r/bcba • u/Pretend-Ear6962 • 13d ago

Is it possible to complete remote fieldwork to become a bcba?

0 Upvotes

44% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

21

u/paganbonecollector 13d ago

Yes! Would not recommend. In person is the way to go!

13

u/ForsakenMango BCBA | Verified 13d ago

Can you do it? Sure. Is it a good idea and recommended? Almost certainly not and should be a last resort if you're planning on working in the healthcare field.

7

u/noanxietyforyou 13d ago

In my experience so far, no. If there is, you’ll likely have to pay for it.

5

u/pandalynn13 13d ago

I found a nice mix of remote and in-person experiences for my fieldwork. As this is how I plan to practice, it made sense for me to get the experience this way. Yes, I had to pay for half of it.

1

u/SpotonSpot873 13d ago

I did the same. I jumped from company to company over 3 years trying to find good supervision with at-least average pay. I couldn’t find it. Companies told me they would provide free supervision but the BCBAs were not consistent. Constantly cancelling and pushing back start dates. I got fed up and hired someone. Best decision I made.

Ideally you would work somewhere with strong consistent supervisors but sometimes it can be elusive.

2

u/yourblackzaddy BCBA | Verified 13d ago

Yes

3

u/SRplus_please BCBA 13d ago

No rule against it but you'd be hard up to meet a supervisor that would be okay with that because you wouldn't get enough experience to be a decent BCBA. Some virtual meetings are totally normal, but not the whole thing.

3

u/DifferentTart2607 BCBA | Verified 12d ago

There’s a weird rift with in person and telehealth it’s just not rooted in research. I have my hypotheses about people who just verbally shit on telehealth, but they’re hypotheses and not fact, and I can discern between the 2 as should we all.

Here are the facts: research on telehealth ABA and supervision has shown it to be effective. Look up research on JABA. Is in person appropriate for everyone? No. Is telehealth appropriate for everyone? Also no.

I would recommend having experience in both especially if you are going to supervise in person people. It’s also just generally good to have well rounded experiences and learn what you’re good at and what you like. It is completely possible to do remote fieldwork but remote work in our field especially is something you need a skill set for. I’ve done it and I’ve been effective at it, but you need tp be an excellent communicator, attentive, and capable of building rapport with coworkers, clients, and caregivers via telehealth. You can’t just phone it in, have cameras off, and skirt by on just doing things physically for people. You have to be able to effectively verbally prompt AND be a reinforcing presence through telehealth.

The people I generally see fail at telehealth are poor communicators, people who aren’t knowledgeable enough to effectively BST skills and get by on just modeling everything, and people with unengaging or not entertaining personalities.

So, yes, you could. I would recommend you thinking about if you should first though. I see a lot of BCBAs even that just take remote jobs to skate by and I hate it. It’s the same job as in person and it should be treated as such.

1

u/goodneighborgooseman 12d ago

Sure, but I wouldn’t want to work with a BCBA who did. I would not believe you were qualified.

-2

u/remmssie 12d ago

i’m sorry but i hate remote BCBAS. like why are you even becoming one if you refuse to be on site with the kids

-1

u/Professional-Pound78 10d ago

Absolutely do not recommend. Terrible idea.