How To Become A Behavior Support Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a behavior support specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Bill Buker

Turning into a Behavior Support Specialist puts you at the coal face of actualizing behavior systems in schools and different settings. Behavior Support Specialists are social work experts who offer help to different specialists in treating people with social issues. These experts should give behavior examinations and wellbeing interviews to people who are determined to have advancement postpone issues, handicaps, and mental imbalance range issues. They should create and screen emergency intercession plans for patients with psychological wellness and social requirements.

For Behavior Support Specialists, the most usually required schooling level is a graduate degree. 42% of Behavior Support Specialists hold a graduate degree, 38% hold a four-year college education, and 7% hold an associate degree.

Did you realize that the normal Behavior Support Specialist makes $35,041 each year? That is esteemed at $16.85 each hour! The reach encompassing that normal can shift somewhere in the range of $25,000 and $47,000, which means Behavior Support Specialists have the chance to acquire all the more once they move past passage level jobs.

What general advice would you give to a behavior support specialist?

Dr. Bill Buker

Associate Dean and Professor of Professional Counseling, Oral Roberts University

In response to your first question, my general advice to graduates beginning their career in theological and ministerial studies, is to be aware of the manifold and diverse opportunities for meaningful ministry in today's world due, in no small part, to Covid-19. While traditional forms of ministry may be limited, new and creative ways of connecting are emerging. In the context of this current pandemic, the inherent human quest for meaning has people asking the big questions. In their attempts to make sense of what is happening in the world, people are open to discussions and reflections on which theology has much to contribute. Engaging in such conversations, by becoming caring and competent listeners, not only opens doors for ministry, it constitutes ministry. However, I would add this reminder that listening well to the struggles of others goes far beyond what theological and ministerial graduates have learned in the classroom. It has everything to do with who they are as persons, which means that their spiritual formation will be the critical variable as they seek to incarnate Jesus in their contexts of ministry.

ScoreBehavior Support SpecialistUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $36,769

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.9

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 2.07%

Asian 5.88%

Black or African American 10.58%

Hispanic or Latino 14.40%

Unknown 5.09%

White 61.98%

Gender

female 64.80%

male 35.20%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

8.9

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a behavior support specialist

Explore behavior support specialist education requirements

Most common behavior support specialist degrees

Bachelor's

62.0 %

Master's

21.7 %

Associate

10.4 %

Start to develop specific behavior support specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Social Work	17.86%
Crisis Intervention	7.83%
Applied Behavior Analysis	7.51%
Developmental Disabilities	7.11%
Autism	6.41%

Complete relevant behavior support specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New behavior support specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a behavior support specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real behavior support specialist resumes.

Research behavior support specialist duties and responsibilities

Observe patients and strategically prepare and manage clinical analysis of individuals and their progress in conjunction with formulate behavior goals.
Establish a positive relationship with parents through IEP meetings and teacher web page.
Provide task assessments, implement ABA techniques and record and graph client s progression on a weekly basis.
Comply with HIPPA confidentiality regulations.

Prepare your behavior support specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your behavior support specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a behavior support specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable behavior support specialist resume templates

Build a professional behavior support specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your behavior support specialist resume.

Apply for behavior support specialist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a behavior support specialist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do behavior support specialists rate their job?

-/5

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Behavior support specialist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2020

Pros

Helping special needs adults read , write and do math.

Cons

Lifting wheelchair bound individuals to change pull ups and pampers, cleaning bowel movements. No support from leadership when problems arrive. Over crowding classrooms which causes stress to staff and individuals.

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2019