registered behavior technician

board certified behavior analyst

clinical lead nurse

clinical supervisor

behavior technician

The Place for Children with Autism


I began working at The Place in 2022. While I gained valuable experience and had the opportunity to work with incredible children and dedicated direct care staff—particularly at the Elgin location—my overall experience was concerning due to poor leadership, inconsistent support, and questionable ethical practices.

Throughout my time at the company, I witnessed several instances that appeared to reflect unjustified terminations of BCBAs and other staff members. Leadership turnover was frequent, and after the departure of the initial operations manager, the individual who filled that role exhibited, in my experience, behavior that contributed to a tense and unsupportive work environment. This included inconsistent communication practices—such as sending early morning messages regarding timekeeping—and what felt like favoritism or differential treatment among team members.

Despite being tasked with leading social skills groups and supporting clients as a student behavior analyst, I was frequently reprimanded for staying past 4:45 p.m. in order to complete necessary documentation. This left me feeling penalized for fulfilling my job responsibilities.

At times, the work environment felt hostile. It often seemed that employees who were not personally favored by management encountered more difficult working conditions. For students beginning their BACB fieldwork hours, I would encourage doing thorough research and seeking placements that prioritize ethical standards and professional growth.

I initially received strong support from a BCBA who later left the company. After that, consistent supervision was difficult to access. My assigned supervising BCBA frequently worked remotely, ended their day early, or was otherwise unavailable. While supervision hours were logged, the actual time spent with the supervisor was often limited—sometimes to just 30 minutes. This discrepancy raised concerns among staff regarding the accuracy of billing. To my knowledge, these concerns were raised internally but were not addressed in a meaningful way.

Due to ongoing staffing shortages, most supervision was conducted virtually. The virtual BCBAs were highly knowledgeable, but virtual supervision alone is not an adequate substitute for consistent, on-site mentorship—especially for those in training.

Ultimately, I decided to pursue another opportunity and submitted a formal two-week notice. After falling ill and missing two days of work, I received a termination notice via email. While I understand that unexpected absences can be disruptive, the manner in which this was handled felt impersonal and lacking in compassion.

To be clear: the children and the direct care staff at this location were the highlight of my experience. The challenges I encountered stemmed primarily from leadership and administrative decisions. High turnover has been a persistent issue, and many employees leave within a year. I sincerely hope the organization takes time to reflect on the feedback from current and former staff and conducts a thorough evaluation of its management practices. If the company is committed to its mission, ensuring a supportive and ethical workplace must be a top priority.

While the role offers valuable experience in ABA therapy and the opportunity to work closely with children—arguably the most rewarding part of the job—there are significant organizational and ethical concerns that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Recent 5-star reviews appear influenced by internal efforts to counteract negative feedback. Staff, including BCBAs and even family members, have been encouraged to submit positive reviews to boost the company's image.

Major issues include poor management transparency, especially around policy changes and several PTO tracking errors that result in employees being placed in negative balances (this is paid back through your accruals). There is a strong emphasis on meeting productivity quotas, sometimes at the expense of ethical standards—for example, expecting 2–6-year-olds to complete 45–60 trials per hour.

Staffing is a chronic issue. Budget cuts have removed critical support roles, leaving remaining therapists overextended. A new “Social Skills Group” program, intended to increase billing, often places therapists in high-stress, understaffed group sessions with limited support and unrealistic expectations.

Voicing concerns to management is risky and may result in negative performance feedback. While employee surveys are common, follow-up is rare, making the feedback process feel performative rather than meaningful.

In short, while the clinical work and collaboration with some BCBAs are positive aspects, the lack of support, ethical concerns, and top-down decision-making create a challenging and often demoralizing work environment.




Disclaimer: Not worth it, find somewhere else to work. 

When I first started, The Place seemed like a great place to work. The 40 hours are guaranteed, different options for time off, paid holidays, and even with taking a small pay cut I made more in half a year at this company than at another I was at for a full year. The center was small and still growing when I started so the culture was still being built. I enjoyed having coworkers at the start but everything went south after the first year. 

I have been there 3 years now and my biggest negatives are management, corporate and the toxic culture at this center. 

