The #1 Question Everyone in ABA Therapy Should Know How to Answer
By: Heyde Ramirez, MA, BCBA, LBA
Am I Making a Difference?
Congratulations! You are officially a Board Certified Behavior Analyst® (BCBA®). The day has finally come, and you’ve been handed your first case. You are excited! After all, imagine all of the possibilities. All of the potential behaviors to shape, increase, and decrease. You have trained for this and you can’t wait. You want above all else to make a difference!
You go and meet your client and their family for the first time. You are professional and courteous. You conduct a skills assessment and go home and develop goals. You are giving this case your all, as you should, and you find yourself devouring the research, ensuring that all of your treatment techniques align with what we know to be evidenced based practice. You create the data sheets. You gather your materials. You feel good, right? A sense of accomplishment that comes with knowing that you are about to change someone’s life envelopes you. You are the team captain, and you have gathered the finest crew available. You have plans to provide ongoing training to the behavior technicians and to your client’s family. You know exactly what to do and where to go as you make plans to lead your team on an expedition that will no doubt take your client on a journey towards independence and a higher quality of life. But are you REALLY making a difference? How do you even begin to answer that question?
Find Out From Others
Well, it’s not the kind of question you can or should answer on your own. Talk to the team, remember, while you may be the BCBA® on this case, you are just one part of this team. Sure, you’ve trained for this and you believe you know what your client needs most, but ultimately you are there to provide a service to your client. Is your client and their family going to be happy with the service rendered? Families have sought out ABA therapy in most instances in order to see the life of their loved ones improved. They want to see a difference. So how do you make that difference? You may have a treatment plan with beautifully written long and short term goals, but are they socially valid?
Social Validity is Everything!
What is social validity? Well plainly put, does anyone care about what you are teaching your client to do? Is it going to better their quality of life? Is the family on board with the goals in the treatment plan and how you plan to achieve those goals? Were the results noteworthy? If social validity is low…well… let’s just say… you may not be making that difference in people’s lives that you strive to make. Social validity is like that secret ingredient of that dish you love so much, and without it, no one is really going to want to go back for seconds.
As a BCBA®, you are in an amazing position, armed with powerful behavior altering tools, and within reason there is probably nothing you can’t train. Be sure to never stop asking yourself if you are making a difference. Be the BCBA® who stops and truly listens for that answer. Whenever possible, ask your client what they want to work on, and when that isn’t possible, rely on trusted caregivers to give you as much information as possible. Use evidence based practices and ensure buy-in from the team.
Remember, treatment plans should be individualized to the client and that includes the treatment techniques used during treatment. Be the BCBA® who spends the time training the entire team to teach the client relevant and functional skills that will make a difference in their lives. Be the BCBA® whose entire team can confidently say, Yes! This is making a great difference in the client’s life!
Are you interested in becoming a BCBA® with Attentive Behavior Care? Apply today!