Foundations of The New ABA
A nine-module course for practitioners and teams who want to build a stronger foundation for child-centered, assent-aware behavioral support. Currently in development.
What the course covers
The New ABA is a set of commitments about how behavioral support is practiced, and this course is designed to bring those commitments into daily clinical work.
Each module takes one core idea and makes it usable: a clinical scene, a reframe, a principle, a set of practical questions, and a shift in what you notice, measure, or decide next.
The course is being built for RBTs and BCBAs, but it is designed to be useful for any practitioner or team member who works directly with autistic children.
How this course is being built
The New ABA course is being developed alongside the manifesto, core tenets, and resource library, with careful attention to the commitments they describe.
That means the course is being informed by:
- Autistic perspectives Autistic adults and autistic-led researchers have described, in specific terms, what has helped and what has caused harm. The course takes that seriously, not as a footnote but as a foundation. An autistic advisory panel is forming, if you are autistic and interested in contributing, reach out.
- Family experience Parents and caregivers bring knowledge about their children that no protocol can replace. The course is built with the recognition that good behavioral support depends on genuine family partnership.
- Clinical usefulness The course is built for the real conditions practitioners work within: busy clinics, diverse teams, children with a range of support needs, and the ongoing challenge of translating good values into good decisions. Principles without practical tools are not enough.
- Honest limitations Not every question has a clear answer. Not every conflict between values can be resolved cleanly. The course will acknowledge that, and try to help practitioners develop the judgment to navigate it.
What completing this course does, and does not, do.
Completing Foundations of The New ABA earns a Certificate of Completion. It is free, BACB-aligned, and designed to build a strong conceptual and ethical foundation for child-centered practice.
A Certificate of Completion from this course does not grant the RBT credential. The RBT credential additionally requires:
- A BACB-registered supervisor who has completed BACB RBT supervisor training
- 160+ hours of hands-on supervised fieldwork with clients
- A competency assessment conducted in person by a qualified assessor
- A passing score on the Pearson VUE RBT exam
- Proof of eligibility: 18+ years of age, high school diploma or GED
For the full credential pathway, see our Become an RBT guide or the official BACB RBT requirements.
The course curriculum aligns with the BACB RBT Task List, 3rd ed. (2026).
Built for retention, not just completion.
The course is designed around how people actually build durable skills, not just how they check boxes. Each module combines:
- Micro-lessons Short, focused lessons that build one concept at a time. You can complete them between sessions or in a focused block.
- Retrieval checks Low-stakes quizzes that help you consolidate what you've read, not just test whether you remember it.
- Clinical scenarios Each module includes realistic practice scenes that ask you to apply the principles to a child's actual situation.
- Spaced review Key concepts re-appear across modules so that learning builds on itself rather than being siloed in a single session.
- Job aids Practical reference tools, question prompts, checklists, observation guides, designed to be used directly in your work.
Foundational module themes
These nine themes form the values core of the course, each aligned to a commitment from the Core Tenets. The complete BACB RBT Task List curriculum spans all task areas and will be mapped across these themes in development.
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Assent-aware practice
Reading, honoring, and documenting a child's ongoing consent signals in every session. What assent looks like across communication styles, how to build it into the plan, and what to do when the child says no.
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Behavior as information
Approaching behavior as communication before selecting an intervention target. The scene-reframe pattern, functional understanding, and the question that changes the work: what would make this behavior less necessary?
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Communication access
Ensuring every child has a reliable way to express needs, refusal, pain, choice, and preference. AAC, sign, and multimodal communication as rights, not afterthoughts. Documenting communication function as a primary goal.
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Regulation before instruction
Identifying early dysregulation, building co-regulation skills, and sequencing support correctly. What it looks like to check in on a child's state before beginning a session, and how to respond when the child is not ready.
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Sensory & developmental context
Integrating sensory processing and developmental knowledge into behavioral assessment and planning. Why the environment is part of the intervention, and how sensory and developmental factors shape what a child can do today.
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Ethical goal selection
Choosing goals with clear child-centered rationale. The child-centered reason test, recognizing goals that serve adult convenience, and building consensus with families and teams around what is worth targeting and why.
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Parent partnership
Building collaborative, honest relationships with families as partners in the child's support. What genuine partnership requires, shared language, honest goal discussion, and respect for family knowledge about their own child.
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Trauma-conscious support
Recognizing trauma indicators in session, avoiding re-traumatization, and building safety within therapy. Why behavioral interventions sometimes interact with trauma history, and how to adapt practice in response.
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Data that reflects quality of life
Expanding measurement beyond behavior reduction to include autonomy, communication, participation, distress, recovery, and wellbeing. How to ask what has changed for the child, not only what has changed on the graph.
Join the early access list.
The course is in development. Join the list to receive updates and an invitation when enrollment opens.