Roles & Credentials Glossary

Begin with the person receiving care

The client is the direct recipient of services. The client should have accessible information and meaningful involvement in goals, choices, communication, consent or assent processes, and evaluation of fit. Age or legal status can affect who provides formal consent, yet the person's preferences, dissent, comfort, and communication still matter.

Caregiver and stakeholder describes people or entities connected to the client or affected by services. A caregiver may support daily routines, share observations, practice agreed strategies, coordinate schedules, or make legal decisions when authorized. “Stakeholder” can also include a school, payer, employer, or another provider. Involvement does not automatically create consent authority or unrestricted access to private information.

The current BACB Ethics Code defines covered behavior-analyst responsibilities for clients and stakeholders. The BACB has no separate jurisdiction over organizations or corporations, so a practice must assign entity-level duties under the other rules that apply.

Coordination is a distinct role

A care coordinator helps organize services, information, referrals, appointments, decisions, and follow-up. The role can look different in a clinic, health plan, hospital, school, or public program.

Under IDEA Part C, service coordination is an active, ongoing process with one coordinator as the single point of contact. The coordinator assists with access, evaluations, IFSP activities, monitoring, rights information, funding coordination, and transition. That federal role is specific to the Part C system and does not define every care-coordinator job.

Behavior-analytic supervision has limits

A supervising behavior analyst directs behavior-analytic work within the person's credential, competence, supervision relationship, law, payer terms, and organizational role. Responsibilities can include assessment, plan design, case review, observation, feedback, data interpretation, risk response, and staff development.

The BACB supervision and training page separates RBT supervision, RBT assessment or training, BCaBA supervision, and fieldwork. A BACB supervision designation does not establish state licensure, payer credentialing, case assignment, medical authority, or payment.

Families can ask who wrote the clinical recommendation, who delivers each service, how the supervisor observes care, how concerns are escalated, and which professional remains accountable for case decisions.

Medical and psychology roles answer different questions

A developmental pediatrician is a physician with specialized training in developmental and behavioral concerns. The American Academy of Pediatrics overview describes developmental-behavioral pediatrics as addressing complex developmental, learning, and behavioral needs in coordination with other professionals.

A psychologist may assess cognition, learning, emotion, behavior, mental health, or development and may provide treatment within licensed scope. Training and authorization vary by specialty and jurisdiction. The APA autism resource gives public orientation to psychologists' possible roles; it is not an individualized recommendation or a license lookup.

Medical diagnosis, medication, psychological testing, mental-health treatment, and behavior-analytic treatment are separate functions even when one person holds more than one credential.

OT and speech-language roles support participation

An occupational therapist evaluates and supports participation in meaningful daily activities. The American Occupational Therapy Association domain and process describes occupations, contexts, performance patterns, skills, and client factors within OT practice. Specific services still depend on licensure, competence, setting, and the person's goals.

A speech-language pathologist evaluates and treats communication and, within qualified scope, feeding or swallowing needs. ASHA's autism practice portal covers communication across the lifespan, multimodal approaches, and collaboration. ABA staff may support an authorized communication plan but should not independently redesign AAC, diagnose a speech-language disorder, or make swallowing decisions.

Build a role map for each case

For each person, write down:

• the question or decision
• the client and legally authorized decision-maker, when applicable
• the professional responsible for assessment or recommendation
• the person delivering the service and the supervisor
• required credential, license, competence, enrollment, and authorization evidence
• the information-sharing route and access supports
• the referral, escalation, and follow-up owner

Verify credentials from the source that controls the decision. A professional directory or résumé can support discovery, while a licensing board, certification body, payer roster, employer record, or public-program enrollment source answers a narrower status question. Record the credential or license number when appropriate, issuing body, status, expiration, restrictions, verified name, location, service, and verification date. A clean result from one source should not be copied into another field as proof of participation or authority.

Recheck when a credential expires, a professional changes state or employer, the service or setting changes, a payer roster changes, or a supervision relationship ends. Remove access and assignments promptly when authority lapses. Preserve the historical evidence that supported earlier work rather than overwriting it with the current status.

In a fictional case, six decisions are assigned across a pediatrician, psychologist, BCBA, SLP, OT, and family. Five have a named qualified owner by the review date, or 5/6, 83.3%. The open feeding-safety question stays unassigned to ABA until the appropriate medical or swallowing pathway is confirmed. The rate measures role clarity rather than quality or outcome.

Find ABA care near you. Ask providers to explain credentials, supervision, scope, collaboration, communication access, and referral boundaries in plain language.