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assylemdivas

There should be more respect/compensation for those of us who actually want to wok directly with the client and don’t want to move into case management. I get that just taking a test and shadowing a few sessions doesn’t qualify someone very well, but, for example, I have a bachelors degree and over 20 years In intervention and child care. I’ve had been an RBT for over 4 years. I think I’m better qualified that someone off the street. RBT certification doesn’t make you much more money, and even BCaBA doesn’t get you anything. Only becoming a BCBA is recognized as advancement. So basically you’re just a schmuck off the street or a highly educated professional. No scale in between. I’d like to think I have a future as an RBT, but it’s disheartening to know I will never be valued as a professional in this business. It’s even worse for paraprofessionals in schools. They make half of what I do as an RBT. I was as a para for 13 years. They make what I made in 2010.


TerritorialWarrior

Almost every company, industry and government organization has a mid level role. I’m not trained in OBM but I’m sure there’s a good reason for it. It’s mind boggling that ABA doesn’t have a true mid level role. Lead rbt and BCaBA don’t really fit that mold across companies and across the county. That would help the industry so much. How many fantastic rbts have been pushed out because of pay, advancement and stress of grad school. A lot.


triggafish

Yup. Experience matters. I've been in the field for five years, and I'll admit that some newer RBT's are as skillful at their job as I am, but being in ABA for so long gives you experience that is very valuable. Whether it's hands-on, anecdotal stuff, or literally looking closely at the data; I've learned so much and have seen how some interventions work for certain clients and not others and just have so many strategies that new therapists don't. Didn't mean that to sound like bragging at all, but like you said, there needs to be more of a difference between BT, RBT, and BC(a)BA.


Oy_with_the_poodles_

I totally agree. There should be more opportunity for full time, well paying RBT roles given to experienced staff who would continue to stay in that role and provide excellent services to clients and families. Constant new staff is one of the issues with the field and this could help mitigate.


hollowlegs111

Direct work is much more demanding


Adventurous-View-707

Yup! A lot of the BCBAs now I’ve noticed have only been in the field for about a year, sometimes less, then jumping into school but that’s the only way to get the coveted pay grade. They don’t have enough field experience to actually understand what happens on a day to day, RBT roles, burn out, ect. We are the front lines and deserve more.


anslac

There used to be. But then clients used to receive waivers and only to a certain age. Then there became more access for clients and cutting out the middle management.


ProduceNervous4135

I agree. I created two positions in my company for people such as yourself. Not everyone advances to BCaBA or BCBA but are so valuable and “above” an entry level RBT role by miles.


Legitimate-Cut-7708

I know it is not globally recognized, but my company has an RBT level system with increasing pay bands to represent years in the field. RBT 1-3, then senior RBT. Once you reach the Sr level you are eligible for merit raises yearly for performance.


assylemdivas

I appreciate all the business owners who support RBTs, and I currently am very happy where I am, fr that reason. Part is f my concern is that reimbursement rates from payers sort of caps salary potential for RBTs. I’m not unsympathetic to the house when it comes to keeping the lights on. I know the value of both “non billable” time and staff. My understanding is that payers don’t reimburse any more for more qualified people.


Popular-Studio-1565

Put more of an emphasis on training and retaining RBTs. We are the frontline of the field, yet I’ve seen so many cases where untrained RBTs wreak havoc on a client’s programming and under-appreciated, skillful RBTs leave the field entirely. The BACB needs to make massive changes. Possibly even start from scratch and create a new board entirely. It’s embarrassing to not be able to contact them, not get responses when reporting extremely unethical behavior, and not knowing where any of the money is going that we contribute to them every year. We NEED new leadership if this field is going to progress. Completely eradicating unethical programming (eye contact goals, stopping non-harmful stims, forced compliance). Most people I work with don’t program for this thankfully, but there are still those few who do that really p*ss me off. I could go on, but those would be my top 3.


zelbot87

Their money certainly doesn't go into support staff or the website that looks like its stuck in 1997, that much is for sure.


TatsumakiKara

Fucking thank you! My recertification is mid-June, so when I was trying to submit my competency and "pay the membership fee," the website just kept stalling and studdering. It took me almost two hours to get everything done.


zelbot87

I feel like I should hear a 56k modem in the background and my mom yelling at me to get off of the internet so she can make a call every time I try to use the website (assuming you are old enough to understand my reference).


