What is your day like as a BCBA

imasinger

Mon, Jun 05 2017, 7:36 pm

I am not, but my DD is.

It depends a lot on where you work. To some extent, you can set your own hours, but the more cases you take on, the greater your income.

And the routine might vary by day.

If you work in a school or institution, you may start in the morning, and finish when the school day ends. Spend time observing therapists on their cases, plus doing larger scale groups sometimes.

If you work on a number of individual cases, you have to arrange the supervision times that work for the therapist, the client, and you. Factor in driving time, as you may well be traveling some.

My DD finishes most days in the afternoon, but often spends hours of the evening on the phone. Time has to be set aside for paperwork, like updating time sheets, or else nobody gets paid.

If you are considering the field, you may want to talk to local professionals. Most are happy to share.

TwinsMommy

Mon, Jun 05 2017, 7:46 pm

I'm not a BCBA but I have two kids getting ABA who HAVE a BCBA. Smile

She spends time putting programs into the computer system so the tutors can take data... she spends time training the tutors. She spends time supervising the tutors during some of their sessions (my kids, for an example, are in school all day so our sessions are always 4 to 5:45 or 4:30 to 6:30 depending on the tutor's schedule. She spends time answering calls and emails from parents.

I would imagine you'd have to make sure you have some morning availability, some afternoon availability, and some evening availability. (if you're NOT in a school). Evenings for training/teaching tutors who often work full time during the day..... mornings and afternoons to supervise sessions depending upon when they take place. So it's not 9-5 (if you're not in a school setting)--- more like 9 to 3 one day and 3 to 9 the next day kind of thing I would think.

The training is INTENSE and the testing can be hard to pass. But what a rewarding career!