

I was hoping to find more credible information in how to interact with strangers, what to be aware of in others, what to listen our for jn people's vocabulary, what to look out for, etc. Can y'all please help point me in the right direction?? I'd love to hear from both male and female prospectives.

Looking to have a discussion about this topic that has been on my mind since this whole debacle with insurance companies has come out.

Since we do so much work with insurance companies because they are our funding source, are we profiting off of others’ misfortune? Excluding people who take private pay directly and hopefully for a reasonable amount, when does it become an ethical dilemma in making TOO much money from insurances companies for families trying to get services for autistic children??

Some CEOs of these major nationwide ABA companies are living in multimillion dollar houses. Anywhere from $2mil to $9mil. NINE MILLION dollar mansion. Is that even necessary? When some families that their companies service are struggling to make ends meet so their child can continue getting said services???

I feel sick about this. I’m trying to wrap my head around it.

We know private equities have been an issue for a while. But some of these executives from these other well known ABA companies have been around for a long time and not privately owned and still making this much cash.

Are we complicit for not calling our corporate greed? Should there be a cap? Is any of this ethical?

I’m leaving out names because all of this information is available online and I’m not trying to send people on a witch hunt for them. You can look it up yourselves if you want to know.

I’m just wondering if any of this is okay with everyone? It doesn’t sit right with me to make MILLIONS from families struggling. And we work for these companies because we have to make ends meet too.

What is an ethical way to make our living? And what can we do to call our corporate greed? We know the BACB doesn’t do anything when things are reported - they’re useless. And most executives aren’t even BCBAs, they have finance backgrounds.

We are the majority in terms of employees. Is there something to do here in making sure more money goes to covering families who need services, less denials from insurance, and heck even more benefits for employees not just executives raking in millions?? What can be done?

Has anyone successfully completed FIT's online MA in Behavior Analysis Professional Practice in 16-18 months? Did you have to talk to an advisor or program coordinator to achieve this? How many classes did you take per semester/what was your Plan of Study?

Have you ever attacked anyone ? Especially if you’re generally a violence avoiding, reasonable person ? Just hoping to get a sense of what sometimes pushes reasonable people to resort to violence ? It it almost always an involuntary, uncontrollable urge, survival, pent up rage? Hoping to get a view on this from anyone’s actual, personal experience and introspection.

Hi,

I was hoping someone might be able to give me a good answer or timeline for this. But if work for a company and get myself credentialed with a bunch of insurances, and then I apply for credentialing either as a private practice, or through a different company do I have to restart the whole credentialing process and wait for several more months to recredential through wherever else? Or will it just be an instant transferral since I've already been credentialed, or at least an expedited process due to already having been credentialed?

Thanks to anyone who can provide some info on this!

Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

I have seen PBIS used in many schools. I have tried to do some research into it and have found a lot of information both supporting and denying that PBIS is good. My background is that I have 5 years experience as an RBT and an currently waiting to pass my BCBA exam. The following are concerns I have for the program, and would really like to get some insight.

1. We learn in ABA that we need to generalize behaviors and also fade out reinforcement so it becomes a more natural behavior rather than being completely under control of the reinforcement. However PBIS only teaches that you get reinforced every time you do the "right" thing. How does this teach a child to have appropriate behaviors when reinforcement isn't available?

2. In my practice as well as many others that I have spoken to have said they are using differential reinforcement a lot more rather than punishment. This is great but PBIS doesn't give the option for differential reinforcement it is either you get or you don't. You displayed "good" behavior so you get rewarded. But what if someone displays DRI or any other for that child it might be a big deal but because it isn't in the system they never get reinforced.

3. I feel PBIS works for the norm not the exception. The kids that would behave either way prosper and get reinforced and the other kids either become discouraged, the reinforcement isn't strong enough, or they flat out don't care, and my problem is those kids get pushed aside. I know the idea of the system is that kids see others get reinforced so they want that too, but to all of us that work in this field we know better and know that most of those other kids will not follow suit especially after hitting grades like 4th and onwards.

4. I feel there is too much wiggle room for what can be used as PBIS. every school I work in had some kind of version of it but never what it is supposed to be and then the admin claim it is a scientific approved method and nonsense, well I hate to say it but if you needed to change it a hundred times it lacks internal validity.

5. I do see a value of this system in schools that may have a poorer demographic because to those kids a sweet, or pencil is a big deal to them. But a private religious school for example where kids are getting 20 dollars of spending money a day, those erasers are just junk.

6. I understand that schools have a larger concern than just an individual so I get that programs like these have a place, but I have seen too many times in these schools where the kids that need that extra push are just not caring and instead of being focused on they are pushed aside and forgotten until they leave the school.

I look forward to seeing responses and your beliefs on PBIS.

Hey everyone,

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Would love to hear your thoughts!

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I just see a lot of responses to people on here and feel like i can tell that most people just view people as something to respond to into instead of a human to listen to and respond to based on understanding they are human and thinking their thoughts and having their feelings. I know it’s something mostly everyone does but some people seem like they are like that in person too. Like they keep themselves mindless not thinking of other humans beings. Maybe it’s the anonymity of it all. Being able to hide and at times tug on the darkness inside that is “no one will know”. Beastly that mindlessness is. Beastly.

I’ll give an example:

I’ve just been on a long car journey which spanned 600 miles. I never complained, never moaned, never spoke about being tired to anyone. Just put on my music and drove.

But when I got home, my mum’s first words to me was “I knew you were going to struggle.” “The back of your legs are gonna hurt in the morning.”

