FROM THE MOUTH OF RBTs… (Source: Reddit)
Reasons I want to quit being an RBT
Central Reach
Slow tablet
Kids who don’t want to listen
Parents who don’t want to listen
Teachers who don’t want to listen
Out of touch BCBA’s
Emotional Labor
Low pay
inconsistent hours
Kids who spit on you
Kids who hit
Kids who slam my face into the ground
Pull my hair
Jump on me
I’m sure I could think of 100 more things…
I went into this job 2 years ago because I truly enjoy teaching, but I find myself hating this field more and more every week…anyone else?
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Outside of HR issues (low pay, inconsistent hours, etc), if this individual worked for an ethical ABA agency that provided ongoing training and quality supervision, he/she would have been taught the skills to address (1) how to gain instructional control; (2) pair with parents and teachers and use data as a reinforcement to facilitate collaboration; (3) address challenging behavior and a multitude of additional skills to improve their quality of life by being a stronger BT/RBT. Not to mention better outcomes for clients.
Business practices / HR practices are only one side of the coin. The other side of the coin – which also costs money – is clinical practices.
Our responsibility is to invest in our BTs/RBTs so that they are given the resources, training, supervision, mentoring, coaching, and whatever else they need to always be learning and improving. Yet so many agencies run their businesses like a sweatshop.
