A Day in The Life of a Behavior Technician

Behavior Technicians – also referred to as BTs, Behavior Techs, Behavior Interventionists, BIs, Paraprofessionals, Behavior Instructors and a host of other names and acronyms – are the dedicated professionals who interact daily with clients and families receiving Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services. They are the ones who implement the individual treatment plans, take careful notes and track the data on the clients’ and families’ progress towards their goals. In short, they are the ABA direct service providers.

So, what does a “a day in the life” of a Behavior Technician look like? Here’s how Cinthia Hernandez, Senior Behavior Therapist, describes it:

As I drive to a session, I typically consider the type of learner I am going to see. Is it someone who needs me to be active and loud? Or is it someone who responds to me to be quiet and mellow? I arrive at the client’s home a few minutes before the session is scheduled to start and go to my “toy store” --  aka my trunk. I grab my reinforcer bag and switch out the toys to meet the specific child’s preferences always keeping the type of learner in mind.

Once I’ve got my reinforcer bag ready, I go to the door where I am usually greeted by a parent often accompanied by one or more children. I say hello and head off to find my client to greet them, so they know I’ve arrived and that we’ll be getting to “work” soon. After greeting my client, I always ask the parent how the child’s day has been so far -- this gives me a heads up of what to expect during our session. For example, the parent may tell me that the child is having a rough day and has been up since 3 am or that they are having a great day and are full of smiles.

Armed with this information, I review any supervision notes and Behavior Therapist communication notes and then prepare my data sheets. I set up for all the programs I’ll run during the session and get the stimuli ready – like flashcards or 3D objects. Next, I choose a couple of toys to present to the child.

Once everything is prepped, I start by re-establishing rapport with the child which I usually do with tickles, smiles and squeezes on their feet. Next, I pair myself with the reinforcers as I run a preference assessment to identify which activity/toy the client is motivated for on that particular day. Once I identify a reinforcer, for example pom poms, I present the Premack Principle: “You’ll get the pom poms back after we do some work” or “First work, then Pom poms”. I then present the instruction to the program and prompt/reinforce accordingly.

When it comes to choosing programs, I like to start with easier/ready to be mastered programs to build the behavior momentum towards the more difficult programs. Throughout the session, I play/interact with the client to keep them engaged. I often find myself singing songs and being the tickle monster.

When it’s time to clean up, I say something like: “We’re all done buddy”. I give the parent an update on how their child did sharing specific progress on programs. I then pull out the client binder where I calculate and graph all the data and write in my BT communication log notes.

I say goodbye to the client and parent and head back to my car. Most days I drive home feeling happy and proud for having completed another great session! Working with my clients is such a rewarding job -- I really enjoy it!

Cinthia Hernandez joined Behavior Frontiers in September 2016 as a Behavior Technician. In March of 2018 she was promoted to the role of Senior Behavior Technician serving clients and families in the Bakersfield, CA region. In addition, Cinthia is also a Training Coordinator assisting newly hired staff get acclimated.

December 10, 2019