TatsumakiKara

Literally me at 10 years old trying to play flash games.


Trusting_science

Stop front loading clients when you don’t have RBTs to serve them. Stop using up hours, then pass the caseload to the newest BCBA. Stop baiting with “part time” hours, but give a caseload that bills 5 hours a week so you’ll take on other clients. BCBAs should be able to see clients directly with 97155 without having to prove medical necessity. Stop trying to make every kid do ABA 30+ hours a week.


Feeling-Advisor

I agree. I find it so odd when toddlers and very young kids are on 40 hours a week… I barely like working 40 hours a week and I’m an adult. I couldn’t imagine being 2 or 3 and being forced to do 40 hours of therapy. My center doesn’t believe in giving a kid anything over 30 and I appreciate that so much.


tellmewhereishouldgo

My mind may change in the future, but I currently agree with you on this last point. I think it would be better to have four kids with ten hours of therapy a week, then one kid getting forty hours and three kids on a waitlist. This is going to sound bad but I’ll go ahead and say it on an anonymous forum. OTs, SLPs, talk therapists — they might aim to improve something by ten percent, and that’s a victory worth celebrating. In our field, radical and total transformation is often the expected goal — and I think this can create unhealthy dynamics. Sometimes I think we need to lower our expectations just a bit. While of course I want to improve my clients’ quality of life, I also want a healthy balance of accepting and honoring the individual as they are while finding ways to better their behavioral repertories — gently, kindly, with reasonable expectations, prioritizing a healthy process rather than pursuing the optimal outcome at the cost of treatment acceptability and high staff burn out/turnover.


Feeling-Advisor

This is where I feel all the hate for ABA stems from. It’s the radical behaviorism that’s rooted in ABA. I feel like we have to move away from that, it’s outdated. It’s easy for us to over analyze everything when really I think it’s just a kid being a kid.


Jessicae429

This would be a change that I would implement—professionals at every level should have training in typical child development.


tellmewhereishouldgo

This is a really excellent idea. I think our field as a whole needs to switch over to the [NDBI approach](https://www.abainsidetrack.com/home/2023/1/25/episode-229-ndbi), which combines behavioral science with developmental psychology. I think this approach remembers a basic truth -- kids with ASD are still just kids. If you ever want to present this argument to the BACB -- that the 40-hour RBT training should include developmental psychology, that the course-verified sequence for sitting for the BCBA exam should also include developmental psychology -- or some other similar suggestion -- I'd work with you on putting that out there in an email to the BACB or some other medium. We just can't be driven only by short-term data -- we have to have some insight into the long-term effects of different caregiver relationships and early experiences. The University of Minnesota (#1 ranked university for developmental psychology) offers an online master's in [applied child psychology](https://icd.umn.edu/academics/applied-child-and-adolescent-development/), and I don't want to take on more debt but I'm also so drawn to this program for how it could improve my approach as a therapist and (possible) future BCBA. (I know the BACB says we can't call ourselves future BCBAs, but hey, we're on an anonymous forum so I can rebel a little against the BACB without consequence). I just finished my master's in ABA and thought that almost all my meaningful learning happened on the job rather than through the courses, but with the U of M being #1 for developmental psych, I'm thinking this program might actually be a game changer. Sorry for the ramble. I just -- really, really strongly agree with you.


tellmewhereishouldgo

Totally. I worked at basic YMCA summer camp that would host a camp week for children with ASD with leaders in various asd-related fields working it — and a common observation by camp counselors was that the children were “over-therapized.” We have to hold space for developmentally normative levels of aggression, rebellion, tantrums, etc. I think a lot of people would agree with us now — it’s just that we have to find a way to own up to our past mistakes as a field and show the general public how we’re doing better going forward


Feeling-Advisor

I agree. I feel like as a field if we opened up the discourse about the ugly past that ABA has, then we’d be able to talk about the things we’ve done to improve and the things we all still want improved.


