How To Become An ABA Therapist: What It Is and Career Path

What is an aba therapist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

An applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapist is an individual who mainly works with young individuals suffering from developmental issues. Such individuals have a diagnosis on the autism spectrum. If you have a passion for helping those with special needs, and have the qualifications, then this is the right job for you! ABA therapists specialize in teaching life-skills and academic strategies to children with an autism spectrum disorder. They will spend most of their alongside children, providing them speech and language therapy, as well as teaching positive strategies for handling social interactions.

Essential skills needed to qualify for the position include communicative skills for the one-on-one sessions you'll provide for clients. Interpersonal skills are also helpful so you can empathize with clients and their families. Moreover, clerical skills are also useful in taking session notes by hand and inputting them into the database. Last, but not least, are analytical skills, which are needed to observe client behavior and decide on corresponding rehabilitation strategy. A bachelor's degree in psychology, special education, or a related field is preferable, although a high school diploma or GED may suffice as well, along with relevant proven work experience.

Not only do you get to work with children, but this job compensates handsomely. The average hourly salary is $17.14, which equates to $35,644 annually.

ScoreABA TherapistUS Average

Salary

2.8

Avg. Salary $35,938

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

9.8

Growth Rate 14%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.48%

Asian 4.57%

Black or African American 6.97%

Hispanic or Latino 13.94%

Unknown 5.53%

White 68.51%

Gender

female 84.58%

male 15.42%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress Level

9.8

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

10.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

6.2

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an aba therapist

Explore aba therapist education requirements

Most common aba therapist degrees

Bachelor's

70.7 %

Master's

15.0 %

Associate

9.1 %

Start to develop specific aba therapist skills

Skills	Percentages
Autism	18.91%
Applied Behavior Analysis	12.65%
BCBA	10.42%
Behavior Analysis	9.19%
CPR	6.41%

Research aba therapist duties and responsibilities

Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
Interact closely with the on-site speech-language pathologist and occupational therapist to implement patients' therapy programs.
Provide specialized ABA therapy for children with autism including developing behavior plans and teaching in a natural environment.
Obtain RBT credentials and maintain supervision hours.

Prepare your aba therapist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your aba therapist resume.

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