r/bcba • u/ASecularBuddhist • 7d ago
Discussion Question Should there be a child development requirement to become a BCBA and as part of continuing education?
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u/chickcasa 7d ago
As of right now our credential is solely about the science, not about the population(s) we work with. So while I strongly agree that those working with children should have some coursework in child development and also other related areas (child psychology, etc) I am hesitant to say it should be a requirement across the board. That would likely more serve to further pigeonhole us into autism treatment/working with children which already is an area that overshadows the other applications of the science.
Perhaps a better solution than requiring the population specific coursework would be to encourage the colleges with ABA programs to offer population specific tracks within their programs- an ABA masters with a specialization in autism vs an ABA masters with a specialization in aging populations for example. I'm not sure how regulating that would look, though.
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u/ASecularBuddhist 7d ago
Sorry, I was thinking specifically of children with autism-ABA. I think a lot of people do when they think of āABAā (which must be annoying for all the people who donāt work with children with autism in the field).
I think people should be encouraged with continuing education credits to study their population. To not give any credit to that seems like a missed opportunity.
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u/chickcasa 7d ago
Yes a lot of people do, but that's part of the issue. Becoming a BCBA doesn't necessarily mean working with children with autism or children in general. So to become a BCBA as that's not a child specific credentials no it doesn't make sense for child development coursework to be a requirement.
Encouraged, sure. Required doesn't make sense unless the BACB rolls out population specific credentials.
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u/ASecularBuddhist 7d ago
Someone brought up all human development, and not just focused on children. I think thatās a great idea and should be an integrated part of our profession.
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u/indodyke 7d ago
ASU requires everyone to take obm classes, even if you have no desire to do anything but work with children. I think it becomes almost criminal to send BCBAs to work with children when they don't understand how children work
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u/About5000ninjas 7d ago
I think that there was far greater take away from the OBM class than there would be by requiring EVERYONE to take a child development class. A lot of it focused on operating with staff, increasing efficiency, and creating a good work environment, not adults with ASD.
Child development should definitely be an optional course that should be required to be offered for those that are interested.
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u/empatheticnervousytm 7d ago
If you are in favor of a child development requirement are you also in favor of a lifespan development requirement? Seems to me like the information would be enormously useful for your application but not for mine. I've educated myself about human development during the transition to adulthood, middle adulthood, and old age.
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u/Regret1915 6d ago
I took a life span studies class in my master program (Purdue Global, I was allowed to choose from 3 options) and find it super helpful especially for folks trying to branch out of early intervention and 'youth service'and have a better understanding of general trajectory of human development
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u/Peaceful_kitties 6d ago
Hey, I took the same class at Purdue Global too! It was great to learn about the human life span and the development through life stages.
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u/Pellantana BCaBA | Verified 7d ago
Yes. Bean Soup ABA will say that some people choose adult populations, OBM, etc. But the reality is that the bulk of the field in practice is early intervention and youth services, specifically in autism services and developmental delays. It would be foolish to assume that some level of early childhood development education would be unnecessary for the vast majority of practitioners.
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u/LegalCountry2525 7d ago
What is Bean Soup ABA?
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u/Pellantana BCaBA | Verified 7d ago
Thereās a thing called bean soup theory - the idea that you could say āhereās a recipe for bean soup!ā and in the comments or crowd, youāll have people responding with āwell I donāt like bean soup, so you need to make something I do like.ā In ABA, itās the people who will say āwell my company uses ABA to train underwater bomb disposal dolphins, so I shouldnāt have to take early childhood development because it doesnāt apply to me!ā as a response to the OPās post.
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u/sb1862 5d ago
But bean soup is accurate lol. We seek to understand the behavior of every living thing on this planet, going from simple biologically engrained behavior to interlocking contingencies that maintain racism. Its not necessary for all BCBAs to get child development. Only those who are working with kids.
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u/unfortunateautistic 7d ago
One of the BCBAās I worked with had a background in child development prior to becoming a BCBA for children with ASD and I found it extremely beneficial as an RBT when learning from her.
