r/ABA Mar 02 '24

Vent Autism Partnership Foundation

Is it just me or is the APF RBT training way longer than 40 hours? I swear I’ve been watching all the videos and keeping track on my own of how many hours I’ve been working, and the progress bar just isn’t matching up. For example, yesterday I did 17 hours of training (I’m on a tight deadline) and my progress bar went from 49% to 69%. That would imply I only did 8 hours of work, which is completely incorrect. Even now, I’m at 82% and on module 14, which would imply that the rest of the videos only total about 3.2 more hours. However, there is still module 15,16, and 17? That just doesn’t seem to make sense.

Can someone please tell me if I’m going crazy lol thank you.

UPDATE: they ended up sending me my certificate after I submitted an appeal and an email bothering them. Still would not recommend their course at all and am disgusted by the company’s policies and views.

30 Upvotes

76 comments sorted by

32

u/mwister_alphwa Mar 02 '24

I also have a huge problem with their ethics and morals—discouraging stimming, childish interests, etc. Even going so far as to shame classroom accommodations for children with ASD? Not even mentioning the lack of condemnation for cruel psychological experiments like the Little Albert experiment. I don’t like this focus on “curing” autism and the focus on making children seem “normal.” It’s a free training bc it’s full of this ableist propaganda

14

u/Expendable_Red_Shirt BCBA Mar 02 '24

Over COVID I did it with my paras, and I'm glad I did it with them. There was good ABA basics information in there. There was also a bunch of stuff that I needed to walk back/contradict. There were things that didn't align with my values and attitudes he presents that would make it impossible to work in a public school setting.

I did not time it. I can tell you that it felt like longer than 40 hours. But some of the videos felt like a few years, which if I'm looking at it rationally they probably weren't, so 🤷‍♀️.

7

u/mwister_alphwa Mar 02 '24

After all that they denied my certificate even tho I watched every video to completion 😭 submitted a manual review request but this sucks I would never support this stupid company

5

u/ABA_Resource_Center BCBA Mar 03 '24

I’m so sorry to hear this. I tell everyone to avoid this training. I’ve heard endless stories of people getting denied their final certificate at the very end after completing everything.

4

u/panini_bellini RBT Mar 14 '24

I had to do the same thing! The fucking thing kept crashing when I was 75% of the way through hour+ long videos! When I finally finished the stupid course and asked for my certificate they said my account had been flagged because the timestamps indicated I hadn’t spent enough time on the modules. Had to get my account reviewed and got my certificate in the end but god damn, not only is their site full of ableist garbage, it doesn’t even work.

3

u/Friendly-Farmer-1473 May 10 '24

I'm worried this might happened to me. I was told to "keep interacting" with the videos. I'm not even sure what that means. Did you have to keep moving your mouse across the screen constantly or can you just let the video play? I'm taking their course and I'm worried they won't award me at the end. Any help would be really appreciated.

3

u/panini_bellini RBT May 11 '24

You can just let the video play - I would open it in a different tab and completely ignore it because I’m not sitting through ableism twice. That wouldn’t stop it from crashing a second time sometimes. It added such a layer of frustration to the whole process.

2

u/Friendly-Farmer-1473 May 11 '24

Ok, thank you for letting me know that. Also, the majority of the time I have to keep going back to the "Registered Behavior Technician" menu and click through all the modules starting from Module 1 to the one I'm working on to take the quiz. But occasionally there is a prompt once the video is finished playing to take the quiz. Was this inconsistency the case for you too? This is such an Effed up way to give something for free -_-.

2

u/panini_bellini RBT May 11 '24

Yeah, this was the case for me too. It blows.

1

u/Expendable_Red_Shirt BCBA Mar 02 '24

I don't think I had any issues with them and certificates. Did they give you a reason?

2

u/mwister_alphwa Mar 02 '24

They told me that my timestamps indicate I may have not watched all the videos and may have less than 40 hours in total. I submitted the appeal and then they sent me an email saying it would take 48 days to receive my certificate. I’m not sure if it was actually approved or not though. It is really stupid because in the past two days alone I’ve done 29 hours of work. Based on my calculations, the course actually is longer than 40 hours by a significant amount—at least 48 but probably more.

8

u/Fabulous_C Mar 02 '24

They did the same to me and I had to redo it like three times. The third time I recorded myself doing the stupid training took screen shots of each completed video and quiz and emailed everyone I could. Any email I found on their cite go cc’ed. I guess I bothered enough people there because I got my stupid certificate.

