The most recent group that completed the Registered Behavior Technician program.
JULY 28, 2023 — Every year, UTSA Professional and Continuing Education (PaCE) offers a special session of its Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) program at no cost to active-duty military members and their spouses.
The five-week training helps them better understand and care for family members with autism. The fully online course trains students in applied behavior analysis, a type of therapy designed to improve the behavior and social skills of those with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities.
"The RBT program is an invaluable resource, empowering paraprofessionals, direct care staff and families navigating the complexities of autism spectrum disorder and intellectual or developmental disabilities,” said Melissa Mahan, associate vice provost for PaCE in the UTSA Division of Academic Innovation. “We take great pride in our community partnerships, especially those that have a direct and lasting impact on military families.”
The RBT course is recommended for parents, teachers, administrators, health care providers and others who work with children or adults. Participants learn about effective communication, socialization and other techniques to reduce problem behaviors in individuals with autism. The program also teaches participants how to collect data to track progress and develop treatment plans properly.
The RBT certification also provides an advantage for people building careers in health care, social work, mental health counseling and school psychology.
To reach military families, PaCE partners with the UTSA Center for Military Families, the Alamo Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association (AFCEA) and the chapter’s Wounded Warrior and Military Families (W2MF) Endowment Fund. In 2022, PaCE offered the free program to 10 military families. After seeing the program’s impact on participants, AFCEA increased its funding commitment to double the number of students this year.
Typically, PaCE facilitates the program and determines which San Antonio military installation receives funding each year. Although Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA)-Randolph Air Force Base was selected for 2023, Mike Bell, the base’s Exceptional Family Member Program coordinator, chose to invite colleagues over 3,700 miles away at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Oahu, Hawaii, to participate in the RBT program alongside their peers in San Antonio.
“We at JBSA decided to share some of the slots with Joint Base Pearl Harbor due to this awesome opportunity and wanting to help other installation’s families,” said Bell.
The course’s online format allowed students in San Antonio and Hawaii to work and learn together simultaneously in the same virtual classroom.
The PaCE RBT program is helping to fill the growing need for skilled professionals who work with individuals with autism and other developmental conditions. PaCE holds RBT training every six weeks, with two cohorts of 15 to 18 participants. Since its first cohort in 2015, PaCE has rapidly expanded the program and trained 1,738 registered behavior technicians, including Shannon Thieme.
Thieme completed PaCE’s RBT program at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston in 2022. Now a certified RBT, she says the program taught her valuable skills and methods to better work with people with autism – including her daughter.
“Having a child with autism is like having a child who speaks a completely different language, and we have found applied behavior analysis to be that language. When UTSA offered to give me a grant so I could learn that language for free, I jumped at the chance,” Thieme said. “I feel better equipped to handle the behaviors that come up at home related to my daughter's autism—not to mention I am able to work in the autism field with this great education. My family is extremely grateful for this opportunity that will have lifelong benefits.”
The next RBT cohort will begin in September 2023.
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