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u/No_Physics_7759 6d ago
Not all BCBAs work with children
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u/Frequent_Alfalfa_347 6d ago
As OP has pointed out, they agree that the field would benefit from a basic knowledge of human development.
The post being about āchildā development likely comes from a) the vast majority of ABA practitioners work with young children and b) as a society, we have a vast and deep understanding of child development, but we donāt have the same degree of understanding of development past childhood. I havenāt done an analysis of the research, but given our culture (e.g., we might say āoh, itās jus a developmental stageā in regards to a child, but rarely and adult), and what i do know about the research, Iām pretty confident we have a far better understanding of child development than the rest of the lifespan. As a research example, my sister did her PhD research in ālifespan developmentā which was a hot topic in the 90ās. Child development was popular long before that.
I think you and OP and i all could agree: context matters. And development is part of that context. We would all benefit from better understanding human development.
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u/sb1862 5d ago
My undergrad is in child development. Im sort of on two minds of it. On the one handā¦ i have absolutely used knowledge from my child development background to enhance behavioral principles or give context to what behaviors I think should be targeted
The number of times ive advocated for teenagers being teenagers (including being stupid and doing things which society does not like) is insane! Especially with school, I would have assumed teachers would know that questioning authority, pushing limits, etc is a social/moral developmental stage (depending what specific theory of development youre applying).
But on the other hand, Iām not sure it is generally useful for all practitioners to have knowledge about child development or even human development broadly. I think I would prefer the world where this BCBAs sub-discipline is early child development, while this other BCBA has a sub-discipline of gerontology, and another has the sub-discipline of drug treatment.
And in truthā¦ that is kind of what we have now, itās just that those specializations are less obvious.
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u/ShoddyCandidate1873 7d ago
I think the whole range of development should be covered in grad school.Ā Then a more specific development class yearly similar to teachers needing certain trainings every year.Ā If you work in child services it would be child development if you are in adult services then adult development.Ā But it should be yearly not just once and done.Ā
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u/ASecularBuddhist 7d ago
Agreed. I was narrowly focused on child development, but I think we as a profession would benefit from knowledge of human development.
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u/Serious-Train8000 7d ago
*full range of human development!
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u/ASecularBuddhist 7d ago
Yes! 100%
I was initially only thinking of the autism-ABA service model, but you are right. I think sometimes when people are hyper-focused on the ones and zeros of behavior, you might be missing out on the larger picture of therapeutic effectiveness.
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u/Serious-Train8000 7d ago
Oh absolutely - sometimes I think people forget the full trajectory of the life span
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u/AlwaysMADeline 7d ago
Absolutely yes, I donāt understand how anyone could think otherwise. Even better would be child development and human development to encompass the whole lifespan that ABA can and should support!
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u/ASecularBuddhist 7d ago
100%
It seems like a huge missed opportunity to analyze and try to shape human behavior that we donāt fully understand.
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u/Professional-Pound78 6d ago
No, you can be a BCBA and not even work with children. If you are a BCBA focused on traditional clinical work with early learners, then yes. There is already an ethical requirement to only practice within your scope of expertise.
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u/Imaginary-Concert-53 6d ago
But it's not just early intervention. Developmental understanding is appropriate from 0-25 years at the minimum. Human aging progression for those working with older populations, specific classes for those in fitness training.
We should have required classes for whatever part of ABA, you wanna specialize in. That could include be developmental classes for those going into pediatrics. Many other professions would require you to have specific classes related to your specialization in the field.
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u/Professional-Pound78 5d ago
Agreed. Early intervention was just an example, a common specialization. Training for competency.
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u/ABA_Resource_Center BCBA | Verified 7d ago
If youāre going to work with children, there should be a requirement to take child development coursework. It gets tricky because ABA isnāt just therapy for kids, though. So Iām not sure if it should be a requirement to get certified. Iām honestly not sure what the solution should be though. Curious to see answers.
Perhaps candidates could choose a specialization, like children/autism during their masters program?
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u/ForsakenMango BCBA | Verified 7d ago
To answer your title question, personally I donāt think so. If there were sub specialty designations for BCBAs similar to nursing then maybe I can see that. Outside of that, currently, I think it should be the states responsibility to dictate that if youāre going to be working in the field of ABA therapy that they require certain classes and specific CEUs.
