BCBA supervision · Dubai & the UAE
A BCBA behind every ABA programme.
Every programme we run is written and reviewed by a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and delivered by an RBT working under that supervision.
BCBA-supervised ABA, at a glance
Updated
- BCBA
- A Board Certified Behavior Analyst: the clinician who assesses, writes the ABA programme and decides when it changes.
- RBT
- A Registered Behavior Technician: trained to deliver the programme one-to-one, session by session, under a BCBA's supervision.
- BACB
- The Behavior Analyst Certification Board, which issues both credentials and keeps a public registry you can search by name.
- How we work
- A BCBA writes and reviews every programme; an RBT delivers it at home or at school, with data every session and a monthly review with you.
Why the credential matters
The BCBA is the person who makes the decisions.
In an ABA programme, most of the hours are spent with the therapist sitting beside your child. But the decisions — which skills to teach first, how to break them down, what to do about a behaviour, when a target is learned and when it needs rewriting — belong to the behaviour analyst. That is the job a BCBA is trained and certified to do, and it is why parents ask for one by name.
BCBA stands for Board Certified Behavior Analyst. The credential is issued by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB), the same body that certifies Registered Behavior Technicians. A BCBA has graduate-level training in behaviour analysis and supervised practice behind them; an RBT is trained to deliver a programme that a qualified behaviour analyst has written.
In our programmes the two roles never blur. A BCBA reviews your child's brief, sets the first goals and recommends the weekly hours. An RBT delivers the sessions and records data each time. The BCBA uses that data to change the programme, and the programme is reviewed with you every month.
What the BCBA does
Supervision you can actually see.
Reads the brief and sets first goals
Before a therapist is introduced, the BCBA reviews what you have told us about your child and decides where the programme starts.
Recommends the hours and the setting
How many sessions a week, and where: home, school or both. The recommendation is the BCBA's; the decision is your family's.
Writes the programme
Each goal is broken into steps an RBT can teach and measure, with a clear rule for when it counts as learned.
Reads the data
The RBT records every session. The BCBA uses those records to replace mastered targets, rewrite stalled ones and spot when something is not working.
Builds in parent coaching
Parent coaching is part of every programme, so the strategies are written for the rest of your child's week, not only for the session.
Before anyone starts
Questions to ask about supervision.
Who writes the goals?
A credential on a website tells you little unless that BCBA works on your child's programme. Ask who sets the goals and from what.
Who reads the data, and how often?
Ask what the therapist records each session and who looks at it. In our programmes data is taken every session and reviewed with you monthly.
How will I hear about changes?
Ask how you will know when a goal is mastered, dropped or rewritten, and who will explain why.
What if the therapist isn't right?
Ask who decides to change a strategy or the therapist, and whether you will be left to find a replacement. With us, we replace the RBT.
Pricing
Two figures, both up front.
Open the search
AED 499
- A BCBA reviews your child's brief
- Goals and weekly hours recommended
- One matched RBT introduced
Sessions
From AED 325/hr
Confirmed in writing before the first session, and lower as the weekly hours go up. Billed for the sessions each month holds.
- Programme written and reviewed by a BCBA
- Data every session, review every month
- RBT replaced if the fit is wrong
More on ABA therapy
Related pages.
ABA therapy in Dubai
What ABA is, who it helps, and how our BCBA/RBT team runs it at home and at school.
Read moreHiring an ABA therapist
Freelance or supervised team: an honest comparison before you hire someone for your child.
Read moreABA therapy at home
One-to-one sessions in your own home, with the price and the register form on the page.
Read moreEarly intervention ABA
Play-based ABA for children from about 18 months to six, at home or at nursery.
Read moreBehaviour therapy for children
Help with tantrums, aggression, toileting, sleep and feeding, from a BCBA/RBT team.
Read moreAssessment
A behavioural and educational assessment, then a clear recommendation.
Read moreFrequently asked
Questions families ask.
- What is a BCBA?
- A BCBA is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst: a clinician certified by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) to assess children, design ABA programmes and supervise the people who deliver them. In an ABA programme, the BCBA is the person responsible for what is taught and how.
- Can I get a BCBA for my child in Dubai?
- Yes. With Special Minds, every ABA programme in Dubai and across the UAE is written and reviewed by a BCBA and delivered by an RBT working under that supervision. You do not have to find or manage the BCBA yourself; it is part of how every programme runs.
- Does the BCBA run the sessions, or an RBT?
- An RBT delivers the one-to-one sessions, and the BCBA writes the programme, reads the data and decides what changes. That split is the usual way ABA is organised, and it is why the RBT's session records matter so much.
- What is the BACB?
- The BACB is the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, the organisation that issues the BCBA and RBT credentials. It certifies individual practitioners rather than running therapy services. You can check whether a named BCBA or RBT is currently certified on its public registry.
- How can I check that a BCBA or RBT is certified?
- Ask for the person's full name and search for it on the BACB's public registry, which shows whether a credential is current. It takes a minute, and any provider should be comfortable with you doing it.
- What is a Registered Behavior Technician?
- An RBT is a practitioner certified by the BACB to deliver ABA programmes one-to-one, under the supervision of a qualified behaviour analyst such as a BCBA. RBTs do not design programmes; they deliver them consistently and record what happens each session.
- How often is my child's ABA programme reviewed?
- The RBT takes data every session, and the programme is reviewed with you every month. Between reviews, targets your child has mastered are replaced and targets that have stalled are rewritten, as the data shows.
- What does the price cover?
- The AED 499 registration pays for the BCBA's first review of your child's brief, the first goals and the recommended hours. After that, sessions start from AED 325 an hour, every one of them run to a programme a BCBA writes and reviews, and we confirm in writing what your rate covers before the first session.
- Why not hire an RBT on their own?
- Because an RBT's credential is built around working to someone else's programme, under supervision. Without a BCBA, nobody qualified is writing the goals, reading the data or deciding what changes, and that work falls to you. Our page on hiring an ABA therapist sets out the trade-offs honestly.
Further reading
Guides for this decision.
Therapy
BCBA vs RBT: who does what in your child's ABA programme
What a BCBA and an RBT each do, how supervision works between them, how to check a credential, and the questions to ask before your child starts ABA.
Guides
What clinical supervision actually means (and why it matters)
A clear explanation of what clinical supervision looks like in practice, and why it's the core trust promise behind our placements.
Therapy
Choosing an ABA provider in Dubai: 12 questions to ask first
Twelve practical questions to ask any ABA provider in Dubai about supervision, data, parent coaching, notice periods, insurance and your child's comfort.
Therapy
How to tell if your child's ABA programme is working
What real progress in ABA looks like in the data and at home, the red flags worth taking seriously, and how to ask for changes when progress stalls.
Autism
Modern ABA therapy: what has changed, and what to look for
Why older ABA drew criticism, what autistic adults have said about it, how assent-based, play-based practice differs, and how to judge a programme today.
Tell us about your child.
A conversation first, on WhatsApp or by phone. No obligation, and a straight answer if we are not the right fit.