behavior technician

behavioral therapist

board certified behavior analyst

technician

aba therapist

Autism Spectrum Therapies

AST seemed like an okay place to work. They appeared to be very professional in terms of structure, but lacked professionalism in observed performance. 

Initially, I applied an Advance Behavior Interventionist (ABI) position but was questioned several times during the hiring and training process as to why I wanted a lower position from my previous Supervisor position in my previous company. When I explained I wanted time for other projects and needed a less intensive position everything seemed okay. 

New Hire Training was run extremely well. The Training Interventionist was knowledgeable, engaging, and answered all questions thoroughly. We received training in basic behavior analysis, CPR, and CPI implementation. During training, I was asked if I would consider taking a Training Interventionist position after my initial 6-month phase ended. I agreed to consider the position and when my immediate supervisor found out she was very hostile in her communications with me. My calls frequently went unanswered, emails were always sent late, and when she showed up for client supervisions she would not talk to me unless the BCBA was present. Additionally, when she did show up for supervisions, she never asked about clients, and typically was either on her laptop or on her phone. When I asked questions about reports she directed me to stick to job description. When I reminded her reports were specifically outlined in my job description she redirected me to focus on my client. When the BCBA would arrive, they would talk with my supervisor and I was never asked about my clients or current programming. When I took baseline data for behaviors I observed that we had yet to address, I took frequency data with a basic operational definition so that my frequency count could be reviewed. When my supervisor finally showed up for a session, she asked me to take data on the behaviors I had been emailing her and texting her about, and when I provided that data she said I shouldn't have taken it yet, even though I made no attempts to overstep boundaries or write a behavior plan myself. 

During ABI meetings, leadership stressed the importance of hurrying to begin a masters degree program so that ABI's could be promoted to supervisors, but did not seem to focus on the change in defined responsibilities for the ABI position. It seemed as through the office I was based out of was more focused on expanding and looking good as an office base, and not as concerned about work performance. 

Lastly, when we had team training sessions the BCBA sat in  corner and did not talk or comment. The immediate supervisors simply read an RBT review guide. When any of the interventionists asked questions regarding the RBT exam the supervisors redirected the questions to anyone who recently took and passed the RBT exam. I offered to provide training materials upon review and acceptance of the supervisors, as I previously trained interventionists to pass the RBT exam prior to working at AST, and the supervisors informed me to worry about my personal caseload. Which bothered me more since it was a group training and we were all supposed to be helping to support each other as a team. The trainings were very non-informative and ineffective. Several other interventionists stated they felt more unprepared after training for their caseloads and the RBT exam. Many asked me to help them privately with any study materials I may have available. 

Working at AST became extremely frustrating and unfulfilling. I would never consider working for them again and would only recommend them to somebody new to the field.

Where can I start? I left my previous job and started at AST because I thought it was a better choice and boy was I wrong! To start off I felt like I was always so behind on work and I had just started. Then when I was getting my grove going, the culture at work completely changed. There were “new rules” for everyone regarding clocking in and entering the building but apparently it was just for myself and another person who I shared regions with. Turns out one of the other admins was BFFs with other people who had access to control codes on who can enter the building at what time. Times were tough for a while but the girl ended up leaving. Hallelujah!! After she left all was great! Until it wasn’t. We had an admin manager and then she ended up quitting which left us (admin) with no supervisor/ to fend for ourselves. A few MONTHS later surprise, we now have a manager, except she’s hours away and would be going down to the office twice a month. Or that’s what was supposed to happen anyways. Now that we have a new manager things are are kind of looking better except until they’re not. With new supervision we all expect new rules which is fine however now overtime is no longer allowed, ok cool but what happens when the clinical director for the region you work for doesn’t send plans until 30 min before you clock out? What happens when you’re getting call outs left and right so you call the supervisors that are “on call” but they either don’t answer or say “call someone else”? What happens when you you have supervisors who still don’t know how to figure out how many “make up” hours the kids assigned to your case have? What happens when you voice your concerns but then your new manager deflects them all? What happens when the clinical director NEVER has any set plans for new behavior technicians and leaves the hired with no cases? What happens when clinical directors leave on vacation and leave admin to do their job (admin do not get paid anywhere near what clinical directors do)? What happens when you ask for help and they help ONE day with emails and say you don’t do anything? What happens when a region gives you packets weekly for all their behavior technicians and then you’re left with their mess? What happens when the region you are in charge of gets even bigger (the biggest region) and the clinical director is new to the position/ your partner leaves and so they hire someone but expect you to train them when it’s not in your job description?