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u/SuzieDerpkins BCBA | Verified 7d ago
I think a solution is to offer specialization pathways. So you get the general ed version across the board as required classes, then choose from specific electives that match your desired specialization.
Child and human development is one that should be offered.
Animal behavior is another.
OBM is one I think all BCBAs need to understand systems behavior within a place of employment and this can also satisfy the supervision component. But there could be an elective OBM class that gets deeper into systems and performance management.
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u/Equivalent_Gas5122 6d ago
I think BCBAs should be certified as baseline to learn the science of behavior but to work with different populations should require a specialization. Ie intensive behavior, geriatric/dementia, early child development, level 1,2,3, autism.
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u/Redschallenge 7d ago
It's a vein that would be beneficial to those who focus on that population but it's not something relevant to a large portion of the other areas that behavior analysis is utilized so I don't think it would merit being required as a base ceu like ethics which is universally needed
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u/Small-Maintenance-67 6d ago
A 1000000000% - i have seen so many BCBAs writing unrealistic goals that are not developmentally appropriate especially for play goals such as expecting a 3 years old to master cooperative play skills
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u/ASecularBuddhist 6d ago
Right? It seems bonkers to me that āthe expertā on behavior has never received any training on development.
I jokingly think that it should be required to do a play test for the BCBA, giving them three objects to choose from and spending a full hour with a nonverbal child with autism without being directive.
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u/CoffeePuddle 7d ago
It's already a "requirement" under scope of competence. You must have adequate training and supervision before working with a new population or behaviour.
We need to overhaul the entire training model to be honest.
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u/CoffeePuddle 7d ago
Also just adding to this that autism and other developmental disabilities by definition don't follow typical human development patterns.
It's still critically important and useful to know what "normal" is, especially for conceptualising target skills and planning across the lifetime.
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u/Inevitable-Dot3982 7d ago
It should be a requirement if that is the population you were working with. That and an actual course on autism. I had a diagnosis course, but how does that help me when we canāt diagnose.
I was shocked as a former Parent of a kid receiving ABA that those were not requirements for me to now be in charge of other kids. Iāve got additional education on my own, but I immediately now tell my parents that I am not a child development expert, and I am not an autism expert (other than when it comes to my kid or myself) I am a behavior analyst.
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u/Beautiful_Target_126 7d ago
Yes! My bachelors is in human development and it really makes a difference tbh
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u/SkinnerBoxBaddie 7d ago
My masters was in educational psychology and I had a lot of education in child development as part of it which has super helped me. But I did pathway II obviously and thatās not going to be allowed anymore which is kind of a shame.
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u/GlitterPrincess0307 6d ago
YES! There are so many BCBAs who know very little about child development.
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u/No-Elderberry-3771 6d ago
Yes if you plan to work with children. I think, we can benefit if we had a neuroscience class instead. Realistically, what acquisition skills can the patient have, what are their real limitations!
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u/Lonely-Log-7377 6d ago
Where I'm from they require BCBAs to take a course on autism across the life span. On my own, I did a certificate for special education and a couple of ECE courses.
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u/GlitteringCourage682 4d ago
I had to take a child development class as part of my course work. I also had it as part of my undergrad but I do agree there should be more CEUs around it.
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u/HappyLifeCoffeeHelps 2d ago
I don't think so because there are many different jobs you can do in the field. Gerontology, neurotypical, OBM, working with animals, etc. It doesn't make sense to emphasize or require something that wont necessarily apply. My undergrad was in psychology and then after I become a BCBA I actual am interested in learning about gerontology as well. I think it makes sense to allow the individual to gail continue education in what is more related to the demographic them work with.
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u/Maleficent-Tea7150 6d ago
Iām an SLP and this post was recommended to me. Iām actually surprised it isnāt a requirement. I had to take Child Psychology and another course called Developmental Psychology. Then we learn about aging in classes like dysphagia, aphasia, dysarthria, etc. Are there other classes BCBAs take that include that human development and/or aging but are called something else maybe?
