What does "ABA trained" mean?

My school district tells us that all their classroom aides are "ABA trained." What level of experience should I expect from a person who is "ABA trained?"

Unfortunately, the term "ABA trained," is pretty much meaningless. It can be used to describe a person with a doctorate in applied behavior analysis, or a person who attended a two-day training on discrete-trial teaching, 10 years ago. Typically, you will see personnel closer to the latter extreme.

The best strategy is to define the level of experience that would be appropriate for your child's educational needs (with the help of an ABA professional), and request a person with those specific credentials. For example, you may request, "a person who has received a minimum of six months of training and supervision from professional-level ABA personnel in the development and implementation of token economies in academic settings." Note that in this example, we specified that the person was trained by an ABA professional, for a specific amount of time, in a specific procedure.

In addition to these details, it is also critical to define what level of supervision your aide will receive (how many hours per week, by whom). Even the best aides will require ongoing professional supervision.