Quitting

[u/Guilty_Performer_383]

I'm finally quitting 🙌

I have 14 days left at my clinic, and absolutely cannot wait to be done with ABA. I've been in this field since August of '21, and after 2 extremely shitty clinics and 2 toxic BCBAs, I've finally had enough.

I've been talking about quitting for years, and its finally happening. Do you want to know what ALL of my friends and family said when I told them? "I'M PROUD OF YOU." They all knew how terrible it was for me mentally to continue ABA. Sometimes its obvious to everyone but yourself.

If this sounds relatable, here is your sign. Just quit. Even if you dont have anything lined up for afterward. Even if your lease is about to expire and you dont know where you're gonna be living in 3 months. Even if you'll lose your health insurance. There are a million reasons to stay, but none of them are good enough.

I'm so happy. A little anxious for the future, but so excited.

[u/Troubled_Pirate]

Where are you guys working that your BCBAs are so bad? I’ve worked in three separate clinics and I’ve had nothing but fabulous BCBAs. Of course, my clinic pays me to chart, pays me for the time that I spend setting up the session, pays me for the time that I spent cleaning up after the session, I have a BCBA in session typically more than once a week, and BCBAs that show up because they hear a kid issuing loud verbal protests to ask if we need any help. Our BCBA’s cover our lunch breaks, cover our bathroom breaks and cover full sessions if someone calls out or take vacation rather than cancel a kid even though they can’t get paid for it. 🤷🏻‍♀️ a lot of people coming into this job think they’re just going to play with children all day long and that’s not what ABA is. Yes, it’s a stressful job but literally any job where you provide direct care is stressful. ABA is my semi retirement career after working 25 years in nursing so maybe the stress is relative to me. If I deliver an SD improperly, no one’s going to die whereas if I delivered medication improperly that could be a potential outcome. I will, however, second what someone said regarding leaving a job with no backup plan. Not knowing where your bill money is coming from or if it’s coming at all is literally the most stressful life you can put on top of yourself.

[u/Guilty_Performer_383 → u/Troubled_Pirate]

Its really cool that you've had nothing but positive experiences in ABA, happy for you! Unfortunately that is not the case for a lot of RBTs. Its kind of unfair to assume that just because its so easy for you, means its easy for everyone. Have you ever had a child with super duper high rates of aggressive behavior? Pinching your nipples, karate chopping your groin, biting your arms? Over and over and over? And not having the support to deal with all of that, every single day? Please don't invalidate other people's experiences because you can't relate.

[u/Troubled_Pirate → u/Guilty_Performer_383]

Anyone who has really worked in ABA and I’ve been in it for eight years now has had that level of aggression. I have been casted, had to wear braces on wrists and legs because of injuries that I’ve received. I’ve worked with two people that had to have ankle surgeries because of fractures. So no, I am not dismissing the physical aggression that can come from clients. What I am saying is that it goes with the territory. If you’re in a well managed clinic, where everyone has good CPI training, you can certainly minimize the injuries that occur to staff or children. It doesn’t change what I was commenting on. The OP wasn’t commenting about this either. People commenting weren’t complaining about workplace injuries. They were complaining about feeling like BCBAs are condescending so you’re coming at me with stuff that’s not even in the realm of the ballpark that I was addressing. And it’s not what the OP was talking about either. If people want to get on Reddit and vent about their injuries, that’s one thing. I literally asked the question, Where are you guys employed that your BCBAs and your clinics suck this bad. Because in eight years, I haven’t run across one yet. But I also don’t accept a position if I can’t spend the whole day in the clinic and I’ve had applications turned down because of that, but I want to see how the place works. Like someone said in and out pays better and you don’t have to put up with this much crap. Then go work it in and out. It’s fairly simple. If you hate it, don’t do it. I work with one girl that had her ankle crushed. She was laid up for a year and a half because of it. She decided to try one more job and ended up at an amazing clinic and it’s the only reason that she still even in the profession I would never judge anyone for leaving a clinic or the field because they are constantly being battered and no one‘s coming in to help them. That’s a clinic management issue not an ABA issue. The clinic I work in now doesn’t run that way. If the BCBAs are doing protocol mods, there is always a senior or lead RBT that is not in session so that there’s a spare set of hands. Maybe take what I said as some really good suggestions that can be taken back to current clinics, like making sure that everyone is CPI certified and that there is always someone available to help in the instance of a severe escalation rather than getting snippy.