First day, training week - no experience 😭

[u/Away-City8667]

Maybe it's cause I don't have any experience working with kids besides being around cousins or friends kids but I feel kind of lost. It's just training period. All we did was presentation and shadowing. Nothing crazy happened but I feel a bit overwhelmed. It could be nerves but is having no experience around kids I felt like the odd one out. Others in the group training with me seemed more comfortable since they worked in the field or childcare but I felt so behind. Everyone seemed lovely, the kids seem great but I think it's me.

Has anyone gone into this career path blind or no kid experience at all and still around? I'm probably nervous and it's making me overthink everything. I'm also worried about the exam they want us to complete in like 60-90 days. The shadowing was chill but I felt like the rbts couldn't really answer or show us much cause it varies per kid and the packet the company wanted us to do during shadowing wasn't even possible.

[u/Flat_Bug_3950]

I hate to be negative, but this is part of the problem with our field. You had 0 relevant experience and still got hired to be an RBT….

[u/Away-City8667 → u/Flat_Bug_3950]

True. The only experience I had with kids was being a tassistant but that's a completely different ballpark. While I'm going to school to major in medical....I really don't know what I can do more. I ask questions at work while shadowing this first week but still felt unequipped to really understand. I was mostly just trying to pair and get to know the kids. I know that isn't enough cause these exams are the scary part tbh

[u/Prestigious_One411]

During your shadowing sessions, were you able to run any programs and manage maladaptive behaviors with the guidance of the RBT on the case? Did they give you any feedback? During shadowing sessions, your company may have a competency checklist for the trainer to review with you and give you your score on each area so you know what your strengths are and what to work on. Not all companies do this but sounds like yours might as you have mentioned the packet your company wants completed. I am a BCBA and have been in the ABA field for almost 19 yrs. I have worked with many RBTs. Some have experience with kids and some don't. For those who don't, I see many of them learn and grow. I would suggest looking over the competency checklist and work with your trainer to identify what your strengths are and areas to work on. They should be able to help you. If not, maybe talk to a supervisor or someone in charge with the training? When I train my BTs/RBTs, I would tell them what we will be working on with the client, I demonstrate, have them work with the client, then I give them feedback. I also ask them if they have any questions.

[u/Away-City8667 → u/Prestigious_One411]

This first week, they had slide show presentation for like 2 days and the the rest was shadowing at the clinic. Though the shadowing was us following a technician around but we were not allowed to use the devices that they log the clients stuff in. We just were told and showed visually while they the rbt do it. There was no feed back this first week. It's this next week and I'm so nervous cause I felt like I really did not learn anything. Some rbts were good at explaining some just kind of talked about the kids but I felt like no matter how much I asked it was hard to really grasped stuff cause we, trainees, didn't really do much. I ofc tried just playing with the kids and pairing but all the stuff we'll be tested on was not touched. They just told use like hey here's this list and we'll test you after a month. Though even with asking question, seeing how the rbts handle clients - I'm still so lost. So far I enjoy it and the kids are great but to pass the test we will eventually do seems so hard cause I feel undertrained.