ABA Therapists?

Question

What do they do?

How can someone become one?

How much are they generally paid?

Answer 1

ABA therapists implement an ABA program to an individual with autism. ABA is typically introduced when the child is young (around 3-4 years) and intervention is very intensive-Sometimes 40+ hours a week. As the child grows and develops more skills, the intensity of the therapy may reduce, depending on the individual's needs. ABA programs include different expressive, receptive, social and other skills that autistic individuals need to learn. For more information on ABA, look at http://www.brighttots.com/aba_therapy.ht... or google Applied Behavior Analysis and you'll get lots of results.

A lead ABA therapist develops this program, often with an autism consultant and oversees and trains the other ABA therapists.

You can become an ABA therapist by training with an autism consultant, getting involved with an ABA home program, or actually become a certified ABA therapist to work in a school for children with autism. These schools usually require you to have a masters degree in ABA or related fields. It really depends on the school.

Pay rates depend on where you live and what type of setting you are in. I live in Illinois, and I worked in a home program. I was paid through a private corporation who specialized in respite work and other services for people with disabilities. I started out making $7 an hour and after 4 years and much training was making $13 dollars an hour when I graduated from college. I just did this as a part time job while I was in college to become a special education teacher. The more education and experience you have, the more money you can make. Obviously you can make MUCH more working at a private school for autistic children than working in a home program. It really just depends on what you want to do.

Answer 2

an ABA tehrapist using Applied Behavioral Analysis to teach chidlren with developmental disabilities-mainly autism

it is one brand of instruction

it involves things such as discrete trial teachign and incidental learning

There are college programs

called BCBA (google it)

there is a masters level certification and an undergrad certification

you cna also get training on teh job by working as an Aide in a school or early intervention program-

an aide can get as little as 15k per year

there is a difference between a behjavior analylist who provides a full range of behavior including writing programs/supervising servicesservices and an ABA therapist who mainly CARRIES out the therapy-often under teh directiong of a behavior analsyst/certified teacher

Answer 3

Behavior Analysts work in a variety of fields including education, industry and in social networks. They have a variety of clients, depending on where they work including children with severe behavior disorders, autism, mental retardation and corporate behavior analysis.

One of the main jobs of a behavior analyst is to conduct a Functional Behavior Assessment and using this information develop a behavior intervention plan, usually with interested parties.

Generally speaking, when a referral is made to an analyst, he or she goes out and observes the situations, reviews any files or paper work involved with the individual and interviews people important to the case.

During the observation, she pays particular attention to activities or events that trigger the problem behavior and what happens after the behavior. He or she then writes a specific treatment program that targets the following:

1. Make change to the environment that will make it less likely that the behavior will occur.

2. Develop and plan to teach a more appropriate replacement behavior that serves the same function as the problem behavior. For instance, say the person throws his or her plate on the floor every time they get served macaroni. The therapist can suggest that macaroni is not served to this individual and to teach the person to say or sign, "I don't want macaroni, ' when it is served.

It used to be that you could take a course or work in the field and pass a test an become a Certified Behavior Analyst. With the development of the field, there are now requirements that include graduating with a degree in behavior analysis. The University of South Florida has this course work as does the University of North Texas.

Certified Behavior Analysts make very good money. Right now the field is wide open because it is in its relative infancy and there is a high demand for analysts. There are also many opportunities for work. One untouched field is corporate behavior analysis that pays a very lot of money.

Besides all of that, if you have an analytical mind, it is an enjoyable and entertaining career.