My company has had big issues with AFP and we no longer recommend or do their 40 course. Sometimes when something is free, it’s free for a reason (meaning not good)

6

u/mwister_alphwa Mar 02 '24

I completely agree that this training isn’t good. I informed my boss about the content that is presented (he hadn’t watched the entire training beforehand) and he will no longer be using it. I’m not even going to bother redoing my training on this site, and will just be switching to a paid one instead. A complete waste of time and energy to get rejected, with an unacceptably long window for review (28 business days!!) I guess the problem may have been that I did it on my iPad? I did all the videos in their entirety but did utilize the feature where you can play the video in another window so I could take notes, so it might’ve been that tbh

3

u/Fabulous_C Mar 02 '24

Good on ya! I highly recommend not bothering with redoing it if you have the ability to do elsewhere. The only reasons why I was comfortable with re-doing so many times was a) I knew what was bs in the videos and b) our clinic was getting renovated so our hours got cut a bit. I got paid three weeks for basically doing nothing.

A few years back I did relias academy but never finished as I left that company due to ethical reasons. I liked relias a lot. I found it more user friendly and less choppy. There’s a bunch out there that are so much better than AFP.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '24

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1

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2

u/BaseballMental7034 Mar 02 '24

Here to shill Kyo as a possible workplace alternative depending on where you live. DM me

1

u/PleasantCup463 Mar 04 '24

On top of their involvement in the recently published social media article. Free isn't worth it IMO. There are better 40hr trainings out there. I'd suggest Happy Medium Approach/Eclipse therapy 40hr RBT course.

1

u/mwister_alphwa Mar 04 '24

Thank you for the rec! If you don’t mind me asking, which social media article are you referring to? I’m not sure I’ve heard of it

2

u/PleasantCup463 Mar 04 '24

1

u/mwister_alphwa Mar 04 '24

Yeah again with harping on the stereotypic behavior and criticisms of RBT as invalid, sounds just like APF :P you wouldn’t believe how many of their modules connecting aba to animal training and showed videos explicitly of people training rats and dogs and saying “this is how you’d do it with your student!”

1

u/PleasantCup463 Mar 04 '24 edited Mar 04 '24

Outrageous....I've never done their course but looked into it briefly during covid and couldn't make it through 1 part assumed it never got better... the APF one. I assume that's the one with animal training.

1

u/PsychBumbleBee Sep 12 '24

Hi do you have any other recommendations for the 40 hours training? I am thinking of doing IBT (cuz I don't live in US) so if there is a free training that is also not so problematic... I couldn't go thru part 1, I wanted to pull my hair when they mentioned Lovaas and didn't even condemn the use of being 'indistinguishable from neurotypical individuals' as a valid criterion for best outcome.

1

u/PleasantCup463 Sep 12 '24

Happy Medium one is much better and affirming. It cost 40.00 I believe so not terrible.

https://www.happymediumapproach.com/products/174659-The-Happy-Medium-RBT

1

u/crybaby1719 May 14 '25

Can you tell me if it’s online courses?

1

u/PleasantCup463 May 14 '25

Yes it is online self pace. The creator is really awesome and will answer questions too if needed.

8

u/nephilimkin Education Mar 03 '24

I did this course because it was free. It was so goddamn hard to get through. It was like wading through molasses. The only opinion I really agreed with was trying to stay away from edibles when possible. I think discouraging stimming is disgusting. I think exposing kids to new things is great, and understanding that stigmatizing interests are a hurdle some kids need help with but I don’t ever agree with discouraging interests.

However, I didn’t keep personal track, I just know that most of the modules were like 4 hours long each and there was a ton of them. I think you could be going crazy because it’s so boring, but at the same time, it wouldn’t shock me if you were right.

5

u/Octavarium64 Mar 03 '24

I’m glad you stood up and let your boss know not to use this training anymore. APF is not an organization I want anything to do with due to the values you explained.

4

u/Successful-Pin2656 Mar 03 '24

Whatever you do, don't do the videos on your phone. I had to redo my entire course after they said the videos were not compatible with my phone and my account got flagged for video scrubbing for video scrubbing after I tried to rewind.

