What does a behavioral assistant do?
Behavioral Assistants are responsible for providing support and capacity in behavioral and clinical services for students with disabilities. Their duties include addressing behavior management safety needs, supporting emotional and social needs, giving academic support, and implementing behavioral improvement plans. They also deal with physical management, behavior de-escalations, and undertake student reviews with the teacher regularly. Behavioral Assistants will also collect data, write student reports, and ensure health and hygiene protocols are adhered to.
Behavioral assistant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real behavioral assistant resumes:
- Work one-on-one with students as well as small groups as instructed by teacher to help achieve goals outline by the IEP.
- Modele self-help and independent skills to assist autistic and developmentally delay children achieving their establish goals.
- Develop rapport and trust of physicians and patients to assure confidence and execution of therapy plans resulting in successful patient rehabilitation.
- Apply behavioral analysis (ABA) and other evidence-base methods are used to decrease challenging behaviors and teach skills.
- Assist BCBA consultants providing comprehensive educational, social, behavioral, and community services to young children on the autism spectrum.
- Implement modifications outline in IEP.
- Utilize ABA behavioral therapy techniques to address target behaviors and reinforce positive behaviors.
- Educate children with autism and other disabilities by performing a variety of specialize learning techniques.
- Require to provide proper documentation for patients under facility care- aligning with corporate policy and insurance requirements.
- Facilitate positive consumer and personal relationships base on positive consumer and personal relationships base on courtesy, compassion, and respect.
- Complete require annual in-service hours as specified by RTC policy.
- Develop self-help, safety and social skills including language and communication.
- Experience in PRT, heavily influence to incorporate natural learning opportunities.
- Strive to reduce undesirable behaviors and increasing age appropriate, adaptive behavioral responses.
- Participate in functional behavioral support team meetings to increase adaptive skills functioning in the community setting.
Behavioral assistant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 12% of Behavioral Assistants are proficient in Behavioral Interventions, Mental Health, and Patients. They’re also known for soft skills such as Time-management skills, Communication skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Behavioral Assistants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Behavioral Interventions, 12%
Assisted service recipients in meeting their personal goals and aspirations through positive behavioral interventions support to children and families.
- Mental Health, 10%
Provided appropriate counseling methods, role model behavior and case management for children who were diagnosed with Mental Health/Behavioral disorders.
- Patients, 7%
Required to provide proper documentation for patients under facility care- aligning with corporate policy and insurance requirements.
- Vital Signs, 7%
Monitor activities, vital signs, and blood sugars as needed for safety throughout their unit stay.
- Behavior Management, 7%
Provided classroom support/ inclusions services as well as behavior management for teenagers with behavioral/ developmental disabilities.
- Autism, 7%
Work as Behavior Assistant with School age students having Autism, Developmental and Physical Disabilities and emotional/behavioral challenges.
Common skills that a behavioral assistant uses to do their job include "behavioral interventions," "mental health," and "patients." You can find details on the most important behavioral assistant responsibilities below.
