Strategies for Getting your BCBA Practicum Hours: With Nicole

If you are in pursuit of your BCBA, you probably are very familiar with the hour requirement. If you are thinking about getting your BCBA getting BCBA practicum hours is part of the requirement towards your BCBA that you are going to want to plan for. This process can be a little confusing (and by a little, I mean I got 1,500 hours and supervised 20+ teachers as they got their hours and I still reference the handbook for a guidance!).  In this episode I chat with Nicole from @adaptationstation. She is a former special education teacher turned BCBA in training. She is currently in the thick of it getting her BCBA hours and has some strategies for you in terms of what you can do to get your hours. If you are a teacher who is interested in getting your BCBA this episode is definitely for you. Not only do we talk about hours we talk about Nicole’s decision to become a full time BCBA in training and her advice for getting your hours in the classroom setting. 

If you are a current teacher, it is possible to get your hours in the classroom you teach in. I highly recommend finding a BCBA that can come in your classroom and help you identify how you could get your hours. This can be very helpful in terms of determining which aspects of your job count towards hours (it is more than you might think) and how you can feasibly track the tasks that you are engaging in to get your hours. One aspect of getting your hours is finding a supervisor. I will not sugar coat it, this can be harder to do in the school setting. Yes, there are more BCBAs in the schools, however, they are not everywhere and they may not be in a school you work in. I typically recommend contacting a local education agency to see if they employ a BCBA in the county that could possibly supervise you. Since BCBAs often have multiple buildings that they work in they may say that they could supervise you for a portion of your hours. Initially, this might sound like a not so great situation, however, this is immensely helpful believe me. You can get guidance from a BCBA on school based ABA which can look very different than clinic based ABA and you can have an additional opportunity to gain hours through another supervisor adding an additional perspective about behavior change. 

Having more than one supervisor can be highly beneficial to you and your experience during your hours. If you do need an additional supervisor, a lot of times agencies will provide supervision if you pick up some clients with them. If you can swing 5-10 hours a week outside of your teaching job, this can be huge. You will get to learn principles of ABA that you might not be applying each and every day in your teaching job. One big barrier to getting your BCBA can be the cost of supervision, with these two strategies you may be able to get your supervision for free or at a reduced cost. I highly recommend assessing your options for getting your BCBA supervision hours so you can make an informed and financially sound decision. 

In this episode Nicole talks about how she gets her hours at a clinic and some opportunities for hours in the classroom as well. These strategies for getting your BCBA hours can really help you plan out your path to getting that credential.  I know this can be a very daunting process, as someone who got their BCaBA and BCBA and assisted 20+ teachers in getting their certification…I know how confusing and overwhelming it can be. Make sure you subscribe to this podcast so you are notified whenever I release an episode about getting your BCBA so we can go through the process together!
 Resources Discussed in the Episode
Free Intervention Implementation Checklist
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