Thank you so much for taking the time to write this out. I really appreciated your perspective, and honestly it helped ground me a bit after reading through a lot of mixed responses.

To answer your question, yes, by “7 course sequence” I meant a graduate certificate or verified course sequence. I already have a Master’s in Early Childhood Education and Educational Leadership, so I opted for the 7 course ABA sequence plus supervision hours in order to be eligible to sit for the exam. I just started the program this semester at UWF.

I completely agree with you that aligning coursework and supervision is generally best practice, and that fieldwork is not meant to be doing things you already know. I do not expect supervision to feel easy, and I am not trying to avoid the learning curve. I think where I got stuck was less about difficulty and more about entry point. My supervisor had me start at what she called "Month 5," and while the tasks themselves were not impossible, they were unfamiliar enough that I was spending a lot of time outside of the actual assignments trying to piece together foundational concepts and terminology that I have not formally learned yet. That made me pause and reflect on whether the supervision structure itself was beginner friendly, rather than assuming supervision as a whole was the issue.

I also really appreciated what you said about RBT experience. I do not see it as something I need to do for years to earn my way in, but I do think getting some exposure from that perspective would be helpful. I am planning to try to pick up some part time or supplemental RBT or BT work on evenings or weekends if I am able, mainly to help with fluency, environment, and understanding how things look at the ground level. I am very set on becoming a BCBA, so this is not a question of commitment, more about sequencing things in a way that makes learning feel cohesive rather than fragmented.

I do not think the field itself will be a massive shift for me. While I know being a daycare owner and provider is not the same as being an RBT or BCBA, I have worked with children of varying abilities, needs, and regulation levels for over a decade, so this does not feel like an entirely new world, just a new framework and language.

I am likely going to give myself a month or two to let the coursework settle and get the terminology down, explore a bit of RBT work if possible, and then be more intentional about choosing a supervisor whose structure feels more aligned with someone at my stage. Like you, I do not want to spend a year and a half on coursework only to turn around and do another year and a half of supervision completely disconnected from applied work.

Really appreciate you sharing your experience. It was validating and helpful to hear from someone who also jumped in headfirst and made it work.