What does a behavior support specialist do?
Behavior support specialists are social work professionals who provide support to other therapists in treating individuals with behavioral issues. These specialists must provide behavior analysis and health consultations to individuals who are diagnosed with development delay issues, disabilities, and autism spectrum disorders. They must develop and monitor crisis intervention plans for patients with mental health and behavioral needs. Behavior support specialists must also work with special education and regular teachers to implement behavior intervention strategies for students with special education needs.
Behavior support specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real behavior support specialist resumes:
- 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.
- Maintain client confidentiality and follow HIPPA regulations.
- Collaborate with administration to build PBIS systems handbook for faculty and paraprofessionals.
- Collaborate with IEP teams to develop accommodations for students with disabilities including assessment accommodations for students.
- Facilitate positive consumer and personal relationships base on positive consumer and personal relationships base on courtesy, compassion, and respect.
- Assist with development of person centered plans (PCP), or a self-establish goal agreement contract.
- Provide transportation to community activities that support personal or professional development as set out in the person-centered plan (PCP).
- Motivate kids through the use of positive reinforcement.
- Complete and mail referral forms, eligibility forms, and other program information to current and prospective WIC as appropriate.
- Generate PowerPoint presentations for committee review, and maintain student documents.
- Provide information to the public on WIC benefits eligibility requirements, and basic program information.
Behavior support specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 18% of Behavior Support Specialists are proficient in Social Work, Crisis Intervention, and Applied Behavior Analysis. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Time-management skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Behavior Support Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Social Work, 18%
Work with other professionals, such as speech therapist, social worker, occupational and physical therapist.
- Crisis Intervention, 8%
Provided behavior support and crisis intervention, conducted psycho-educational groups, and taught social skills to students with emotional disabilities.
- Applied Behavior Analysis, 8%
Registered Behavior Technician, Therapist in early intervention Applied Behavior Analysis clinic.
- Developmental Disabilities, 7%
Provide one to one individualized services to persons with developmental disabilities within day programming, transportation, and residential settings.
- Autism, 6%
Developed and initiated an autism program for individuals with Autistic Disorder and severe behavior problems.
- ABA, 5%
Implement specific ABA programs and collect data through education programs within a nurturing consistent environment.
Most behavior support specialists use their skills in "social work," "crisis intervention," and "applied behavior analysis" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential behavior support specialist responsibilities here:
Compassion. One of the key soft skills for a behavior support specialist to have is compassion. You can see how this relates to what behavior support specialists do because "social and human service assistants often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." Additionally, a behavior support specialist resume shows how behavior support specialists use compassion: "provide compassionate direct support to adults with developmental disabilities. "
Time-management skills. Another essential skill to perform behavior support specialist duties is time-management skills. Behavior support specialists responsibilities require that "social and human service assistants often work with many clients." Behavior support specialists also use time-management skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "entered financial information and payments to guarantee that title iv funds were paid accurately and on time. "
Communication skills. This is an important skill for behavior support specialists to perform their duties. For an example of how behavior support specialist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "social and human service assistants talk with clients about the challenges in their lives and assist them in getting help." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a behavior support specialist: "prepared written reports, protocols, communication support plans, and behavior support plans based on individual needs. ".
Interpersonal skills. A big part of what behavior support specialists do relies on "interpersonal skills." You can see how essential it is to behavior support specialist responsibilities because "social and human service assistants must make their clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical behavior support specialist tasks: "assist students to utilize coping skills and interpersonal skills to communicate more effectively through providing behavioral management and therapeutic interventions. "
Organizational skills. A commonly-found skill in behavior support specialist job descriptions, "organizational skills" is essential to what behavior support specialists do. Behavior support specialist responsibilities rely on this skill because "social and human service assistants must often complete lots of paperwork and work with many different clients." You can also see how behavior support specialist duties rely on organizational skills in this resume example: "utilize limited resources wisely and seek out organizational opportunities to utilize community resources and natural supports. "
Problem-solving skills. Another skill commonly found on behavior support specialist job descriptions is "problem-solving skills." It can come up quite often in behavior support specialist duties, since "social and human service assistants help clients find solutions to their problems." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day behavior support specialist responsibilities: "collaborated with treatment teams in developing appropriate behavior plans and provide crisis intervention, conflict resolution and teaching problem solving skills. "
The three companies that hire the most behavior support specialists are:
- The SOS Group
10 behavior support specialists jobs
- Arrow Child And Family Ministries8 behavior support specialists jobs
- ChanceLightâ„¢ Behavioral Health, Therapy & Education6 behavior support specialists jobs
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Compare different behavior support specialists
Behavior support specialist vs. Youth care specialist
Youth care specialists are social experts who coordinate programs for children and young people who need care while being away from their own families for some reason. These specialists are required to maintain a safe environment in the community so that children will feel safe, cared for, and nurture. They must lead various seminars for youths about topics such as job readiness, financial literacy, and higher education. They must also communicate the concerns and other important information to a child's assigned social worker and provide back-up support to case managers if needed.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, behavior support specialist responsibilities require skills like "crisis intervention," "applied behavior analysis," "autism," and "aba." Meanwhile a typical youth care specialist has skills in areas such as "customer service," "patients," "excellent time management," and "minor maintenance." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Youth care specialists earn the highest salaries when working in the government industry, with an average yearly salary of $39,391. On the other hand, behavior support specialists are paid more in the health care industry with an average salary of $36,032.On average, youth care specialists reach lower levels of education than behavior support specialists. Youth care specialists are 14.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Behavior support specialist vs. Child life specialist
The job of a child life specialist is to help children and their families navigate the process of injury, illness, trauma, hospitalization, and disability. These health care professionals perform varied duties that include helping children and their families better understand the procedure and process of their medical experience. They also work on developing strategies to lessen the trauma and improve their understanding of a diagnosis by providing support, guidance, and information to family members. They are also expected to work closely with other members of the health care team in coordinating and managing care.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, behavior support specialist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "applied behavior analysis," "aba," "behavior analysis," and "classroom management." Meanwhile, a child life specialist has duties that require skills in areas such as "patients," "child development," "patient care," and "child life services." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
In general, child life specialists achieve lower levels of education than behavior support specialists. They're 10.8% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for behavior support specialists in the next 3-5 years?
Juleen Buser Ph.D.
Professor and Director, School Counseling and Coaching Programs, Rider University
Behavior support specialist vs. Developmental specialist
A developmental specialist typically works in the human resources department. Your job involves training employees and encouraging their peers to participate. Other duties include evaluating the company's HR and training programs, identifying the best type of training to ensure employee and company success, and designing and developing employee discussions, simulations, and exercises. In addition, you are expected to network with prospective donors and look for new funding sources. You are also expected to promote the organization's cause or work through advertisements, soirees, and literature.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from behavior support specialist resumes include skills like "behavior analysis," "classroom management," "foster care," and "direct support," whereas a developmental specialist is more likely to list skills in "developmental delays," "support services," "children birth," and "patients. "
Developmental specialists earn the best pay in the professional industry, where they command an average salary of $41,855. Behavior support specialists earn the highest pay from the health care industry, with an average salary of $36,032.Most developmental specialists achieve a lower degree level compared to behavior support specialists. For example, they're 7.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Behavior support specialist vs. Social services specialist
A Social Services Specialist provides social services to children and adults in communities, facilities, institutions, or hospitals. They develop and implement specialized treatment programs.
Types of behavior support specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
