registered behavior technician

autism support assistant

direct support professional

behavior technician

board certified behavior analyst

LittleStar ABA Therapy

I worked as an ABA Therapist in West Lafayette with Little Star.  While I really loved my coworkers for their drive for excellent communication and teamwork, there were many flaws in the culture within our center (which is surely company-wide).  When I tell you there are literally no breaks for 8 hours except to use the bathroom for a few minutes, it's just that.  Management does encourage you to use the full fifteen; but you can't "break" anywhere -- there's nowhere to "go" besides hanging out in the bathroom aimlessly in the building next door.  I know that once that particular center gets a larger facility, that *might change -- but it's hard to know for sure.  Benefits are just okay.  My insurance premium for a single adult was 228 per month, but wasn't the best coverage.  While you do get about ten days off during shutdown over the Christmas holiday; you start off with 40 hours PTO and accrue 8 every other paycheck.  While this seems like a LOT at first -- be mindful of something... When working with children with heightened impulse control impairment, you will probably get sick A LOT.  I came down with something literally every single month I worked there.  I'm very mindful of hygiene and am a borderline germaphobe, so it's harrowing to remember all the time I became sick from sharing intimate space with some kids that were often or chronically ailing.  There was never ever enough PTO for me and almost all others to rest and recoup from exposure.  You went to work sick as a dog waaaaaay too often.  It was awful.  Also, thw hours feel very long.  The kids are amazing, even considering some problem behavior.  You feel a lot of love from the kids and parents, for sure.  The staff at my center were usually very helpful; but I felt so claustrophobic and the environment induced a high level of anxiety in me... so I had to resign.  I would only recommend this position at LS to someone who could work through all these variables with no problem.  Few can.  Many employees burn out even if they don't resign.  You can see it in their faces... there but not there... but often with families to support, so they stay.  But you do feel trapped often during the day.  Can't say enough about the kids though... they are beautiful and brilliant, certainly.

This place is great at first. You will fall in love with the clients and the people working there. The compay will seem like they are looking out for you. Then 3 to 4 month's later, you will realize that is not the case. After 6 month's it will drastically change because you will be at your top out pay until your full year. They offer you their insurance for a huge pay cut. If you do not take their insurance they will cut your hour's and bully you into getting it. It doesn't even cover that much and they charge you a great deal to even have it. They do not care about you. All they care about is money and the more you make an hour the less you will work. HR will change their policies without informing anyone. They will message you after you've already arrived at the clinic to let you know that you are released for the day. Since I started there over a year ago, 95% of the people that had been there for year's have left. This is why they are always hiring. Check for yourself, it is a revolving door of rbts going in and out because all they want to do is work and pay their bills. They can't do that if they are constantly getting sent home while the new hires (who make less on the hour) get all the work they want while rbts who have been there longer than 6 month's do not. As soon as I gave them my notice, they have released me every morning without reason. So if you do decide to leave, don't tell them.

Treated very poorly by my boss, technically got wrote up on first week that I started even though she said it wasn’t, expectations were set to high, the job itself was and should have been a two person job for a 18,000 square foot building, um wasn’t trained just thrown on the job and said here ya go, at 430 to get mopping and sweeping done oh and clean the cubes by 7pm not enough time to get things done. Got wrote up on the 3rd week. Constantly criticized about my work but it wasn’t in a constructive manner always felt that there were people with their eyes on me and waiting for me to mess up and be to eager to text or email my boss. I felt I was walking on eggshells every time I went to work. 

Would not recommend this job to anyone unless you want to be on your hands and knees cleaning toilets then this job is for you. No positive feedback on what I did right just felt very unprofessional. I could go on about how the things were or ran but if you constantly point out what a person does wrong there’s not going to be a good outcome. The boss is very condescending. I was very excited about working here until after the first week.

