Expectations_Of_BCBAs

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www.ILoveABA.com 1 BCBA ’ s: What to Expect *Note: Throughout this handout, the term “ BCBA ” is synonymous with “ BCBA-D ” . Here are some helpful tips that will help you understand how to collaborate, consult, or communicate with a Behavior Analyst. BCBA ’ s love to sing the praises of Behavior Analysis, so if you have questions just ask us! ▪ What the heck is a BCBA, anyway? – Probably the #1 question of professionals who do not work in the field of ABA. A Board Certified Behavior Analyst is a professional who has gone through extensive and regimented coursework (either at the Master ’ s or Doctorate level), supervised clinical experience, and passed a comprehensive exam. BCBA ’ s are also required to regularly participate in conferences or other training opportunities to stay abreast of current best practices. A Behavior Analyst is the person to contact if you are needing help in the area of behavior/behavior change , which is a broad topic covering animal behavior, criminology, education/teaching, business/management, weight loss, smoking, language, and on and on and on. ▪ We are all different- If your 11-year-old is flunking school, getting in fights, and oppositional, can a BCBA help with this? Yes. Can any old BCBA help with this? No . Think of how doctors have specialties of practice, such as a pediatrician. Would you go to a pediatrician if you needed hip surgery? Not likely. In the same way, each BCBA will have unique experiences, clinical strengths, and areas of expertise. If you need help training your dog, you need a BCBA who has animal behavior expertise. If you need help increasing your productivity at work, you need a BCBA who has business/self-management expertise. BCBA ’ s are not one-size-fits-all. ▪ We focus on the environment to understand and analyze behavior- BCBA ’ s primarily seek to understand and treat behavior by examining what happens around the individual who exhibits the behavior. This may include looking at what happens before or after the behavior, directly observing the behavior, or interviewing people who have directly observed the behavior. BCBA ’ s do not believe feelings and emotions don ’ t exist; that is a myth. Rather, we seek to objectively and operationally examine feelings or emotions so we can come up with something clear and discrete to measure. For example, if 3 teachers do not

www.ILoveABA.com 2 agree on what “ sad ” means then how can they measure when little Ike is sad? They cannot. First, a concrete and clear behavior must be selected before anything can be measured. ▪ We have a unique language, BUT we are required to be bi-lingual- Contingencies, Verbal Behavior, Intervention plan, Extinction, Functionally Equivalent …. if you have spent any time with a BCBA you have likely heard some odd words tossed around. These words can be very intimidating or confusing when you first hear them. BCBA ’ s have a clinical language all their own, with a vast vocabulary. Here is the good news: the BCBA can, and is expected to, explain things to you in a way that is understandable. This means you should expect the BCBA to put down the jargon and pick up plain speech. Do not hesitate to stop the BCBA and ask, “ What does that mean/Can you explain that simply? ” . All BCBA ’ s are automatically bi-lingual, because we do speak “ ABA ” , but we also must be able to communicate plainly. ▪ Arrogance and condescension are not guaranteed- If you ’ ve had a previous negative experience with a BCBA, this may have been why. Like any profession, there are some BCBA ’ s who have less …. bedside manner , than others. This is an unfortunate reality. What it is NOT, is something to expect. A quality BCBA will be bi-lingual (see above tip), knowledgeable, professional, and respectful. Arrogance is not a requirement to be a BCBA, it is more of an unfortunate quality that some do possess. ▪ We are not “ Autism people ” - This may be the top myth about BCBA ’ s: that we are only helpful when it comes to working with individuals with Autism or some form of Developmental Disability. This could not be falser. Worldwide, BCBA ’ s can and do work in a variety of settings, with all kinds of people (and animals), performing all kinds of clinical duties. Yes, BCBA ’ s can be extremely helpful in designing treatment for individuals with Autism. But our education, clinical training, and supervision experiences qualify us to do far more than treat Autism. ▪ We need precise and objective information to help you (translation: DATA)- If you have interacted with a BCBA before, you may have noticed we tend to answer questions with questions. Example: Question) “ What do I do about my 4-year- old who won ’ t sleep in his bed? ” , Answer) “ Do you mean fall asleep in his own bed, nap in his own bed, or stay in his own bed through the night? ” . This is not unusual, and should be expected. BCBA ’ s are behavior scientists. For this reason, we cannot make treatment recommendations with minimal or absent data. We need to know what is going on, how long it has been going on, the function or motivation of the problem behavior, and what has already been

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