ABA training online for special-education teachers

Prices and terms change; each link goes to the page we read.

Two routes work well together: a course that gives you and your paraprofessionals the same foundation, and free modules for the one practice a student needs next.

A 2017 meta-analysis by Matthew Brock and Erik Carter, in Remedial and Special Education, pooled group-design studies of training for teachers and paraprofessionals who carry out interventions for students with disabilities. Training raised how faithfully staff carried out the intervention, and training that combined modeling with performance feedback was associated with better implementation. Longer training was not associated with larger effects (ERIC EJ1141691).

For a teacher learning online, that points to a simple weekly rhythm:

1. Watch one session, and pick one move from it to use that week.
2. Show the move to the paraprofessional who works with the student.
3. Watch them try it and tell them, briefly and specifically, what you saw.

A free one-page sheet helps with the second step: the teacher and paraeducator instruction handoff, to fill in together before an activity.

Intro to ABA: Level 1 is a course on the methods and techniques of ABA, built for the people who work with the child every day: parents and caregivers, teachers, paraprofessionals and behavior technicians. Its nine online sessions, drawn largely from work with young children in classrooms and homes, include:

• what autism is, and an overview of ABA
• methods of teaching, and errorless teaching and prompting
• active student responding, to raise a learner's motivation
• two sessions on beginner classroom participation skills
• a first session on assessing problem behavior (functional behavior assessment)

A final exam follows the sessions. Sessions run from about 45 minutes to just over 2 hours, watched on a phone or a computer, and you have 11 weeks to complete the course. It comes with downloadable materials, listed beside its sessions.

Completing this course earns a Special Learning certificate of completion.

$199, paid once. It is not a subscription and has no recurring charge. The 7-day free trial covers the first two sessions; starting it asks for your email, a password and your role, with no payment card.

When a school buys Level 1 for a group of 10 or more, it is $99 a person, paid once, and every person has 12 weeks from the day they activate their access. Teachers and the paraprofessionals they work with then share the same words and methods.

Your principal or special-education office can plan the team and see the cost, or ask for a written quote to approve or raise a purchase order against. What each session covers, and our W-9 for the vendor file, are on the page for school districts.

Where can special education teachers get ABA training online?

A short course on ABA methods for the classroom, such as Special Learning's Intro to ABA: Level 1, costs $199 with a 7-day free trial of the first two sessions. The RBT credential needs a 40-hour training that meets the BACB's requirements, and the BCBA is a graduate-level certification whose requirements the BACB sets. Free modules from AFIRM (UNC Chapel Hill), OCALI's Autism Internet Modules and the IRIS Center at Vanderbilt cover evidence-based practices, autism and classroom behavior alongside them. Sources: BACB RBT page, BACB BCBA page, AFIRM, AIM, IRIS.

Are there free online modules for teachers?

Yes. AFIRM's 28 modules on evidence-based practices for autistic learners are free with no account needed, OCALI's 50 Autism Internet Modules are free, and the IRIS Center's Classroom Behavior Management (Part 1) module is free with no log-in, with IRIS PD certificates free through May 2027. Sources: AFIRM certificates and CEUs, AIM, IRIS PD certificates.

What does the RBT credential require for training?

The BACB's RBT Handbook asks for a 40-hour training that meets its requirements, completed in no less than 5 days and no more than 180 days, then an initial competency assessment. Employers, universities and online programs offer the training; the BACB does not provide it. Source: BACB RBT Handbook, updated October 2026.

Can I try Level 1 before I buy it?

Yes. The 7-day free trial covers the first two sessions, with no payment card. Start it on the course page.

Can my school buy Level 1 for me and my paraprofessionals?

Yes. For a group of 10 or more it is $99 a person, paid once, on one written quote. See the group course page or ask for a quote.

Your next step

Watch the first two sessions of Level 1 free for 7 days. Starting it asks for no payment card.

Buying for a team? Plan your team and see the cost.