She said to my father while I was gone “When he’s halfway, I think he’ll then realise that he’s in for the long haul. Then he’ll realise it’s not as easy as he thought.” I NEVER stated it was going to be easy. I NEVER stated it was gonna be a short journey. I went into the journey with the intention that it was going to be a two day journey, but I managed it in one day.

This pissed me off, because I never complained or asked for help or support or anything. I never even spoke to my mum until I got back home, but it’s almost as if she’s undermining me, just assuming I struggled with the journey.

Does anyone have any idea what this is called? Or what type of behaviour this is?

I currently have 15 clients. (For NOW. Losing 2 after the holidays)

I’d have to be able to bill 30 hours a week, around 2 hours for each client. IF they don’t get canceled.

I’m wondering if this is even realistic or if I should just quit and find a new company.

Anyone have a FA data sheet template they are willing to share?

In the pursuit of gamifying to assure consistency, apps like duolingo and Snapchat employ the method of making people keep streaks to measure their consistency.

The streak on snapchat used to be extremely rewarding for me. There was some sort of trust and promise being built there between me and someone else. The assurance of a human connection.

The streak for human connection kept me hooked.

But the streak in duolingo didn't work it's magic on me just as. It helped to be a reminder but did in no way assure consistency. It was a nudge for sure. But what worth is a nudge if not backed up by a follow through?

What kind of interventions have worked for you to maintain consistency and why?

I have BCBAs who are licensed and credentialed through the BACB and the State of Missouri. They have yet to be connected to any existing group insurance contracts as the process is slow. (We will call them Melody and Kasey).

We have one BCBA who is credentialed and has a few single case agreements, let's call her Sandy. I really have two questions.

1. If Sandy has a SCA with a client, can Melody and Kasey bill through that single case agreement under Sandy's NPI? I would assume no.

2. For Medicaid, we are waiting on getting Melody and Kasey connected to our group contract, they are credentialed independently through Medicaid as of now. As this is in the process, the main BCBA, Sandy, is connected to the group. Can Melody and Kasey bill under Sandy's name/NPI if Sandy is the one reviewing data and submitting to insurance?

I would again assume no. Does anyone have any advice on this? Or does anyone know another community that may be beneficial to ask this question in?

Hi,

Why do I need to constantly talk to people?

Do I want validation?

Even when I am playing a game, studying, or anything that requires focus, I am craving to text someone and expect a response back. I crave an ongoing conversation. I am even talking to a girl that I like but if she is slow or does not respond for a while, I will find other girls to talk to but not out of interest, I just need some kind of conversation. Do I crave attention? What's going on!!!

I am working through the BAS Modules on the Crush it Course. I am scoring between 68-88% on the 6th edition mocks. I am so scared I am not going to pass!! Any advice?

Thanks!

Looking into getting my doctorate’s in OT. Does anyone already have this tile ? Is it worth it or should i just go get my masters. If anyone could please give me some information and a tad bit of guidance. I’m open to ALL answers ! Everyone has their own opinion. I’m also in Georgia if that helps as well

Working on a dataset of a sample which charts the use of social media and its impact on mental health. It's behavioral data mainly. I regressed Quality of Sleep scale (Y) on independent variables like gender, Occupation, daily time spent on social media, depression scale, using social media without a purpose scale etc.

I read that in behavioural studies R-squared is usually low. But I'm concerned that 0.20 is too low and won't get a good grade. The issue is data for many important variables is not available, like financial condition, diet and exercise patterns etc. which impact sleep quality.

Should I drop this model or can go ahead with this?

Hi, Is there a board certified behavior analyst that works in a district that has an FBA process that I could interview here? It's for my master's degree course. I would greatly appreciate your help. Thank you!

I find myself being an attention seeker often in social settings. How do I change this behaviour?

Hi- BCBA in NJ and just got an ethics violation notice due to not being listed as a supervisor for an RBT who got audited. We were told our clinic director was the only one who would need to put down as supervisor as the responsible supervisor. But apparently that did not happen so now we are all being investigated for an ethics violation.

We have the chance for rebuttal but just so overly confused and frustrated by the whole situation. And no longer work at the company (due to ethical concerns). But that unfortunately means I don’t have any emails, or communication validating this.

Very concerned and any advice would be appreciated.

Looking for tips because me and my bcba are a bit stumped. I have a client who engages in SIB by biting her wrist. Originally we only saw her do it when upset but she has started to do it when excited as well. For example, if we’re playing tag outside or during Danny go songs. We’ve tried bite bands, she just bites above/below them or takes them off. We tried using the little spiral hair ties, they worked for about a week until she started throwing them and tantruming when we would attempt to put them on. And we have tried chewy toys but have been unsuccessful with that as well. Most recently, my BCBA has told me to block it and prompt her to use her words “I don’t like this”, “I’m so excited” something along those lines depending on the situation. When she’s excited that usually works but when she’s upset blocking just causes her to escalate into tantrums and/or aggression towards others. Anybody have any ideas?

Okay so I have this weird tick it seems. Whenever I hear the sound of an “R” rolling like in Spanish I instantly think of earlobes. I know it sounds crazy I don’t know if I’m coo coo but like I swear this has been something I’ve had ever since I was little. Why? Like I also have a weird phobia of ears and find them gross and because of that I’ve always been scared to pronounce the Spanish R. Thanks

Hi guys! what apps out there to help check my behaviour? I struggle with keeping myself focused... I am so distracted all the time when browsing and not finishing my work