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Careers

Last updated: 2010-05-12

Parents of children with autism hire Behavior Interventionists or BIs (sometimes called tutors or therapists) to come into their home to work one-on-one with their child. Sometimes the BI takes the child into the community for lessons (music, gymnastics, swimming etc) or for working on behaviors when in public places.

Programs are developed by an ABA consultant and the BI delivers the programs to the child. There is usually a team of 3 to 5 BIs working with one child. All team members must deliver the programs in the same way. For this reason, there are usually weekly or bi-weekly meetings to share delivery practices.

BI's are trained by a lead BI for about 15 - 30 hours. They are then supervised by the consultant for fine tuning.

Shifts tend to be 1.5 to 4 hours long. Schedules are often made every semester to accommodate college or university students. BIs may work with children, as young as one year old, and adults.

What are parents looking for when hiring BIs?

Parents are looking for individuals who are bright, fun and energetic. Having experience working with children is an asset. This can include babysitting, helping children in school, working for day camps or being an instructor of some kind (swimming, skating, piano etc).

It is not necessary to have experience with disabled children, as being a BI is very different than most experiences you would have in disability activities anyway.

What do I do to get a position?

Connecting Families and Therapists

Popular places for both families and therapists to post their requirements and availability are:

  • FEAT of BC classified board (you must register to use the chat boards)
  • Craigslist you can choose a craigslist in your city if you do not live in Vancouver. Most ads seem to be in “Job postings” under “education”.
  • Support Worker Central online database
  • Local newspapers/classifieds and sometimes there are flyers or notices in local shops, coffee houses, universities and colleges, etc.

What are the career options of a Behavior Interventionist?

Once you have been trained with one child, you will be very much in demand by other families seeking BIs. There is no shortage of hours of work.

BIs can become lead BI, where they take more responsibility for overseeing the team and work closely with the parent and consultant. Pay for this can range from $12 - $20 per hour depending on experience.

After gaining 1000 hours or more on a home based team, BIs can take courses to become qualified to work in the schools with ABA children. This can pay $25 per hour with benefits. Qualifications vary from district to district. Some districts will hire someone who has only the 1000 hours and no course work. Other districts require SETA (Special Education Teaching Assistant) training before they will hire you. In Surrey, you can be hired with 1000 hours under a qualified consultant, but you must commit to taking the Surrey College ABA Support Worker course. Often, parents looking for someone to work with their child in the school system will advertise on FEAT of BC or the other resources listed above.

BIs with a Bachelor degree in Psychology or a related field may find work in Government supported ABA homes for older children or adults with ASD. The pay for working in these homes is similar to the pay for working in the school system.

BIs with a Bachelor degree, can also train to become an ABA consultant. Consultants start at $80 per hour. Usually, consultants have a Masters degree in Psychology or Special Education where they have completed course work for BCBA status. Equally as important, they have been supervised by another well trained consultant for at least a year. If you decide to become a consultant, it is important you work under someone with a degree specializing in ABA, or someone who has had extensive training by someone with a degree in ABA. The better your supervision, the more in demand you will be. See Questions for Interviewing consultants and ABA consumer guidelines for more information on how to make sure you are with a quality consultant.