r/ABA • u/Kind-Ad4622 • 4d ago

Advice Needed ABA in Schools

Hey everyone! I just wanted your opinion on ABA being used in schools, especially for our special needs learners or children with social-emotional challenges. I have been working with a SPED teacher since the beginning of the school year and every opportunity she gets, she always mentions that, "ABA isn't the solution" and that "I need to go back to a clinic" as well as not allowing me to practice my ABA interventions (even though that's why I was hired by the principal) and actively discouraging me. Is this just a bad teacher? Should I stay in the school district? Go back to a clinic? Any advice on the matter would be appreciated. 😌

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u/Tlacuache_Snuggler BCBA 4d ago

Hey, I’m a BCBA in public schools and want to chime in. The comment about not being able to practice without a BCBA supervisor isn’t necessarily true and it depends on the job you were hired on for.

If they hired you for a job that specifically mentions requiring your RBT cert, then it’s true you need a BCBA supervisor.

If they hired you as a general behavior aide or interventionist, you do NOT need to be under a BCBA. Any practitioner can use ABA-aligned strategies as ABA is a science, not a treatment. We have teachers using ABA strategies in classrooms all the time!

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u/Kind-Ad4622 4d ago

Really? Now I know I definitely need to research some things, especially because this is what I want to do, but dang I want to be able to do it freely. (with supervision but yk what I mean lol) I already contacted the admin of the SPED department, so let's see how it goes from there.

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u/Tlacuache_Snuggler BCBA 4d ago

Really! I’ve been a BCBA in public schools for 10 years. Most of the folks in this thread are probably assuming you are an RBT, hence all the comments about you getting in trouble.

But it’s totally okay for you to be hired on as an interventionist using principles of ABA to guide you. Tons of school districts expect that of their teachers anyway.

What’s not okay is billing Medicaid as “ABA therapy” — ABA as a therapy requires licensure. ABA methodologies as an applied science doesn’t; school psychologists are perfectly able to provide mentorship for that.

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u/Kind-Ad4622 4d ago

Yes, I was not hired as an RBT, just a SLC tech (basically an aide) and I use ABA as a way to help the students.