What happens when admin is quitting left and right and all they care about is what someone wrote about in a good bye card/ posted on IG that you got a 2% raise after a year?
What happens? Well you quit.

They literally hashtag emails and say #teamworkmakesthedreamwork but when you ask for help they go around telling everyone they don’t get why you’re stressed but never address you directly because you’re just being negative.

It’s been months since I left AST and I wasn’t going to post a review but I just don’t feel comfortable leaving and not warning others. If you read the whole review thank you and PLEASE take what I said into consideration. It’ll save you a lot of stress.

Typical day at work as a BT, is you transition from room to room (15 min increments) doing organized assigned activities with kids and their BT. Each BT is helping their kid to learn/master activity and properly handle the socializing that comes with those activities.  In the process, it’s highly likely that you may get hit, kicked, spit on and hair pulled but you are expected to completely ignore it and go back to participating. Some kids are more aggressive than others. Some are potty trained, some you will have to change or potty train. You may be going to the bathroom often to do dry checks and to sit . You eat lunch with your kid. So take from that what you will. You are expected to be completely engaged with your child from the moment you enter the clinic to the moment you leave. You have days where you will be supervised. 1-2 times a week.  A BCBA will follow you and your kid around watching you interact and run programmed targets with your kid. You will get feedback on your performance and new programming will be uploaded to your device. Throughout your day, you carry a device to input data about your client. For Example, you document every time your client hits you, hits self, hits peer ,runs away, doesn't comply etc. You use this device all day and the goal is to put in as much data as possible. This job requires a lot of physical energy. You do alot of physical activities. It's not an easy job. You will get hit(by kids) without a doubt. You will change a diaper or dirty underwear.  You have to work closely with other people in your group all day long( Close proximity). Pretend play is a must. If you can’t pretend play, you will fail to built good rapport with your kid. Most people come in mothering the kids which is frowned upon.  There’s a specific was that you are expected to talk to the kids abcs deal with behaviors. If you don’t pay attention to the more experienced BTs, to learn the language you will hinder the process. Nobody really tells you this, (not sure why) but it’s something you have to learn. 
The environment can be ridiculously over stimulating. Some days all the kids just so happen to have a tantrum at the same time which can be overwhelming. Your goal is to protect the other kids and block your kids from hurting you or another kid.
You get 2 ten minute breaks. Should be more bc the job is mentally exhausting. Growth isn’t a thing here. Raises are scarce. If clients cancel you do not get paid for that day(which can be often.) If another kid is available, you can alt but that’s not always guaranteed. Your paycheck is in the hand of the parents. If they don’t send their kid for a few days,  you don’t get paid. This place has potential to be a decent work place with decent, more accommodating policies for their workers but, money is the motive and AST will preserve themselves at all cost. 

There is a lot that could be said about this company and even more that can be said about what I witnessed specifically but I will try to be succinct. 

 My supervisor was still in training and was clearly overwhelmed and stressed by her workload. The result of which was that she was a forgetful, inconsistent, and curt supervisor who made learning difficult. The type who would explain something once and if you didn't understand the first time around she would speak down to you. Eventually, she confided in me that she was having panic attacks and chest pains because she was so stressed out. 

The children all seemed uncomfortable with her. Not only would she lose her temper and become threatening and mean. We had one case in particular where a child had limited verbal skills, had potential for aggression, and would spit repeatedly. When the child had a tantrum she would grow impatient and proceeded to physically hold the child down by the shoulders while leaning over him or she would hold his arms across his chest while she sat behind him as a sort of "bear hug" to try and keep him still. She then instructed me to do the same on days she was not present. I witnessed her do this multiple times and for as long as 45 minutes as the child wailed. 

Any objection and she would get very defensive and combative. Eventually, I got the nerve to speak to the next supervisor above her and her word was believed over mine. I felt as they believed I was exaggerating or overreacting and I was not taken seriously. On a few other occasions, concerns for safety regulations were met with disinterest and some mockery. The sentiment seemed to be, "That's the reality of the business and that's how life is." 

Another incident was at a daycare where, to summarize quickly, the child under our care was not being treated well. The child was left in their filth for hours until I arrived, the teaching assistants called him derogatory names, and they would scream at the children at the top of their lungs until they cried. Again, when I brought this up she seemed annoyed to have another thing to deal with. Again, they acted like I was being too sensitive and that I should keep my mouth shut.

To summarize, the AST branch I'm familiar with seemed to cut a lot of corners on safety and basic respect for the children. They may put employees through a "safety protocol and training" but it's for show because it all goes out the window once we're out in the field. AST's sole interest is profit and doing the bare minimum to present a nice image.

