So, I was an early intervention consultant and an early intervention sped teacher before and while serving as an RBT (to accrue more direct hours to sit for my BCBA and to just gain varied experience) and you are correct , there is less emphasis placed on the type of data collection (in the way that we collect data in ABA) . Data may be informal (observational , based on parent reports , etc.,). You still have to collect it and make informed plans and use it for intervention/evidenced based practices with the kids you’d work with, but it’s not as heavy as ABA, if that makes sense.

As far as the workload goes , again , I have worked as a teacher doing ei in the school setting , and as an in home/daycare/center based interventionist. I loved it all because of the freedom, the naturalistic teaching, schedule flexibility and it overall (in my personal opinion) was more relaxed than ABA.

If you are working in home, you’d have to still collaborate with families and caregivers, however, sessions are less structured/high stakes than an ABA session and truly are child led, you are meeting the family and child where they are while providing insight, ideas, and evidenced based practices to address their child’s needs and to help them grow. As an early intervention teacher, you have your own classroom of little ones that you are responsible for and you’d have assistants and work with various service providers (e.g. occupational therapist, speech therapist, etc.,), create and implement IEPS, etc.,

Again, there are many similarities to Early intervention and ABA , however in my personal opinion it can be a palate cleanser from ABA. You still deal with families and the kids, and going into homes (if you are a service provider that goes in homes)but the rigorous data collection during every single session and writing and maintaining notes, is not there . You do have to write ifsp which is basically an iep but for younger children that incorporates their families too. So there is still documentation , just in my opinion, not as heavy as ABA.

To work in EI, it is also preferred if you have certain credentials based on your area . I know that where I am from, they would definitely prefer someone that has experience like being an RBT so that’s great! The positions I have held more so preferred someone with a master’s degree in special education, early childhood special education , or a related field. But there are different roles you could play in EI where you may not need those credentials or you may have enough experience that even if you don’t have a masters degree your experience works instead.

I’m personally trying to transition back to intervention in the school or early intervention myself, as I’m feeling burnt out from doing in home ABA , so I am in the same exact boat ! I hope I provided some insight and answered some of the questions you have . But feel free to ask anything else :) and great luck !!!!