I find that the BCBAs here and most of your fellow RBTs want to help you succeed and are able to answer questions and help you get on your feet but after a couple months in it can feel like you're on your own. The scheduling department is not local so you may be assigned to sub or be a primary therapist for kiddos you're not comfortable with/haven't trained on. The scheduler does not seem to care whether you and your assigned kid are a good fit or not. They're in a bind because they're constantly understaffed. It's not a wonder there's constant call-ins, which causes scheduling issues for remaining staff or patients that are canceled. I don't believe this job feels right for me but I imagine the majority of people hired end up feeling that way and stay for the pay or for short-term until they find something else. I admire the people who are able to stick it out, but the constant screaming, biting, spiting, etc from some of the patients make it very overwhelming and it puts me in a constant fight-or-flight mode. 

This is a fun place to work if you enjoy working with kids - you are expected to help your patients to have fun throughout the day, as well as learn. When I left, they seemed to be improving benefits and pay, especially for full-time employees. Even so, I could never afford the health insurance during my entire time there.

This type of work can be very rewarding as you help patients learn new things and make progress. However, it can also be very emotionally and physically draining. It can be hard not to take some of that baggage home with you, especially after a tough day. Local management really tried to listen to us when we had an issue, and asked for feedback often.

It does not matter how much time and experience you put into this company, you are expendable to them. Seniority gets you nowhere. Workers who give the minimum get the same praise and advancements as workers who put in the extreme effort. BCBAs are great but won't stick up for you when it comes down to it. Therapists that naturally excel are burnt out by being given double challenging caseloads constantly or bad schedules. The scheduling department is overworked therefore bringing productivity down for staff that isn't scheduled properly. The turnover rate is high because when you have a problem, they'd rather tell you to leave and hire a new person, no matter your experience than try to solve the problem

I loved my job and my coworkers. However the management started to make some changes and it made working more stressful and when I needed to be able to talk to my boss or other management roles they were not easily available to talk to and took several attempts and a lot of times up to a week to even get a response or answer. The job is a stressful job as you are having to deal with kids with special needs every day and when you cannot get access to your bosses or anyone to be able to listen and help, it becomes even worse. When I first started I felt like I had a lot of help and support but very little in the last several months. This job takes a lot of emotional and mental toll on you and I just cannot do it anymore.

While fellow RBTs and BCBAs are amazing, hard working, and dedicated to providing high quality care to patients; leadership fails to recognize these efforts or respond to needs for success. Often when issues are brought up, they are swept under the rug. Little to no communication from leadership. Questionable ethics and poor administration leads to RBTs trying their best to fill the gaps to provide high quality care. BCBAs in a similar predicament. Nearly impossible to get PTO approved without months notice in advance, including doctor appointments. Doctors notes are NOT accepted for sick days, so meeting attendance standards can be nearly impossible. 

Working 1:1 with children with Autism is what this place is about. The support you get from other therapists makes this place special. I have learned a world of patience from working at LSC. I gained such knowledge to be able to further help me in my field. Day after day, you see the struggles that each child and parent endures but knowing that you are a part of this entire experience brightens your day. I have seen children who were told that the possibility of them walking or talking was slim. Needless to say, I have seen them beat the odds of this. It is great to be a part of such journeys in their lives. So although the challenges can be quite hard, they are also the most rewarding.

The company is very structured. The schedule is very flexible as a FLEX employee. Not as much as a full time employee. The pay is about average with full time and above average in the area if you choose the Flex route. There are no Lunch breaks, only two 7 minute breaks. You are expected to eat with your client even when behaviors don't allow for that. Processes to ensure staff safety are lengthy and often do not lead to any changes. Situations became very dangerous for the therapist. Staff opinions and concerns are often dismissed or staff are punished for voicing them; creating a negative work environment. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered behavior technician 21 salaries reported	$20.52 per hour
Autism support assistant 24 salaries reported	$19.67 per hour
Direct support professional 21 salaries reported	$18.19 per hour
Behavior technician 7 salaries reported	$20.43 per hour
Board certified behavior analyst 14 salaries reported	$81,179 per year

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