Onboarding

The Apprenticeship. Built like a craft, not a checklist.

Most ABA practices throw new hires a binder and say good luck. We don't. Every new RBT and BCBA at Speech Castle goes through The Apprenticeship — our 8–10 week internal training program built around real supervision, real cases, and the time it actually takes to do this work well.

How it works

Four stages. No drop-offs.

The Apprenticeship moves you from day-one orientation to a real caseload over 8–10 weeks. Each stage has clear checkpoints — when you hit them, you advance. No artificial deadlines, no abandonment in the middle.

Week 1
Orient
You meet your supervisor on day one. The first week covers the foundations — what ABA is here, who we are, how sessions actually run. Real BCBAs walk you through their cases. No "figure it out yourself."
Weeks 2–6
Learn
Our onboarding program — internal curriculum — runs in parallel with shadowed sessions. 26 topics across 3 levels. You can't move forward until you can defend the work behind you.
Weeks 4–10
Practice
Pair with a senior RBT or BCBA on real sessions. Observation first, then co-led, then your sessions with their supervision. We adjust the pace to your readiness — never the calendar.
Weeks 8+
Lead
Your own caseload, with weekly supervision and BCBA support always one message away. We never drop you into the deep end — but we trust you to swim once you're ready.

Principles

What makes The Apprenticeship different.

Structured, not scripted

Every new hire gets the same foundation — same curriculum, same checkpoints. Beyond that, we adjust to who you are and what you need to grow.

Real cases, not roleplay

We don't simulate. You shadow real sessions, sit with real BCBAs, and learn by watching the work in front of you. Roleplay only when consent makes shadowing impossible.

Pace over calendar

If you need three weeks on a topic, you get three weeks. If you click in two days, we move on. We'd rather slow down for one person than push everyone through a template.

BCBA on your team, not over you

Your supervising BCBA is a teammate, not a gatekeeper. You bring questions, they bring perspective. Office hours every week, ad-hoc support always available.

Onboarding program

Our internal curriculum. 26 topics. 3 levels.

The Apprenticeship runs alongside our in-house onboarding program. Three levels of self-paced lessons (Foundations, Intermediate, Advanced / Clinical) covering every topic an RBT or BCBA new to our practice needs to know before going solo.

Each topic has a quiz. You can't move forward to the next topic until you can defend the one before. Short-answer responses get reviewed by a real BCBA — not auto-graded. The goal isn't to gatekeep, it's to make sure you're ready before you're in front of a kid.

When you finish

Certificate of completion

Every apprentice who completes onboarding gets a certificate of completion for our internal program. It's not a substitute for BACB-accredited RBT certification — that's a separate credential — but it's a real signal that you've done the work we ask of every team member.

Internal training programs are not a substitute for BACB-accredited RBT certification.

What it looks like