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For DSP trainers and supervisors

Is there positive behavior support training online for direct support professionals?

Short answer: Yes. Several online curricula for direct support professionals (DSPs) include positive behavior support (PBS): DirectCourse’s College of Direct Support lists Positive Behavior Supports among its content areas, Relias’s learning paths for intellectual and developmental disability providers cover behavior management and crisis management, and Open Future Learning offers modules on Challenging Behavior and Active Support. For staff who support autistic people, Special Learning’s Level 1 ABA Online Training Course for groups teaches the applied behavior analysis foundations that PBS draws on, such as pairing, prompting and motivation. Online learning builds the shared knowledge; with any one person, staff follow that person’s own support plan and the clinician who wrote it.

Special Learning · Published November 12, 2026 · Sources read November 12, 2026

In the words of the Association for Positive Behavior Support (APBS).

What PBS is

APBS defines PBS as “a set of research-based strategies used to increase quality of life and decrease problem behavior by teaching new skills and making changes in a person’s environment.” It combines four elements: valued outcomes, behavioral and biomedical science, validated procedures, and systems change (APBS).

APBS also says PBS assessment and intervention strategies “are based upon research in applied behavior analysis,” and that a plan is judged by “increases in quality of life as defined by an individual’s unique preferences and needs.”

Use this list when you read any course outline, including ours.

What a PBS course for DSPs should cover

  1. Quality of life as the goal. Success is measured by the person’s own preferences, relationships and participation, not only by less behavior.
  2. Behavior in context. APBS: behavior “is considered purposeful and is under the control of environmental factors that can be changed.” Staff learn to notice what happens just before and just after.
  3. Teaching skills and changing the setting. Building communication and everyday skills, and arranging routines and surroundings so they work for the person.
  4. The DSP’s role in the plan. Carrying out the strategies in each person’s written plan and documenting as it asks. Ohio’s list of annual DSP topics includes positive behavioral support, with examples such as “creating positive culture” and “role of the direct support professional including documentation” (Ohio Adm. Code 5123-2-08, Appendix C).
  5. Prevention across the whole setting. APBS describes support for everyone in a setting, extra support for some, and an individualized plan for a few.

Emergency procedures follow your state’s rule and your agency’s chosen program. Minnesota’s DSP orientation, for example, includes “the safe and correct use of manual restraint on an emergency basis” and staff responsibilities related to prohibited procedures, as part of orientation that “combines supervised on-the-job training with review of and instruction in” the listed areas (Minn. Stat. 245D.09, subd. 4). Plan that part with the program your agency uses.

Described from each provider’s own site, read November 12, 2026.

Where DSPs find online PBS training

  • DirectCourse, College of Direct Support: lists Positive Behavior Supports among its content areas; accredited by NADSP for DSP training hours toward e-badges (DirectCourse).
  • Relias: courses with pre- and post-training assessments on topics including behavior management, crisis management and cultural competence (Relias).
  • Open Future Learning: modules on subjects such as Active Support and Challenging Behavior (Open Future Learning).
  • Your state: Minnesota’s Department of Human Services says DirectCourse provides courses that support “Positive Support Rule training” and certain 245D license requirements (Minnesota DHS).
  • Special Learning: the Level 1 ABA Online Training Course for groups, described below.

Frequently asked

Questions training leads ask.

Is positive behavior support the same as ABA?

They are related. APBS describes positive behavior support as based on behavioral and biomedical science, with assessment and intervention strategies based upon research in applied behavior analysis, and judged by valued outcomes such as quality of life as defined by the person’s own preferences and needs.

What is a DSP’s part in a person’s behavior support plan?

Each person’s plan is written by the professional your state and agency designate. DSPs carry out the strategies in that plan, record what happens as the plan asks, and tell the plan’s author what they notice. Questions about why a behavior happens, or about changing the plan, go to that professional.

Is there online training for Minnesota’s Positive Support Rule?

Minnesota’s Department of Human Services says DirectCourse provides courses that support competency-based training with certain 245D license training requirements and Positive Support Rule training, and it publishes a Minnesota DirectCourse crosswalk.

Can we try Special Learning’s course before buying for the whole team?

Yes. The course has a free 7-day trial of its first 2 sessions. Our free team pilot kit shows how to run the trial with a small group of staff and decide against a bar you set in advance.

Sources

Each source was read on November 12, 2026. Providers and states change their pages and rules, so check the current version before you rely on it.

  1. Association for Positive Behavior Support, “What is Positive Behavior Support”, https://www.apbs.org/about-apbs/what-is-positive-behavior-support/
  2. Ohio Administrative Code 5123-2-08, Appendix C, Training requirements for direct support professionals, https://codes.ohio.gov/assets/laws/administrative-code/pdfs/5123/0/2/5123-2-08_PH_FF_A_APP3_20240919_1204.pdf
  3. Minnesota Statutes, section 245D.09, Staffing standards, https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/245D.09
  4. DirectCourse, “College of Direct Support”, https://directcourseonline.com/direct-support/
  5. Relias, “Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) Training”, https://www.relias.com/industry/intellectual-developmental-disabilities
  6. Open Future Learning, home page, https://www.openfuturelearning.org/
  7. Minnesota Department of Human Services, “DirectCourse”, https://mn.gov/dhs/partners-and-providers/training-conferences/long-term-services-and-supports/directcourse/