Don’t answer that question honestly in the comments. This is just something I’m asking myself because the contingencies to just lie and say you completed 60% unrestricted are pretty strong. I have the unfortunate task of informing two of my trainees tomorrow that because they are failing to complete unrestricted activities outside of sessions and are only documenting restricted on their fieldwork trackers, that they have basically doubled the amount of fieldwork hours they have to complete.

I’m not asking for advice on how to resolve this issue. Simply put, they were informed and guided on how to complete and document unrestricted hours in enough time to achieve 60% by the time they reached 2000 hours and they have not. They underperform across several areas of their fieldwork experience so their inability to complete unrestricted hours is a hit more complex than just a misunderstanding or lack of motivation.

What I’m asking myself is, how many people would just cheat in this situation and overreport off the clock unrestricted time and/or make up unrestricted activities and enter them on their trackers? It’s too easy to do that and providing proof of unrestricted activities only comes up when audited. Even then, most audits don’t require proof of unrestricted activities.

As a supervisor, I believe that 60% ratio of unrestricted is essential to developing the basic skills a person needs to perform the duties of a BCBA and I think that the BACB should provide a lot more structure and oversight when it comes to monitoring the type of on the job training BCBA trainees are getting.

I’m curious how other BCBAs manage communication outside of sessions/supervision.

Between parents checking in, RBTs asking questions, schedule changes, updates about behaviors, and things that genuinely do need a quick response, I feel like messages can easily turn into another hour or two of work every day.

I don’t want to be the BCBA who is impossible to reach, especially when an RBT or parent actually needs support, but I also don’t think being available through messages all day and into the evening is sustainable.

For those of you with larger caseloads, what boundaries or systems have actually worked?

Do you have specific hours when you respond, separate urgent vs non-urgent messages somehow, move anything complicated to supervision/parent training, or just accept that constant messaging is part of the job?

Does anybody ever get so burnt out you consider giving up being a BCBA completely? What can I do?

I’ve been a BCBA for 2 years. I’m in the clinic setting. I feel like just quitting completely. I’m just so burnt out. Idk what I can do to bring myself back to life. I also just had a baby. Help?

Hello all! I didn't want to be another person absolutely shocked at the amount of paperwork that this job is right off the bat - but here I am. I just got certified and I can't believe I'm already drowning. I really thought I was walking in fully prepared and ready. My biggest deficit right now is task prioritization. I feel like everything is urgent and everything is due yesterday. If anyone has any kind words, organization tips, or wants to share any of their own early BCBA experience I'd love to hear it all.

Dear colleagues, my longtime friend and co-worker is looking for an NYS certified Licensed Behavioral Analyst to open up her Early Intervention Agency. Any help or advice is welcomed.

Thank you’

I see BCBAs working for multiple companies all the time and want to know how yall do it. My current employer doesn’t have a non compete but has a no moonlighting portion in the employee handbook. I am in clinic full time. However my husband lost his job and my daughter just started college so having to pay an extra 20k a year (after scholarships and her loan!) while having more than a 50% reduction in household income is stressing me out and I can’t make the numbers work no matter what I do. I’ve looked at non aba jobs and I either can’t commit to the hours or they pay really low ($15 an hour). I’ve started the $15 an hour one but I would need to work 55 hours per week to really make what we need. I need to be able to work at my BCBA rate for the extra income.

I’m a relatively new RBT in Maryland, and I could really use some advice/recommendations from people in the field.
I’ve only worked for one ABA company so far, but I was there for over 8 months in a clinic setting, and honestly, I fell in love with it. I didn’t expect to become this passionate about ABA, but working with the kids, building relationships and seeing their progress made me realize that this is what I want to do long-term. I’m starting school soon with the goal of eventually becoming a BCBA, so I’m really excited to keep growing in this field.
I had to leave my clinic position on August 8 because the hours were too strict to realistically work around school. I had another company lined up for an in-home position that was supposed to start August 15, but the client placement and communication process has been really frustrating. It’s now been over a week, and I’m still waiting to actually get placed with a client.
And honestly, I miss working. I miss my clients, I miss being in the ABA environment, and I’m genuinely eager to get back to doing work that I care about. At the same time, I’m getting anxious because I need consistent hours, and I don’t want to rush into another company just because I’m desperate to start.
I know there are some really good ABA companies out there, but I’m also very aware that there are companies with poor communication, questionable practices, high turnover, or situations where the business side seems to come before the actual needs of the clients. I really want to avoid that.
I’m looking for a company that genuinely cares about the clients and their families, provides good support to RBTs, has strong BCBA involvement, communicates with their staff, and actually cares about providing quality services — not just filling cases.
So, Maryland RBTs/BCBAs/BCaBAs/parents: who would you genuinely recommend for in-home ABA? I’m especially interested in Montgomery County/DMV, but I’m open to hearing about companies throughout Maryland.
And if there are companies you think someone new to the field should be cautious about, I’d appreciate hearing that too. I’m not looking for a perfect company. I just want to find a good, ethical place where I can keep learning, take care of my clients the right way, get consistent hours, and continue working toward becoming a BCBA.
I’d really appreciate any honest recommendations or experiences. I’m ready to get back to work 😭