There has been a high turnover rate of BCBA’s so there is no in person support for the therapists creating high rates of burn out, leading to never ending sickness in the center across therapists which leads to high instances of staff call offs and therefore cancelling clients on the daily. Management is never on the same page with each other and each person will give different answers to the same question. 

Corporate pushes having full census of kids even when the center doesn’t have the staff to support the clients which also results in staff burnout. They say the company is about the quality of the therapy and the wellbeing of the clients but show that it’s really about the money and don’t care about their staff or clients. They also expect members higher up, either in center management or corporate to take on jobs of multiple positions without fairly compensating them. 

The toxic nature of the center is due to no one being able to use conflict resolution including management. Everyone talks poorly behind each other’s backs and when management gets involved to facilitate conversations it’s too late. The leads complain the most and contribute the most to the environment but face no repercussions. I’ve seen now 2 of them get promoted to management positions… 

The company overall doesn’t compensate fairly and prefers having someone that will roll over as a manager instead of being able to do the job well. 

I worked for this company as an RBT for four years. In that time, I had no write-ups, no complaints, and stayed fully committed to my clients and the mission. I loved the work and gave it my all.

That all changed when new management took over. Within a single week, I received three write-ups and was terminated. Nothing about my performance had changed — just the people in charge. It quickly became clear I was being singled out and pushed out. It felt personal, not professional.

Management often talks about “open communication” and “teamwork,” but those are just buzzwords. The moment you respectfully speak up, voice concerns, or advocate for yourself, you’re labeled as “disrespectful.” There’s no space for honest dialogue — only compliance. The environment became hostile, and any effort to set boundaries or ask questions was twisted into insubordination.

The emotional toll this took was real. I witnessed other staff go through the same thing — pushed past their limits, denied basic support, and made to feel disposable. I saw inconsistent enforcement of policies, poor handling of health and safety protocols, and favoritism that destroyed morale.

That said, the RBTs and therapists I worked alongside were incredible. They care deeply and are the reason the company had any success. The issue was never the staff on the floor — it was always leadership.

If you’re considering working here, understand this: your dedication won’t protect you. Your value will be reduced to a timecard, and when leadership needs a scapegoat, they won’t hesitate to throw you under the bus. I gave them four solid years. They gave me a termination with no dignity.

That should tell you everything you need to know.


While working at The Place, I had to change who I was and how I acted because any little thing I did would get me reported to management and then they would warn me that if it kept happening, they would have to take it to higher ups and never got any further, but when I said that I don’t think I did that and I would like to talk it out with  who had complained about me. They said they weren’t allowed to tell me who it was and that person wanted to stay anonymous or they would tell me who it was, but wouldn’t set up a meeting between the two of us, and that person continued to complain about me, and they never caught onto the trend that the person was always complaining about me. Then I got talked to about my behavior with my friend that I worked with there and how people didn’t like the way we talk to each other, but it was only a conversation between the two of us that didn’t matter to anyone else and then I go and get fired for the smallest mistake after being with the company for 3 Years, they threw it all away over a tiny mistake when there is literally someone making a bigger mistake than I ever made, and I had to change my entire personality to fit their agenda and management was the one telling me that I had to change it every time there was only two BCBAs that were ever nice to me there that never had a problem with me and only one person for management that liked me and I was there for 3 years so I saw people come and go in the high turnover rate is because of all the outside factors of everyone, there. And they only choose to blame the therapist not management. Then when I did grow they chose to ignore it and keep blaming for the same mistakes I made at the very beginning.

I worked at this location for two years, and I feel it is crucial to share my insights based on that experience.

The role has the potential to be highly rewarding, especially when witnessing the development and progress of clients. Employees generally receive guaranteed hours, except when offered the option to leave early if additional therapists are present. However, the compensation is simply insufficient given the level of effort and commitment required.

The organization does provide thorough training to become a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT), and I successfully passed my exam on my first attempt. The training program lasts one week, but it is concerning that after passing the competency assessment, staff can be assigned to clients without having received adequate training for those specific cases.

Additionally, there is a noticeable issue with workplace dynamics. While colleagues may present a facade of friendliness, there is a pervasive culture of gossip that undermines team unity.

