A training that I have not found beneficial is the training I received to work in ABA therapy. This training was done online through a Team’s video call. This training at first seemed very detailed, extensive, and overall very good. The people in the training were able to role-play scenarios that were supposedly to “occur” every day on the job, and there were some short quizzes. Based on the job description I was training for and what was shared, what I would be doing, the training seemed on point. Once I started the job, the training was not beneficial or effective. A class that I have found beneficial and effective is when taking a behavior modification class. In this class, we had 2-3 opportunities to work on writing a functional assessment that allowed me to practice creating treatment plans based on theories for specific clients with undesired behaviors. When I was allowed to write a functional assessment for a job, I knew what was expected of the written assessment and of me.
What made the training versus the class more effective is the transferability of what was taught during the training to the actual job itself. One major issue for the job training is the lack of material transferable to the job (Swift, 2021). There were very few materials and practices that were transferable to the job. This made the job far more difficult and complex than it should have been. Additionally, the organization did not support, check in, or help the new group of employees I was in to get up to speed with the workplace (Ellis et al., 2017). This class was effective because it was meaningful, transferable to the jobs that use functional assessments, and tested us on what we learned (Swift, 2021). The class was effective because it provided me with real-life scenarios of clients with challenging, undesired behaviors. This allowed me to reflect on the course material to create an effective and efficient functional assessment for the client. Additionally, the class shared what was expected of us, and the quality of performance needed to be effective in a position that used functional assessments (Swift, 2021).
References
Ellis, A. M., Nifadkar, S. S., Bauer, T. N., & Erdogan, B. (2017). Your new hires won’t succeed unless you onboard them properly. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/06/your-new-hires-wont-succeed-unless-you-onboard-them-properly
Swift, M. (2021). Developing Training Programs [Video] MGMT 453. Canvas.