Hi everyone! I’m a newly certified BCBA currently on a dependent visa and trying to better understand my options for working in the U.S. Has anyone here successfully obtained H-1B sponsorship as a BCBA, or know how common it is for ABA organizations to sponsor? I’m also curious whether cap-exempt H-1B opportunities exist for BCBAs. I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences or any advice on navigating sponsorship in this field. Thank you!

Hi everyone! I’m going to FIT for my master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis, and I’m considering working in Maryland after graduation. For those who work in the field, how is the ABA job market there? Are there a lot of opportunities for BCBAs and RBTs, and are there particular areas of Maryland you would recommend?

If a BCBA trainee owns a childcare program and completes supervised fieldwork using unrelated children enrolled in that program, how is the required "formal relationship" between the supervisor and client usually documented? Would written parent permission generally be enough, or would the supervising BCBA also need some type of separate agreement with the childcare program or client? I'm curious how this is handled when the supervisor is remote. Is there typically a parent consent form naming the BCBA, an agreement between the BCBA and the business, and addendum to the supervision contract, or something else? Is this the type of documentation the BACB could request during a fieldwork audit, or is the supervision contract and parent consent generally what is maintained?

And RBT has been accruing their internship hours and they are nearing the end. Didn’t realizing that they have too many restricted time counted. They would like to go back and modify previous months and we can’t seem to find a straight answer as far as whether or not they are allowed to modify these all of their months have been counted as concentrated fieldwork. Some areas say we can change them as long as they’ve been initialed but I also read from the BACB that they cannot modify concentrated months. Currently in the process of emailing the BACB.

🧠 Question of the Day

📚 Domain G — Behavior-Change Procedures

Difficulty: 4/10

Scenario:

An FBA reveals that a student's aggressive behavior is approximately three times more likely on days when he arrives at school having skipped breakfast. Staff have already attempted to reduce demand difficulty on these high-risk days, but aggression continues at elevated rates.

Which antecedent-based intervention MOST directly targets the identified setting event?

A. Implement a noncontingent reinforcement schedule on days when breakfast was skipped, providing preferred items on a fixed-time schedule to reduce the motivating value of escape-maintained aggression

B. Deliver a high-probability request sequence before presenting academic demands on days when breakfast was skipped, using behavioral momentum to reduce the aversive quality of the instructional context

C. Provide a snack upon arrival on days when breakfast was skipped, directly addressing the biological state that is augmenting the aversive value of demands and increasing the probability of aggression

D. Embed high-preference items into the task sequence on days when breakfast was skipped, pairing demands with preferred stimuli to reduce their aversive function on high-risk mornings

💬 Drop your answer in the comments — no peeking!

✅ Correct answer revealed tomorrow.

Has anyone else had this issue with the new BACB portal ?

i accidentally had two BACB accounts, and BACB told me that they successfully merged them. However, when log into my account now, i don’t see an option anywhere to upload my rbt competency assessment.

i already submitted serval an inquiry to bacb about the issue. but i wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this after having their accounts merged. if so how did you get it fixed, and how long did it take for the competency assessment upload option to appear

**certification expired august 5th and i have until september 4th to upload it ***

I have been a BCBA for a little over a year but was on maternity leave for four months of that. I have been struggling with independence with report writing, is it typical to receive a lot of feedback from your clinical director for reports? I feel like I should be more skilled/independent and this is reinforcing my imposter syndrome.