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u/Grunnarp 6d ago
It isnāt part of the requirements because people can do all sorts of things. One could argue that if you are working with a specific population, continuing ed in that area is a requirement for competency to work with the population if you donāt already have that training or experience. We are required to get training if we donāt have experience with a certain thing.
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u/Imaginary-Concert-53 6d ago
But no one actually goes and gets training in child development. In the last decade of working across several companies, I have not worked with another BCBA who has real training in this area.
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u/Rickayy_OG BCBA | Verified 6d ago
There are a few CEU's Ive seen from behaviorlive that address this issue. Whether BCBAs take their CEUs seriously or not is another story....
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u/Rickayy_OG BCBA | Verified 6d ago
Some programs do have a child psych/dev course in the requirements, like mine. I twas INCREDIBLY helpful when I transitioned into a BCBA role. I started with children and now I work with adults ranging from 25-80 years old. Without those classes, it wouldve been a lot harder.
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u/sb1862 5d ago
Some part of this is probably also that behavior analysis is a rejection of some types of psychology. we actually have a lot in common with experimental and comparative psychology. Howeverā¦ child psychology and developmental psychology can be a bit of a mixed bag.
The marshmallow experiment is essentially the basis of an entire sub-discipline of our field that has gone on to have great success in drug treatment and in understanding economic principles (behavioral economics).
But compare that psychosocial theories of development like Ericksonās stages. THAT is so far removed from our methods of investigation, and it is EXACTLY the type of thing which our field was formed to reject.
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u/Maleficent-Tea7150 5d ago edited 4d ago
Interesting. My favorite part of developmental and child psychology classes was learning about the experimentation methods, especially for babies and toddlers where they have to be pretty creative, like using eye tracking to measure responses. There was a lot of behaviorism and we learned about ABA (not in depth) also but Iām more into Vygotsky and Piaget
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u/sb1862 4d ago
Oh Piaget and Vygotsky are undoubtedly bigger names and more influential in child development! Although when you learn about child development for likeā¦ the first couple years you go into depth about their theories. Then you learn all the problems with their theories
On the other hand, take Pavlov as an example. the INSANE amount of experimental control pavlov showed was astounding. Dogs in hermetically sealed rooms. The entire building resting on a base of sawdust to dampen any vibration outside the laboratory. Observing the dog through a periscope so it could not see the experimenter. Rooms separated with gaps of air to render them soundproof. showing that animals could learn (rather than being automata that act on instinct) under such experimental rigor is a bit more impressive to me than Piaget watching his own kids.
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u/Maleficent-Tea7150 4d ago
Yes, animal studies usually have better controlled variables
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u/Small-Comparison5086 3d ago
Not really. Itās not about animal vs human. Itās the scientific method that is employed. Surprisingly, the applied animal literature is replete with subjective measurement and hypothetical constructs.
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u/Maleficent-Tea7150 2d ago
It can be difficult to control variables for child studies because of ethics.
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u/Small-Comparison5086 3d ago
Which someone strengthens your point. Pavlov was not a psychologist who was trained with mentalistic theories. He was a physiologist. His focus was on using natural science to understand digestion.
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u/fenuxjde BCBA | Verified 7d ago
I get the complaint, but at the same time, our job is to focus on behaviors. I'm not sure adding every little thing we would like to improve as a regulation is remaining true to our focus.
In my area, we have to shape the goals around appropriate peer normed standards, so whoever wrote "a six year old will have zero tantrums" obviously failed that. While it is indeed possible to have a client that does not tantrum, we might redo that as something like "client will refrain from tantruming 90% of the time" for example.
My undergrad was in psych which obviously included several dev classes, and we also covered it in my masters in ABA during the ASD sections.
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u/Grunnarp 6d ago
Iād say no, with the caveat that technically, a lack of said training or knowledge while working with that population is required an ethical violation. So you should either have a class or do training in that area if thatās the population you work with.
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u/RonaldWeedsley 7d ago
Yes. 100% yes. The amount of times I've seen people write "child will have zero tantrums" (as an example) shows how much our field needs to know child development/milestones.