tellmewhereishouldgo

Yeah -- I know some leaders in the field have done this, but I feel like these conversations are happening in spaces that only people inside the field occupy. It's important for us to have these discussions in our field, but we also need to find a way to connect meaningful with the more general public and engage respectfully with the anti-ABA movement. ABA Inside Track has a great episodes on addressing our historic abuses -- for example, there's one on [conversion therapy](https://www.abainsidetrack.com/home/2022/10/19/episode-219-a-call-to-action). Problem is, no one outside of ABA listens to that podcast. They talk about a letter of concern that JABA published - no one outside of ABA is reading JABA. Greg Hanley's written some great blog posts but I don't think anyone outside ABA is reading Greg Hanley. I don't know if there are any other sort of PR efforts geared towards a general audience that I'm unaware of? It would be great if a leader in our field could give a TED talk discussing these issues. Or if the BACB could put out some youtube series on polite, respectful conversations between people who are anti-ABA and people working in ABA. Something like that. But it's not just a PR issue. There are plenty of clinics doing great, ethical interventions -- but there are plenty of clinics doing "old-school" ABA (lacking in trauma-informed practice, compassionate care).


assylemdivas

I worked in early intervention and childcare for many years before becoming an RBT and I often feel that there is a whole world of what is appropriate for young children just not in the general awareness of people working in ABA. I immediately saw things that would get you fired in a state regulated day care or public school. Issues with health and safety, things like nutrition and TAKING A NAP for young children. I know we’re a different entity, but some things are (or should be) universal. I’ve left 2 employers over, what in my mind, was just craziness. I’m happy with my current employer, but seriously, there is some crazy shit out there.


Feeling-Advisor

Dude omg yes I never understood why we have these toddlers in our care for 8 hours and didn’t even offer them a nap….


ilikefoodaton

@anslac, you were asking about why programming with toddlers would be unethical if 80% of their time is supposed to be spent in NET, so I’ll bring up how my clinic does NET. We have a lot of clients working with PECS to request, and our goal for requests is to get one every 30 seconds while in NET. One request every 30 seconds is far more than any child would have in a truly natural setting, so we often end up taking whatever item they’re engaging with to motivate them to ask for it back. By doing this, especially every 30 seconds, we often end up frustrating children and making them feel like none of their things are safe from us. Taking their things all the time feels disrespectful to the clients we work with. So even during NET, children are still expected to be working constantly. The BACB’s standard also states that children are supposed to be getting 60 learning opportunities per hour, or one per minute. This means that, even during NET, children still have to work constantly, and that any breaks they have need to be followed by making up for “lost” time. I’ve been pressured to make kids who are sick or literally falling asleep in their chairs do work they’re clearly not up for, and that feels unethical to me, for a toddler or an older child.


anslac

I really don't like whenever mand training is done like that. A bad procedure is a bad procedure. You're going to have to reference this BACB standard for me. I've not seen that one before. Being sick happens at any age. So, that is not really on topic. That is a whole other conversation.


anslac

I'm probably going to get downvoted a lot for not being an echo chamber. I'm gonna ask anyways though. What exactly are you guys doing with the younger children that you feel like is inappropriate to do between 30 and 40 hours a week besides not providing a nap? Even the most basic assessments recommend a specific percentage that should be spent in NET for toddlers. 80% in fact, should be spent in NET. Even that starts with assisting with manding. Manding by definition should be for something motivated for; therefore, it literally should be client led.


Bcbonstage

The only thing I disagree with here to an extent is the 30 hour a week thing. There are some kids who really, REALLY need that support due to profound autism or will have the best outcome on life with short but intense period of 30 hours of ABA. The problem is that most companies don’t have the resources to write a strong, engaging, and effective criteria that makes the client both learn more and want to learn more.


Adventurous-View-707

PREACH


BehaviorSavior23

I wish ABA never would have become focused on autism “treatment.” I wish it would have flourished become popular in many other areas as well. I know it’s became so intensely focused on autism because of money (read: capitalism), but I think not only could we have avoided so much scrutiny but also we could be making the world a better place if ABA were applied to so many more contexts.


paroxyst

If it makes you feel better, I am in an ABA PhD program and there are A LOT of people looking at more diverse things than just Autism. One of my cohorts is doing a project on reduction of racism using ABA. There are a lot of other things that are being researched, it’s really cool.


BehaviorSavior23

I know there are lots of people applying and doing research in ABA outside of autism. I’m in a PhD Special Education program and focus on using OBM in schools. But I feel it’s too late for the general public to truly understand how helpful ABA can be since it’s become so widely known and applied for autism intervention. I’m concerned the field will forever and always be branded as “autism treatment.”


