Guide
ABA therapy vs. a sitter who happens to be an RBT
If you've worked with an ABA team, you might wonder what you're getting when an RBT takes a sitting booking through us. The honest answer: a sitter, not a session. Here's why that distinction matters.
What ABA therapy is
Applied Behavior Analysis is a clinical service. It's delivered by Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs) under the supervision of a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), who designs the behavior plan, sets goals, and reviews documentation.
Sessions are billable — typically to insurance or Medicaid — and the RBT writes session notes that get reviewed against the plan. The work is structured, measured, and reported back.
What an off-duty RBT does on our platform
When an RBT takes a sitting booking through us, they are sitting. They are not running a behavior plan. They are not writing session notes. They are not billing insurance. They are not doing ABA.
What they bring is the experience of having spent 20 hours a week with kids like yours. They know what helps and what doesn't. They are not flustered by behavior another sitter might find overwhelming. That's the value — and it's distinct from delivering therapy.
Why we are explicit about this
Two reasons. First, regulatory: representing a sitting booking as ABA therapy would put the RBT, their employer, and us on the wrong side of the BACB rules and Idaho licensing.
Second, and more important: families deserve clarity. If you need ABA, you need ABA — with a BCBA, with goals, with measurable progress. We are not that. If we ever pretended to be that, we'd be doing you a disservice.
When you need each
If your kid is in active ABA, your sessions are the work. Your sitter — from us or anywhere else — is the person who lets you go to dinner.
If you don't have ABA in place and you think you need it, talk to your pediatrician or the ABA clinics in the Treasure Valley directly. We'll happily point you toward local options. The clinical work is theirs to do.
If what you need is companionship and supervision from someone who already gets it, that's where we fit.
Common questions
- Can my child's ABA agency book one of your sitters as a session?
- No. Bookings through us are not billable services and don't count as ABA hours.
- Will the sitter use techniques I see in ABA?
- Sitters are encouraged to use what works for kids — calming routines, redirection, plain co-regulation. They are not implementing a written behavior plan. The distinction matters in writing and in practice.
- Can I hire one of your sitters as my private RBT?
- Outside our platform, that's between you and them. Within our platform, the role is sitter, not RBT-providing-services. We're up-front about that with both sides.
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When you're ready
If a private-pay sitter sounds like the right fit for your family, we'd love to help.