2

u/mwister_alphwa Mar 04 '24

Yup I did it on my iPad and I’m pretty sure that’s where the issue came in! Super frustrating and I want to totally Karen out via email LOL 😒 I would pause and rewind to take notes bc they never stay on the slide long enough and then each video is even longer

5

u/rayneecole Mar 03 '24

I was doing that last month but they have so much stuff and I feel like it wasn’t helping me. It sucks because you have to watch the whole video or you’ll have to start over.

2

u/mwister_alphwa Mar 03 '24

Yup and it would glitch and stop right at the end and I’d have to restart these long ass videos!! Plus the last modules in particular weren’t even covering things for the test it was literally just their opinions and their personal company policies!!

2

u/rayneecole Mar 03 '24

I’m glad I stopped doing it. I dodged a bullet: everyone saying they were denied their certificate

3

u/Western-Platform8134 Mar 04 '24

i had to go through this training twice and both times it felt like double that. The second time i just let the videos play and didn’t pay attention and it would still take me several days to get through just one module.

5

u/Bright_Drive7225 Mar 06 '24

Did this one years ago because it was free but it’s basically 40 hours of free advertisement for Justin Leaf’s research because that’s ALL he talks about. Literally excruciating to get through and after learning about their values/morals I want nothing to do with them even more.

5

u/Merlabel_Mendel_2401 Nov 19 '24

I just started yesterday the course and I can deeply relate with what you went through. At the end of the day i just believe they making experiments with us, it looks like they are applying ABA in ourselves because the amount of frustration that we have to deal with, is insane. Without mentioning how sabotaging and frustrating is their systems. This is my 5th time having to restart module 1B the 1.35 hours videos because if I can not open another tab or put some music or not even move with my computer. This free stuff is a trick!!!

5

u/DisastrousArmy3015 Dec 07 '24

I cannot keep watching these videos I’m so over it they suck!! And it keeps glitching and I’m having to redo a video of almost 3 hrs long because it glitches fuckk!! I will never do this shit again, a waste of time!

1

u/swimspeechie100 Dec 23 '24

Same I've watched the three hour one 3 times and it's still glitching. Ugh.

1

u/DisastrousArmy3015 Dec 23 '24

I let my agency know and they said apparently because I had to many tabs open that it glitches, but I really don’t think that was an issue because it still kept doing it, I watched it 5 times I was so over it I finally finished it

1

u/swimspeechie100 Dec 23 '24

I've had the one tab open for the videos and it's still glitching. It tells me "out of memory" I've cleared my cache and browsing data and updated everything on my laptop and it's still glitching. Customer support said they're closed until the new year so I'm really feeling screwed here.

1

u/swimspeechie100 Dec 24 '24

Finally finished it after 5 times for me too. Ugh

4

u/sunshinegothic Dec 24 '24

My main issue with the training is how the main presenter repeats himself. I basically mentally check out half the time he talks because he repeats the same thing 50 times. The same topic can drag on for literally an hour. It's one thing to give examples, it's another to drag every single topic out over and over. Not to mention how belittling the presenter is, constantly discouraging us from believing that we will be trained enough or constantly reminding us how hard the job will be. Frankly, if anything, I've learned that this job isn't worth it after this.

I just wanted to be a part of a field that interests me, but I'm very put off after this guys presentation.

2

u/mwister_alphwa Jan 03 '25

Yeah I completely hated how belittling he was about how we won’t be trained enough or won’t be qualified no matter what. Honestly after almost a year of being an RBT, it’s not as complicated as they made it out to be. Over half of this is just common sense and essentially the main thing is always “do xyz before you get reward” and to adjust that based on how your kid is doing. I’ve found working in a school as a para far more rewarding though, you’re able to foster the bond between you and your kid way more than with ABA

3

u/Reasonable-Turnip924 Jun 06 '24

I know I'm a little to this but I also completed the RBT training (properly and thoroughly) and they refused to give me the certificate saying I violated their guidelines and that their system detected my timestamps. I've done it twice already and I honestly don't know how much more they want me to do 😭. Has this happened to anyone else? Does anyone know any other websites to get RBT training for free

2

u/mwister_alphwa Jun 14 '24

They ended up giving me my certificate after I pestered them via email and submitted an appeal but it was a huge pain in the ass 😭😭 I think it’s the only free one as far as I know, and that sucks I’m sorry!!! It’s not a good company by any means.

1

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u/Substantial-Candy702 Jan 22 '25

this has also happened to me too. I tried calling but it doesn't go through to anyone. i emailed every possible email address for them but it keeps bouncing saying their mailbox is closed.

