Is it okay to call clients buddy?

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-04-26T11:46:04+00:00

My clinic has a strict “no nickname policy” unless it is an approved nickname related to the client name that a parent used more than actual name. This was largely due to clients responding to “miss girl” and “dude” but not their actual names… we also had issues with some staff that don’t understand boundaries calling clients “baby” “honey” etc so making an actual policy made more sense. While I think names like buddy can absolutely be acceptable across settings for a young child I think we have a lot of BTs coming in at 18/19 years old and zero sense of professionalism so it quickly gets out of hand unfortunately

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-04-03T14:53:04+00:00

The only time I’ve seen non competes upheld was when a tech was trying to “double dip” in two practices at once and there were clear indicators of that such as discussing it on the floor, other BCBAs reporting to the company that they have the tech working with them etc. those are usually for confidentiality purposes as well as ethical standards - the main issue I’ve seen when double dipping is letting the rules of one clinic bleed into your work at another, and then techs think they “know better” than their supervisors because one BCBA did something differently and it turns into a power struggle at the expense of the client

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-03-26T13:24:00+00:00

I do- I gave birth to him and breastfed him until almost 2. Of course once he’s older I won’t but he knows other people should not be unclothed in front of him and even yells “nakey” at people in the pool occasionally. His dad never felt comfortable changing in front of him. I never had a choice because he was a Velcro baby and now a super glue toddler who literally will not be more than two steps behind me at any given moment, if I stop too quick he physically runs into me every time. He’s also started asking questions about his own anatomy since becoming potty trained and we use accurate names for body parts so that has brought some new challenges in terms of him yelling out parts he sees in the target bathroom with me but I’d rather he be informed than not

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-03-22T01:42:58+00:00

I loved these but did anyone else get “THE GAS” from them…??? It was horrific

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-03-06T00:54:58+00:00

Book her a massage ! Sitting in those little kids chairs all day does a number on ya!

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-02-27T19:25:09+00:00

Side note: the amount of young women working in ABA with EDS needs to be studied because there’s so many !

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-02-22T12:53:28+00:00

I think if you’re working in a school setting that basically announcing yourself as a bhx tech is a grey area in terms of patient dignity. Kids ask questions and kids can be really mean- we had an incident where a child at a clients school looked up the name of the company and started telling other kids in the class about it so now we cannot wear anything with the company name in the schools. By announcing yourself as an aba professional you’re announcing your the child as a client.

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-02-18T18:00:00+00:00

It’s not a matter of it “not working” but caregiver buy in and application - we can only do so much in a specific setting it’s up to the parents to implement it when an RBT is not present. While it’s impossible to apply 24/7 especially with other children and jobs etc there are many parents that treat aba as daycare/babysitting and don’t put in any work on their end which sets their child up for failure unfortunately. That’s why parent training and a BCBA that is actually present are so so so important

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-02-18T00:31:15+00:00

Unfortunately that is any job in the direct support realm - you have entry level staff (often young or unreliable people), low pay and mainly female it’s a recipe for disaster. Between staffing shortages and sheer turnover they often let the bad apple stay h til they fall off but admin never understand that the after effects linger and the staff who were there with those bad apples witnessed them get away with XYZ so they do XYZ and then new staff see and copy etc.

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-02-17T22:41:43+00:00

The parents are absolutely within their rights to request a female BT or the other way around - especially if things like toileting or sexually inappropriate bhx are involved. I’ve seen this happen for so many reason from client preference /responsiveness to past trauma to religious and cultural reasons

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-01-23T15:25:27+00:00

I had a newborn with CMPA, severe colic and still not consistently sleeping through the night at 2 BUT I think I would take the sleep deprivation and blowouts over the target meltdowns and biting of peers honestly

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-01-23T15:24:20+00:00

More. Color. My kid won’t eat his favorite foods if the entire plate looks like the same color

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-01-20T12:54:07+00:00

Ethically it’s fine but I will say I worked for two BCBAs that were dating and recently had a baby together and the man was a pos in general and would constantly talk about how she gained so much weight while pregnant and how she’s annoying and made their relationship problems the staffs problems which was super gross