Furthermore, the changes in leadership during my tenure have had a detrimental impact on the organization. The new management has demonstrated a lack of professionalism and has fostered an environment of harassment. I was misled regarding policies and the back pay I was owed. Many promises made by management were not upheld, and there is a clear intolerance for voicing concerns or opinions, which can lead to serious repercussions. This type of environment is unacceptable and detrimental to both employee morale and productivity.

I worked here in a leadership role and had the opportunity to supervise clinicians, mentor staff, support families, and oversee clinic operations. The clients and many of my coworkers were the best part of the job. There are truly dedicated people who care deeply about improving the lives of children with autism, and I will always appreciate the relationships I built during my time there.

The biggest challenge was the organization itself. Communication from upper leadership was often inconsistent, expectations changed frequently, and new policies were implemented without much transparency or input from the clinical teams expected to carry them out. It often felt like leaders were asked to solve problems without being given the resources or authority to do so effectively.

As a clinical leader, I found it difficult to balance the constant pressure of productivity, staffing shortages, and administrative responsibilities while still providing the level of clinical support that families and staff deserved. Employee feedback didn’t always seem to result in meaningful change, and burnout among clinicians and leaders was a recurring concern.

I learned a tremendous amount professionally and grew as both a BCBA and a leader, but I ultimately chose to leave because I was looking for an organization with stronger leadership, clearer communication, and a culture that better supports both employees and quality clinical care. I genuinely hope the company continues to improve because it has talented staff and wonderful families who deserve that investment.

So first of all, the managers love to pick their favorite therapists (who are the leads of course) and they do not make them take accountability for ANYTHING. They blame the regular therapists for their mistakes. Another issue I have is they make you switch clients every 3-6 months. Now if you know anyone with autism, change is never good. These kids have been listening and performing excellent with their two everyday people, so why switch it up? The kids nor therapists want that. My cousin with autism has had the same therapist for 8 years. The place is so short staffed that they have to cancel 3-7 kids A DAY meaning the same kid will get cancelled once a week... how is that affective therapy? They keep losing staff because management lies to your face and treats you so much differently than the leads... and I know this because I have spoke to people before they left the company. Also, if you are out and have a doctor's note... it will still be counted against your attendance. The center does not get cleaned at all, which means therapists and kids are out sick every week. The only cleaning that gets done is in the bathroom. And when you do call out, they use your PTO instead of letting you use it on your own when YOU choose to. They do not care at all and I am trying my hardest to get out of there as soon as I can because it is really a miserable place to work at.

This company is a scam it views the clients as profit only not genuinely caring for the developmental growth of each client like they claim. The turn over rate is extremely high. The company only cares about opening new centers when there is barely enough BT’s, RBT’s, and BCBA’s. The turn over rate in the corporate department is high as well, so there are persistent changes with a lot of miscommunication. The HR department is incompetent in their role having made several inaccurate compensations for employees in all of their centers not acknowledging their mistakes. They do not take caregivers and parents into consideration for flexibility even when knowing prior to hiring these individuals. they make it seem that they will be able to accommodate your situation(s) accordingly and professionally. Those with positions in corporate department have little to no knowledge about how each center is ran and the day-to-day situations that happen. Which makes them very biased when employees approach them with their questions & concerns. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
I have worked at quite a few ABA companies in the Chicagoland area, and I am thoroughly impressed with the clinical quality and overall clinical infrastructure of The Place. Each decision that is made is carefully considered and any big changes are always communicated with a top-down approach. The leadership team makes sure that management knows about any changes first to help implement them at all levels and ensures all questions are answered before implementation. Additionally, the support and training at The Place is incredible, especially for newer clinicians to the field (RBTs and BCBAs alike). I would highly recommend working here. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The nature of working in the field of ABA is its unpredictability, which I would say would be the most stressful part of any ABA job. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The culture at The Place is one of its highlights. Everyone is quick to jump in to support others (even at different clinic locations) and everyone is willing to learn and grow. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
For me, as  Regional Manager, my day looks like constant interactions and check ins with the center managers: The Clinical Lead Supervisors, The Operations Supervisors, and the BCBAs within my region which is my favorite part of my job!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered behavior technician 253 salaries reported	$21.46 per hour
Board certified behavior analyst 100 salaries reported	$81,290 per year
Clinical lead nurse 28 salaries reported	$91,750 per year
Clinical supervisor 25 salaries reported	$72,220 per year
Behavior technician 2 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour

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