Quick Answer
RBT PDUs must be earned through participation in activities and trainings that develop practical skills pertaining to your role as a Registered Behavior Technician.
The main aspects include ethics, the integration of culture, diversity, and inclusion, as well as practical skill building in applied behavior analysis.
Understanding What Counts as RBT PDUs
Professional Development Units (PDUs) are intended to encourage continued development, knowledge, and understanding after the certification process and beyond the completion of mandatory hours.
The intent is to ensure that as a clinician, you are continuously improving upon the delivery of services that you provide.
In order for a training to count towards RBT PDUs, the training must be:
- relevant to your job as an RBT
- skill building
- based upon applied behavior analysis or your area of professional practice
If it doesn’t enable you to perform your job in a better way, it probably won’t count.
Ethics and Professional Conduct
The area that certainly cannot be omitted when talking about RBT PDUs is ethics.
This type of training is focused upon how you make decisions about your client, your professional engagement, and your overall standards of practice.
Common topics include:
- making professional ethical decisions
- setting professional boundaries
- protecting the privacy and confidentiality of your client
- client dignity, rights, and equities
The provision of strong ethics training allows clients to practice in a safe manner.
DEI and Cultural Responsiveness
PDUs can also include training pertaining to how practitioners can be skilled and competent in diversity, equity, and inclusion in their ability to practice.
Examples of this type of training include:
- cultural responsiveness in service delivery
- recognizing different client needs
- bias reduction in assessment and intervention
- communication improvement in cross-cultural contexts
These skills are essential in the practical field.
Skill-Based Training in the field of ABA
A significant portion of your PDUs will likely be skill-based.
This type of training impacts your work in an RBT role the most.
This training is most effective in key areas including:
- data collection & graphing
- behavior intervention methods
- behavior plan strategies
- communication and feedback
- assent and client cooperation
This is often the most important type of training you could achieve.
Do CEUs Count for RBT PDUs?
This seems to be one of the most common questions.
CEUs (Continuing Education Units) and PDUs are different. CEUs are awarded for certifications like BCBAs, and PDUs are for the RBT recertification.
Enrolling in a class that offers CEUs does not guarantee that class will also qualify to earn PDUs for RBTs.
What is important is whether that training:
- is relevant to an RBT
- is focused on behavior analysis and/or professional skills.
- checks the boxes for RBT professional development.
In certain situations a course may be designed that way to qualify for both, but you also should not rely on that all CEU courses are equivalent to RBT PDUs.
What Does Not Count?
Generally, training that does not apply to your role or does not develop practical skills will not qualify.
Professional development units (PDUs) may include:
- disconnected vocational discussions
- irrelevant, generalized education
- job performance unrelated training
What counts is enhancing your knowledge with relevant content.
Can RBTs Complete PDUs Online?
Yes – and this is how a majority of RBTs will complete them.
Flexible learning is a significant component of online training.
Due to this, structured online programs designed for behavior technicians are popular RBTs.
Taking Online Courses to Complete RBT PDUs
RBT PDUs designed for behavior technicians are programs that simplify and address everything an RBT needs.
They are RBT PDU courses designed for behavior technicians to meet what RBTs need and provide relevant content.
This allows you to disburse the required hours into PDUs and avoid disbursements.
Conclusion
RBT PDUs will promote the trade to your job performance.
You will fulfill requirements for clinically stronger training.
You will fulfill requirements for greater confidence training.