Time-management skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a behavioral assistant to have is time-management skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "social and human service assistants often work with many clients." Behavioral assistants often use time-management skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "collaborate with contractors to provide technical assistance and establish deadlines to meet state medicaid and cms requirements [e.g. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform behavioral assistant duties is communication skills. Behavioral assistants responsibilities require that "social and human service assistants talk with clients about the challenges in their lives and assist them in getting help." Behavioral assistants also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "trained staff in aba and maintained communication with teachers. "
Problem-solving skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of behavioral assistants is problem-solving skills. This skill is critical to many everyday behavioral assistant duties, as "social and human service assistants help clients find solutions to their problems." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "provide comprehensive clinical solutions for children and families * child mentoring, parent mentoring, behavioral assistance, and intensive in-community services"
Compassion. A big part of what behavioral assistants do relies on "compassion." You can see how essential it is to behavioral assistant responsibilities because "social and human service assistants often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical behavioral assistant tasks: "monitor and educate at risk youth and correct behavioral issues using compassion and reason. "
Organizational skills. A commonly-found skill in behavioral assistant job descriptions, "organizational skills" is essential to what behavioral assistants do. Behavioral assistant 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 behavioral assistant duties rely on organizational skills in this resume example: "work with emotionally and behaviorally challenging children, assist with social skills, organizational skills, anger management and other emotional issues"
Interpersonal skills. Another skill commonly found on behavioral assistant job descriptions is "interpersonal skills." It can come up quite often in behavioral assistant duties, since "social and human service assistants must make their clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day behavioral assistant responsibilities: "assisted in interpersonal communication, interactions, behavioral conduct, coping and adapting. "
The three companies that hire the most behavioral assistants are:
- Loma Linda University Health9 behavioral assistants jobs
- Eliot Community Human Services Inc8 behavioral assistants jobs
- Northwell Health6 behavioral assistants jobs
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Compare different behavioral assistants
Behavioral assistant vs. Social services assistant
A social services assistant is responsible for supporting the social needs of citizens within society. Social services assistants work within the community office or health institutions to assist patients and their families in processing their needs and obtaining medical information. They also coordinate with other organizations to gather additional resources and financial assistance to plan community programs that will be beneficial for society. A social services assistant provides counseling to the families to identify the services and referrals they needed.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between behavioral assistants and social services assistant. For instance, behavioral assistant responsibilities require skills such as "behavioral interventions," "vital signs," "behavior management," and "autism." Whereas a social services assistant is skilled in "rehabilitation," "discharge planning," "term care," and "community agencies." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Social services assistants tend to make the most money working in the government industry, where they earn an average salary of $38,533. In contrast, behavioral assistants make the biggest average salary, $39,095, in the health care industry.On average, social services assistants reach similar levels of education than behavioral assistants. Social services assistants are 2.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Behavioral assistant vs. Case management assistant
A Case Management Assistant is responsible for supporting the community people for their health and social services needs. They coordinate with various institutions and personnel to process these people's requests and perform administrative duties under a case manager's supervision. They also submit documents, write reports, verify referral information, and monitor the case progress. Case Management Assistants must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in interacting with people in determining immediate solutions.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, behavioral assistant responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "behavioral interventions," "vital signs," "behavior management," and "autism." Meanwhile, a case management assistant has duties that require skills in areas such as "home health," "patient care," "discharge planning," and "data entry." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Case management assistants earn a lower average salary than behavioral assistants. But case management assistants earn the highest pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $48,758. Additionally, behavioral assistants earn the highest salaries in the health care with average pay of $39,095 annually.case management assistants earn lower levels of education than behavioral assistants in general. They're 5.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for behavioral assistants in the next 3-5 years?
Lesley Casarez Ph.D.
Director, Quality Enhancement Plan Program Coordinator, M.S. Professional School Counseling Associate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, Angelo State University
Behavioral assistant vs. Program support assistant
A program support assistant is responsible for performing administrative functions to ensure a program's smooth operations. Program support assistants organize the necessary documents, create the expense sheet, respond to the clients' inquiries and concerns, negotiate with vendors and suppliers, and conduct data analysis. They also act as a liaison between the clients and the senior planners to resolve issues and address the clients' requests. A program support assistant maintains the accuracy of client information on the database and regularly updates the clients' files as needed.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, behavioral assistants are more likely to have skills like "behavioral interventions," "mental health," "vital signs," and "behavior management." But a program support assistant is more likely to have skills like "veterans," "program support," "customer service," and "rehabilitation."
Program support assistants make a very good living in the government industry with an average annual salary of $44,781. On the other hand, behavioral assistants are paid the highest salary in the health care industry, with average annual pay of $39,095.Most program support assistants achieve a similar degree level compared to behavioral assistants. For example, they're 4.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Behavioral assistant vs. Client services assistant
A client services assistant is responsible for responding to the clients' inquiries and concerns, escalating high-level complaints to the appropriate department, and accurately processing their service requests. Client services assistants also manage disputes, issue refunds as needed, schedule management meetings, and support the organization's strategic procedures to ensure client satisfaction and maintain a good reputation. They also help identify business opportunities, considering clients' preference to close more projects that would generate revenues and achieve profitability goals.
Types of behavioral assistant
Updated January 8, 2025