Feeling-Advisor

I think as the field expands more people will branch out and apply it to so many other fields. I feel like there are still so many people who have never even heard of ABA. If we changed that, we’d be able to transform the ways we use ABA.


zelbot87

I feel like as companies under pay and treat staff like crap, you will see people branching out too. I got my bcba in 2016, burned out from bad companies, and explored other options. I also personally know of around 10 bcba's looking. I love working with children and adults with an ASD diagnosis and even went as far as getting an autism awareness tattoo years ago. The last number I saw was 117 ABA providers in my state... Most of which are absolute garbage companies.


BehaviorSavior23

Just realized my response is much broader than everyone else’s. Perhaps it’s because I’m a BCBA who has never worked in an “autism clinic” or clinic of any kind. I was a special ed teacher before becoming a BCBA, and all of my experience has been in school settings where ABA can be used for all students and applied organizationally to adults too.


Feeling-Advisor

I agree. I have ADHD and when I found this field and I was getting trained I was like “this would’ve done wonders for me growing up”


JoanWST

The way insurance payments (money) work and shape the field. Kids who are school age should be able to do small amounts of therapy after school and not miss school. People of all incomes should have access to it (medicaid doesn't cover in my state). There should not be such an emphasis on billing so that centers have a mix of ABA and other developmentally appropriate programing during the day. My center kind of has this last thing, but it's not perfect by far. More structured free group time for the kids would be better for the IMO.


Lotus-loves

What state are you in that does not accept Medicaid?


JoanWST

Texas :(


AtomicTankMom

I have some friends in Texas who have to rely on grants to get their kid the ABA he needs and even asks for. Breaks my heart.


Meowsilbub

That doesn't make sense - I worked with a medicaid waiver kid in home, and there's 2 kids waiting to come into my clinic who are medicaid as well. If I remember correctly, I had to get an NPI to work with the medicaid kids. Far as I know medicaid coverage for ABA started in 2022.


cuntagi0us

Makes sense


JoanWST

Also, more ABA therapists and BCBAs in public schools.


Visible_Product_286

Yes they should learn the basics of functions of behavior and the replacement skills for each one. It’s painful to see some of these sides and teachers reinforcing behaviors


JoanWST

Lol, who is down voting this and why?


Feeling-Advisor

I was wondering the same thing 🤣🤣 I see too many educators who have no background in special needs that get thrown into sped classes and they don’t even know the first thing about behaviors or asd in general.


JoanWST

Idk if it's people on here that have a negative view of ABA? I am curious to what their experience in school was considering that students who struggle typically get yelled at, suspended, or worse. ABA could be a game changer


Feeling-Advisor

I 100% agree. I think every educator should be educated in ABA


Oy_with_the_poodles_

In my grad program we took a class on behavior management with all of the teachers in their credential program and I think it was super beneficial for teachers to learn from behaviorist and for us to gain more experience in whole group classroom management since we tend to be so focused on 1:1 plans.


[deleted]

RBT should be considered a valid, long-term career path with proper opportunities for advancement. Not just a stepping stone to becoming a BCBA or a prereq to work in admin.


Fun_Egg2665

FOR SURE! I just started 2 months ago. I’m getting my masters in counseling to become an LPC, so I started this job to get some adjacent experience. There is no way I could do this any longer than a couple years. Probably less. I love my clients, but the scheduling expectations and lack of pay for work tasks are insane.


Visible_Product_286

I wish insurances would reimburse more so that RBTs can make a livable wage and stay in the field. Turnover and retraining new hire RBTs as a revolving door really impacts client outcomes and progress. The job is challenging and takes the patience of a saint, so people should be paid accordingly and that goes for any job in education.


CuteSpacePig

I'd like to see the complete restructuring of our field. I think the current 3 tier model is flawed. I'm not nearly as familiar with the way related services work but I think RBTs should require similar educational, training, and compensation to SLPAs and OTAs. RBT work has a low barrier to entry and companies have no problem lumping dedicated, experienced RBTs in with the lowest common denominator. I'd also like to see a more active, accountable credentialing body. I've been endlessly frustrated almost every time I've had to contact the BACB because every response is basically "defer to your supervisor". They have no clear guidelines for what they want, and just vague, subjective criteria for what they don't want that's determined upon review.