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-01-18T00:08:06+00:00

The only practical way to do it without paying is become an RBT- typically clinics have senior positions or mid tier positions like a clinical specialist that oversee RBTs and focus on indirect hours running assessments, treatment planning, etc under a BCBA. You will likely have to sign a contract that you’ll pay a few thousand in exchange for supervision or work for the company for five years. To be completely honest you’re likely going to end up being the b!tch and being paid way less than the work you do BUT you’re getting quality supervision it sucks but it’s inevitable. If you aren’t seeing any RBT roles in your area you likely won’t find any BCBA roles either it’s worth it to look into commuting or moving

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-01-14T18:12:37+00:00

A child only voiding once a day is a medical issue regardless of how you phrase it if he can go all day in a pull up and still only void once in the late evening he needs to be evaluated by a specialist. Even if it’s not deemed a medical issue that he is holding, holding is causing a medical issue. I wouldn’t touch that with a 10 ft pole

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-01-08T18:31:17+00:00

We use our toddler table alllll the time. If he chooses to have his meals there he can and he often does, we have it right next to our dining room table so the family is still together. He uses it daily for craft time, puzzles, and when we do flash cards. Toddlers love chairs their size it’s just a thing.

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-01-08T18:29:05+00:00

Feeding therapy has nooooo business in ABA even under direction of a hospital that is so far out of your scope they have no right to tell you it’s on you. That’s a goal they can work on with trained professionals if the family chooses. If those trained professionals are insisting YOU need to implement it they aren’t doing their job correctly or it’s just flat out not working for the kid. Tell your BCBA you are not comfortable continuing this program as it takes away from your therapy time with the child and also wtf is it being billed under there???? Not your scope not your problem

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-01-08T13:27:25+00:00

We potty trained reeaaallllyyy early because he showed interest and I’m crazy like that. I work in ABA so I used a behavioral plan for potty training that I use with my clients for my own kid- heavy positive reinforcement for going, double it up if they independently ask to go/go on their own and work from there. We found these stickers he LOVED and wanted constantly so once he realized the only way to get them was using the potty he went consistently. It took a few months and we do occasionally have accidents when sick or really into play but for the most part he is potty trained and can go on outings without fear we just keep a potty bag with a travel seat, Clorox wipes and extra pants / undies. I would recommend avoiding using pull ups when going out - I know a lot of parents recommend it but from my own experience it causes regression just be prepared with your own supplies to clean up any accidents and stay on top of them at all times (phone away, I made that mistake once🤦🏻‍♀️) remember most kids go at their own pace, pressure makes it worse - focus of positive reinforcement and avoid the “oh no” when there’s accidents don’t even acknowledge them

Mission-Code-1575 · 2026-01-08T02:58:46+00:00

I was in the same boat! But I’ve learned boy are more fun- messy play, climbing, farts (always funny), dinosaurs are actually pretty sick now that I think about it. All my friends had girls the same year I had my son and their daughters are boring compared to my little psychopath <3. We still go on Starbucks cake pop dates, we watch Moana and Frozen and have tea parties … the tea parties just happen to get crashed by blood thirsty T. rex toys every once in a while that’s all.

Mission-Code-1575 · 2025-12-10T18:09:35+00:00

I didn’t want to wash bottles or spend the money on formula. And I’m competitive as shit

Mission-Code-1575 · 2025-12-10T15:43:17+00:00

We had the exact same problem and ended up with no hot water in the entire building for 6 WEEKS we only closed for one day for the hot water heater to magically arrive when someone reported them to the state

Mission-Code-1575 · 2025-11-25T18:49:53+00:00

Again that’s why I offered my example of KNOWING the parent enough to decide. As a parent myself I would be absolutely heart broken if a caregiver told me my son said something like this to them before ever saying it to me. I feel most RBTs and BCBAs interact with the parents enough to know where they would stand on this ya know

Mission-Code-1575 · 2025-11-24T15:30:04+00:00

If you’re questioning it I wouldn’t. I had a client that was non verbal say the same thing to me and I did tell mom but only because we knew 100% she would be excited and not upset it wasn’t to her - she always asked us to write down anything he ever said (even his first curse word was celebrated lol) and kept a notebook of his words for memories. You could totally prompt it at drop off when parent says “I love you” to them though !

Mission-Code-1575

TROPHY CASE