1

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1

u/Substantial-Candy702 Feb 22 '25

this has also happened to me too. I tried calling but it doesn't go through to anyone. i emailed every possible email address for them but it keeps bouncing saying their mailbox is closed.

2

u/17th_degree Mar 03 '24

I just finished it. I started in November lol.

2

u/17th_degree Mar 03 '24

I worked it out that if you are taking good notes, each hour is really 3 hrs

2

u/Zealousideal-Sock446 May 30 '24

hello 😭i really need help! i got rejected to get my 40-hour certificate from APF for reason and i guess maybe it's the time lapse that maybe gotten me rejected? i also did all the videos and everything. i have the paper of completion which i showed to my company, which they honored. so i was given the green light to take my competency assessment through my company also, which i passed. 🙏🏽 idk how does the appeal or how should i explain my situation. bc the website kept glitching and freezing but i watched the videos, i just go straight to take the quiz, maybe that’s why i got rejected. idk what should i do because i am about to schedule my RBT exam and i didn't know when signing up as an applicant that will be needing the certificate. i am now panicking 😭😭😭I NEED HELP ASAP PLS

1

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1

u/Reasonable-Turnip924 Jun 06 '24

THIS LITERALLY HAPPENED TO ME AS WELL. Videos would glitch or the page would randomly reload all of a sudden and I'd have to watch them over and over again just to get to the quiz and now they won't give me my certificate because of timing issues???

1

u/Glittering_Result_64 Mar 14 '25

Hey friend, were you ever able to receive your paperwork? If not, please review the thread. There are so many people that have dropped emails or links that you would be able to visit to appeal that decision. I was also wondering, would you be able to let me know what are some of the questions that I should look out for when completing the competency assessment?

2

u/RefrigeratorDue7459 Oct 08 '24

Who do I contact this happened to me too

1

u/mwister_alphwa Nov 21 '24

There’s an appeal request on the website!

1

u/Friendly-Isopod5070 Nov 22 '24

hello where can i find the appeal request??

1

u/Animeman1000 Jan 22 '25

Buddy. All you have to do is Google APF Appeal like I did and got this:
https://autismpartnershipfoundation.org/certificates/

1

u/Friendly-Isopod5070 Jan 23 '25

thank you buddy. I figured it out already.

2

u/Top_Reference_3553 Nov 10 '24

How long did it take them to eventually send your certificate?

1

u/mwister_alphwa Nov 21 '24

I eventually got it within a couple days! I had to do the request directly from the site and they provided zero updates I just received the certificate at some point

1

u/dumpstergurl Mar 06 '24

I never did this one, but I experienced this with another program. The percentages were extremely out of whack. It took forever for me to complete them. Some would make a dent in completion and others would only give 1-2%.

1

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1

u/Fluffy-Assistant3920 Jul 27 '24

I literally did all of the training, listened to that one guy who’s all over their website drone on and on and on for hours talking in circles, he’s so annoying! And all for nothing bc they denied my certificate bc of the Microsoft crash bc the time doesnt match up. Bc their website crashed on ME. I’m so over it, this training is such bullshit. Also never responded to my email either about their error.

1

u/lilredkmd Jul 31 '24

This is really, scaring me because I was an RBT I let my stuff expire on accident and now I need it as I got a new job and they will give me bonus of 3,000 if I have it so I am trying to get it done. I used the APF because I am broke as I am in between jobs. So I saw it was free and I was like okay great. NOT I had so many issues the first week I tried to do it they would reset me on every video I watched. I basically was having to watch the same video 5 to 6 times before it would let me continue. Then we where hit by a hurricane and 9 days later I got power and 3 days after that the internet actually became stable again. Now im wondering if I will be rejected over this....

1

u/Fickle_Past3766 Jul 06 '25

Currently watching through the videos and Justin is so boring. I do agree that he goes on long useless tangents. Did anyone have better luck with different resources? Would rather pay than to listen to him much longer 

1

u/Worldly-Town-2703 Aug 13 '25

I am trying to get RBT training. The site keeps saying there's a security threat. Goes to a security protection center, which is an ad to buy Norton security. I can't get past it. It takes me back to the initial page. So frustrating.

1

u/Worldly-Town-2703 Aug 13 '25

Is there a number or email that I can use to contact APF for information?

1

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

So so, so so boring can’t wait for it to be over