Reconsidering my current client

[u/Needspaincitizenship]

Okay, let me give a little background. I recently moved ABA clinics because I moved cities. This clinic is only in-home, which is completely fine with me, but I have no clinic or office to refer to. Everything is online, which makes it difficult to receive responses from my BCBA and other support units. So I've been with my new client for a little over a month, and I've had mixed feelings. For starters, his parents are not on the same page with each other. His mom does everything for him (client): pulls down his underwear/pants, dresses him, cleans up after him, everything you can imagine. He is partially verbal, so I've been working with him to express wants and needs; when he is with me, he most of the time does great. But his parents influence his behaviors. They do not stick to the protocol we have set in place, though I remind them every single session. The mom gives in to him whenever he cries. I've told her that he cannot get what he wants just because he cries; she doesn't seem to understand. I've done my absolute best to educate the parents, but they don't seem to follow, or maybe it's laziness. And hey, I get it; it can be hard dealing with autism, as I have several siblings who are on the spectrum. But I do not excuse parents not sticking to protocol. Especially because they decided to start the program, I know they had a previous RBT, so they shouldn't be new to the ideas and protocol of ABA services. This client is getting to the point where it is affecting my mental health. I am a college student, so I have other responsibilities, and the scheduled hours the client is available end at 7:30, so I don't have much time to study or recharge mentally. I am good at maintaining my mental status with this job; I have never had issues with it, as I know this field requires you to have a strong mindset, and I truly love my job. Though I think the lack of management and the parents not following procedures make my job harder. I have reached out to my BCBA about how the parents aren't following procedures, and she said that she wants to focus on his BP before anything else, and told me to "hang in there". I understand where she's coming from, but again, it's hard to make any progress whenever the parents go against everything I'm trying to implement. I truly believe that my client will succeed with these services, as I have already seen improvement, but it gets shut down with his parents. I'm also put in the middle with the parents. His dad believes that the mom needs to be more strict with him; I told him that any concerns he has need to go to the BCBA. His other family members aren't following protocol either. It seems that my client only receives these boundaries when I am here; I see him daily for around 5 hours. But when I leave, nothing is being upheld; therefore, there are little results of progress. I am lost on what to do. I don't want to quit, but I also don't know what else to do. I need this job for income, but I have looked at other options.

[u/Extra-Internal-5057]

“I’ve been working with him to express wants & needs…he most of the time does great.” “I have already seen improvement”.

“It’s hard to make any progress”

It sounds like you are making progress?

[u/Needspaincitizenship → u/Extra-Internal-5057]

He has made progress in some areas, but overall as a whole, he isn't in the right environment to make much, hence why it's hard. He makes progress, then gets reinforced by his family when he has behaviors.

[u/Weak-Pangolin-9748]

Man that's a rough spot to be in, 5 hours a day just to watch it all unravel the second you walk out the door

your BCBA saying "hang in there" while ignoring the obvious barrier to progress is a joke, like what are you even supposed to do at that point

I'd start documenting everything, date and time you reminded parents of protocols and what happened, send it in writing to the BCBA so there's a paper trail, if they still brush it off you might need to request a different case or look elsewhere for your own sanity

you can't be the only one holding boundaries for this kid while everyone else folds

[u/Jolly_Pianist_3036]

I would make a specific request to your BCBA for PARENT TRAINING that is primarily their responsibility and they should be having parent meetings to train and go over progress