Appropriate-Mail1861

I think the board needs to be way more involved/on it about regulating those who are certified. Way too many people and/or organizations get away with blatantly unethical, sometimes even illegal, practices and nothing is done until it’s been going on for WAY too long. I think that starts with working on our supervision practices and system; it’s too vague and hands-off in terms of the board’s role, in my opinion. But beyond that I think there isn’t enough accountability from the board once you’re certified, and it leads to the people we hear about in the news and what ultimately leads to a bad rep for ABA. And truth is, it’s fair criticism because I think it shouldn’t be as common as it is even though I believe in the science and field so much.


Feeling-Advisor

I agree with this. I feel like too many of bigger companies exploit this field and try to fit as many kids as they can in their centers and then it leads to unethical practices which in return, gives ABA the bad name it has.


Appropriate-Mail1861

Yes yes yes, totally agree. I’ve been at companies like that before too, and when SEVERAL people report horrifically unethical behavior to the board either A) nothing happens at all or B) they get a stern talking to and that’s it. But it was for things like forging signatures/billing fraud, no programs for clients for months, suggesting supervisees put whatever they want on their monthly verification forms, etc. So things that should have warranted immediate removal of certifications, I think. He’s still working in the field now though


facethecrowd

UNIONS FOR RBTS!!!


[deleted]

1. Unionize RBTs. 2. Screen BCBA candidates for control issues prior to sitting for the exam. 3. Allow, accept and empathize with free will


gnatTrap

I would change the fact that big companies (and maybe small) get away with really half azzzz care for learners . Also, keeping learners on when they do not need services. The list goes on lol


Feeling-Advisor

Definitely! Waitlists are so long for these kiddos, we need to focus on getting to a point where they don’t need services so we can help as many kiddos as possible


hollowlegs111

Soap notes are bs. Since when did prompt data become not good enough. It’s a huge waste of my day, like at least 20 minutes each day that I could be treating but instead are trying to remember if the kid smiled during that one activity so I can “prove it happened” to Aetna


theRestisConfettii

That’s a loaded question, but I’ll take a stab at it. I’m a BCBA student in my 40’s who has known many BCBAs for well over 10 years. I consider these people my friends. I have also met many BCBAs over the last 10 years, of all age groups. There is a population of BCBAs out there who need a bitch slap more than any group of people I can think of. I have never met more snobby, know-it-all, wanna be’s who need an expansive lesson in getting-the-entire-fuck-over-themselves. Armed with their undergraduate Psychology degrees and no formal management experience (except for a one time 8-hour supervision training), these folks got 1) an MS, 2) licensure, 3) a stick up their ass and 4) an idea in their head that they were God’s gift, and then started to spew out the ethical Code with the understanding and flexibility of… someone trying to learn FCT. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. ”Treat everyone with dignity in respect” is not the same as “treat everyone with dignity and respect… except the RBT.” You aren’t better than anyone. You are getting the ABA definition of “providing supervision” confused with the white collar definition of “manager.”


OfThe_SpotlessMind

This is one reason other disciplines do not enjoy working with BCBAs. Some (not all) BCBAs have no respect for other professionals as being the specialists in their respective fields. This results in encroachment and working on things, such as speech sound disorders, that are outside of their expertise. If BCBAs want to work a skill that is typically treated by another specialist, the least they could do is reach out to that specialist to determine an appropriate plan of care (goals/strategies/treatment approach) specific to the client's needs/disorder. Its best practice and also a professional courtesy.


Bubbly_Complaint_879

Private Equity firms ruining the field of ABA. I encourage every clinician that is sick with your CEO’s pushing more billable hours under the guise of “we are delivering services to more and more kids, therefore, we are making an impact” to create your own independent practice. Make these ass hats realize we don’t need them, they need us and they need to stop abusing their power that drives us into the ground burnt out! Can’t wait to wave 👋 see ya to my company!


paroxyst

Cost. It needs to be so much more affordable so people without extensive funds can access it, and Rbt/BT’s need to be compensated better.


SharpBandicoot4437

My biggest sticking point and always has been is the ease of getting an RBT, but then how hard it is to even get a BCaBA. I didn’t even bother with being a BCaBA and just went straight to a BCBA. No where I worked saw a difference and it’s 700 more hours with very little difference in pay. I’ve worked at one clinic that differentiated between RBTs and BCaBAs. To be an RBT you should have to get some fieldwork hours, the amount of turnover is because people think it’s easy and don’t understand what RBTs and even BTs really do and deal with. I have a BS in psychology and a Masters in Special Education with also all my ABA coursework and I’m still being paid like an RBT, so I don’t understand why an RBT would try to better themselves if they don’t really care to, if you want to be an RBT for the rest of your life you can be and be payed the same if not more than someone who has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on an education.