They have taken away any perk from us that we worked towards and are not telling us when we will get them back. things that were promised to us and should have been delivered have not. They were quick to look out for themselves but not their employees who were essential. It's tacky. They could be a great company if they took care of their staff better. Its just all about upper management and bottom line. 
Also- retaining bt's is terrible. Its a revolving door and when a bt quits, they just say "eh see ya". They don't try and have them stay. It costs way more to train new staff than just take care of the ones you have. Bcbas should have more input as supervisors on bt retention . There are way too many people to go through to get an answer and the ones who make the decisions don't even know the people we are talking about so they don't care to retain them. Its just numbers to them. Its just embarrassing and unnecessary to always have to tell our families that their bts are leaving just cause they won't take care of the staff they have. The reinforcement for bts and Bcbas are very few and far between. Youd think an abc company would have this down, but they just turn their heads.
please don't take away all our reinforcement and call us essential. Also, please please communicate when we are going to get all our reinforcers back. When are we? It has been crickets in regards to our livelihoods.  I mean the ones we should have already gotten this year that were earned from last year. We all work really hard and it seems like the only care is about the bottom line and upper management. 
Also, provide more care and incentives for bts to stay. Again, it costs so much time and resources to have a revolving door of new btss come in when a little bit could go a long way with the ones we have. This company is just so big that they've lost the human connection on caring and making sure staff are well taken care of. For essential employees, you have sure made us feel unappreciated and essential only for your benefit.
have ways for your bcbas and bts to move up. I have been here years and never been offered any opportunity, nor has anyone i work with. There are supposed to be managing bcba positions, but they appear non existent. feels very stagnant

My time at AST began with an extensive and time-costly pre-hire checklist, which is standard for this industry. The company itself is highly disorganized and routinely failed to communicate basic information pertaining to my job, such as client cancellations, schedule changes, and pay raises. Yes, I was given a pay raise without being told so. These failures showed a lack of respect for my time, effort and energy as a person which is a large reason why I left the company.
If you choose to work at AST, you will be expected to regularly answer calls, emails, and texts from the company outside of working hours using your personal devices. I was frequently asked by my managers to input data on my unpaid personal time as well. In essence, you will be treated like a salaried/contract employee rather than a non-exempt employee.
Drive time is paid only IN BETWEEN clients; as the company requires you to be able to drive a 30 mile radius, they WILL pair you with clients on the very outskirts of that radius in order to maximize their profit over your earnings.
Schedules can change on a moments notice, so you may be forced into a position where you are scheduled for X hours and end up working 0 hours as a result of client cancellations and other circumstances. The unstable nature of this work environment results in a very high turnover rate and is overall a terrible situation for a students with busy schedules.
If you really want to get into the field of ABA, I suggest exploring alternative options to AST, as AST pays lower than other companies in North County San Diego.

Last but not least, here is an email signature from an HR Rep at AST that speaks volumes of the company culture:

"TRULY HUMAN NOTICE: Getting this email out of normal working hours? We work at a digitally-enabled relentless pace, which can disrupt our ability to sleep enough, eat right, exercise, and spend time with the people that matter most. I am sending you this email at a time that works for me. I only expect you to respond to it when convenient to you."


I’m still pretty fresh in this role, but BCBA and MT’s have been more than helpful. With weekly supervisions, they are definitely hands on in our cases. I would say, it took a really long time to get my first cases. It took about  two months, so beware and prepare for expenses during that time. I was lucky to have gotten sessions 20 miles apart, but gas mileage is one of the bad things from this job. You get paid for gas mileage, but you have to input the driving information yourself. I was told the scheduling team does it for us, but once I received my paycheck and viewed the time sheet, I saw that wasn’t true. However, some do get hired and work in the centers all the time, so they don’t have to drive from session to session. 
You get to work with children and make a true impact in their lives and development. You become their little best friend who without them knowing are helping them achieve many goals through play. This is one of my first jobs I can truly say I wake up excited for work. Not all cases are the same and both of your clients or many of your clients can be on either extremes of the spectrum but nonetheless, everyday is something different and once you build rapport with them, you don’t even feel like you’re working but you definitely are! Very rewarding work. 
As a company, AST does a great job in having supportive BCBA’s and MT’s that guide you and help you through the process. You get shadowing days and if you feel you need more, you can request for additional support. If your case is a challenging case, you get to shadow the current BT for more than two sessions to get a full understanding of the challenges that come with that case. They have many events to engage with other technicians throughout the year and have really friendly staff. Another con about this job, at least in my experience, is that working with kiddos comes with often cancellations because they get sick fast  and then your check comes out small. Sometimes they cancel the same day other days in advance so definitely when it’s in advance you get the short-end of the stick. But they do offer days opportunities to get those hours back as they send our daily emails of covering shifts needed.  