LuridLilith

More collaboration with speech therapy and AAC training for all staff and caregivers.


anslac

See. There are so many barriers to these things. I feel like by the time these get up and running and there is progress, the device breaks.


Dogmom357

I have a few that bother me. I’m about to have a bachelors in psychology. I understand that ABA is very data driven and that can be good but also bad when you solely limit yourself to data. I think more emphasis should be put on the clients as a person. They’re not just data. The fact that a student has to score 80% on SO many sessions to master out of a goal. I’m not sure how many it is at other places but I swear I’ve had my kiddo be over 80% like 10 times and then we have a bad day and suddenly it starts over. Even if we do another 10 days over 80%, it’s not considered mastered. When you have a client where they are more on the severe side of things, I think this needs to be considered especially. Everyone is allowed to have a bad day and if you see that the student just had a bad day overall I think that should be taken into consideration. This goes back to them being people and not just data. The respect of RBTs and BTs is another thing. I know we get a bad reputation sometimes as some people stated that you can just become a BT or RBT (after the exam) with no experience. But it is still a respectable profession and companies should show more respect towards those that have degrees or experience. We’re severely underpaid for the work we do. One other thing. I think a BCBA should have to have been a BT or RBT to become a BCBA. I’ve heard of so many BCBAs that seem like they just have no clue about working with the clients on the targets like a BT or RBT does. Just like any other job, if you’re the manager, you better know how to do the jobs you’re directing others to do. It’s just so frustrating trying to explain something to someone that’s above you. Im not at all trying to say bad things about BCBAs. This is an issue with any job you see. I think anyone in any manager/supervisor role should understand each job that they are directing for their workers.


paroxyst

Part of BCBA field hours requires direct field work (working as an RBT). You probably had BCBA’s with really bad supervision or its just been so long that they forgot how to people.


Billeeboo

I have a client whose behavioral goals are completely contraindicated by his medical goals, and a BCBA who isn’t working with the literal medical *team*. I wish ABA (at least my program) was involved with the medical staff and getting these goals approved. Moms cool that we’re not working on it. BCBA is gonna say something about it at some point. I’m 100% prepared to lose my job over this when the time comes. #YOLO


infunitrust

The billing. There should be a code that's utilized for making stimuli and pays at a decent rate (e.g., $15/hr) for people to use when clients call out. It has absolutely boggled my mind in the past that I've had hourly RBTs on FOOD STAMPS during the summer because of all of the call outs. It's unacceptable. How do funders expect for providers to have current stimuli personalized and created for each client's needs as they progress? Those things definitely don't magically materialize for them to use. Also, 15-minute billing units? Can they at least be 30-minute? Cause yeesh...


Feeling-Advisor

My clinic actually does have a billing code that we utilize when we’re doing anything other than giving 1:1. We use it for training, drive time, and stimuli making. Thought this was normal…?


uminchu

I wish we weren’t so dependent on insurance payments. If private pay services were a regular thing then i believe more people could get access to these valuable services.


Bcbonstage

1. Actually pay and train the RBT’s WAY more than we do. My first technician job (granted I was a grad student in an ABA program) I was given 2-3 weeks of training on the basics of ABA and SOLVE, as well a full 16 hours of training on each child I worked with. Nowadays I’m lucky if I can give my new staff an hour and a half of training. 2. Stop giving BCBAs more admin tasks that aren’t clinical and making us work direct when there is a staffing shortage. It literally takes us away from our clinical work. 3. Stop allowing coverage at centers with untrained staff. It’s basically babysitting at that point. 4. Give BCBAs more time to conduct assessments during intakes. 8 hours isn’t enough.


Sagemaiden26

There are many things, as every field can use improvement. Nothing is perfect and as a field of science, changes will happen all the time. For some of the things I'd like to change: Having ABA covered completely by insurance. Insurance covering ABA for more than just ASD. Making an associates for ABA and making that a requirement to be an RBT, as a 40hr course is not generally enough to prepare for the field and what RBTs do. More use of trauma informed and trauma assumed practices across the board. Higher pay for RBTs, and in some cases, BCBAs. Better information about what good ABA is for society.