I was not with this organization long as the job was not worth the stress. First, during recruitment I was told that I would be working in areas near my location and provided help with obtaining an RBT Cert. I decided to then proceed with the interview process. Interview process was interesting but easy going. I went through 2 interviews before being offered a position as behavioral tech. I was told that I would get and additional $/hr for drive time along with mileage pay. My training was virtual and I had a great trainer. In addition the trainer at the center was super friendly and knowledgeable. Once training is completed I find out that I will be working an hour away and I did mention this concern. I told a super that if I was told in the beginning that I would be working an hour away I would not have taken the position. All the clients I was scheduled to see were near each other therefore I did not get the additional $/hr for drive or mileage pay. I again voiced my concern because gas was costing me a lot of money driving 70 miles a day (back and forth and between clients). They did come to a solution but in the end I decided it would not work for me. To add, after training I was expecting to shadow someone in the field as I was new to this profession but, no such luck. The BCBA's were there for my first day with clients just to introduce me. However, after that no proper on the job training provided. I felt my time and the client's time was wasted. The application for scheduling was down and instructions on BT app was not clear. Overall it was a recipe for stress as I do not feel I was provided the proper tools, support, or training. I would suggest providing honest and transparent information to future employees about work location and the expectation to jump in and wing it. 

Allowing future employees with no experience in the ABA field to first work in centers and learn how to properly run trials or shadow someone experienced before being provided their own in-home clients will be beneficial for success and retainment.

I had a 40hr+ job with medical benefits and a 401K plan. As a preschool teacher, I was looking to advance and could not in that center. In my search for a new, higher paying job, I ran across the job listing for AST. I sent in my resume and received info for the interview. The woman who interviewed me told me about all of the great job benefits, the full-time openings, and stressed that there was PLENTY of opportunities for over-time pay. On top of all of that, there was a pay increase! THAT WAS NOT THE TRUTH!! I did not learn that until I had quit my full-time job and was into day 5 of training. 

The trainer threw out that we would all be starting part-time and then just kept talking. Everyone in the room sat there stunned, including me! One person asked, "Well, when will we get 40hrs a week?" The trainer's reply was, "I can't tell you that. It goes by the cases that come in." I couldn't believe it! I had, unknowingly, left my full-time job, for a part-time job! It was too late, there was nothing that I could do at the time.

I pass orientation. And was put on a case- 2 days a week, 3 hours a day. I WORKED A TOTAL OF 6 HOURS A WEEK!!  IF, I was lucky, because sometimes there would be cancellations by the client or even the company. I had to find a night job and put my resume back on Indeed.

To say the move from my full-time job to AST was financially devastating, is an understatement!! Thank goodness, I found a new job before I lost everything! If you have another job and are not solely dependent on AST, your experience might be better than mine. However, I would warn you to ASK A LOT OF QUESTIONS! 
Also, many of the cases that they get are school cases. Schools close down for summer, SO THERE IS NO WORK IN THE SUMMER FOR MOST!! That is another thing I didn't find out until it was too late!

Training goes well, but after that hours are variable and no one seems to care that you have a job that doesn't guarantee enough hours to pay your bills. You're told you'll get more cases but who knows when. You're told you'll get great benefits and PTO, but that only applies if you actually work and are scheduled for cases.There is no communication on it. Your supervisors are stretched too thin and have such big caseloads that they cannot provide a quality service to you or the kids. They continue to keep hiring BTs when they don't even have hours to give their current staff, yet do not hire more supervisors which would help solve a lot more for everyone and make sure you and your kids are fully supported. Apparently there is a scheduling department, but yet supervisors are also the only ones who seem to schedule your cases and things fall through the cracks as well as they are kept in the dark as to what is going on and where you'll be scheduled. No one ever has an answer. it seems like there is no rhyme or reason to hiring here, case loads, anything. Fly by the seat of their pants and no one honestly seems to care, except the supervisors who tell you they can't do anything about it and have to wait for upper management to tell them. Also, they place BTs with hard cases even if this is their first job in this field. The placements do not match the experience at all. I don't see how this is not common sense- do not hire people you have no hours for ( no one would take a job to work 15 hours a week), do not overload supervisors and management with more than they can handle, and communicate with your staff. It's extremely greedy and unprofessional. There are other ABA companies around that pay much more and will hire you when they actually have cases for you, not just as a back up plan.

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