Most organizations working with children with autism and other developmental disabilities have policies around phone usage. Specifically, individuals working with clients should not have their phones on while working with clients. You shouldn’t be checking your email, social media, or texts. This makes sense–if you are distracted, performance will go down substantially. But there often is a big exception to this rule.
Despite having this rule for the direct 1-1 staff, many organizations do allow the BCBAs to have their phones on during the day. This is especially true if the BCBA is working across many locations, and people are likely to contact them with “emergencies.” This may not seem like a huge conflict; you just quickly respond to a text or two. No big deal.
While we don’t have data on how distractions impact BCBA performance specifically, I believe the substantial declines we’ve seen for other skills like driving are very likely to hold up for behavior analysts as well. Many BCBAs I’ve talked to about this topic simply don’t believe it impacts their performance. I think they are being delusional. But even if they accept that it does disrupt their performance, they believe there is nothing that can be done about it and just accept it as a “fact of life.” Clients will be upset if I don’t respond right away. Staff will be upset if I don’t respond quickly.
If you are constantly bombarded with texts, questions, and emails, that almost certainly means that your systems are not well designed. There should be a clear system for handling routine and predictable events that don’t require people to contact you for every little thing. But even if you have reasonable systems in place, communication with clients and staff can become overwhelming and reduce effectiveness.
I have been enjoying Cal Newport’s podcast, and I think he gives the answer to this problem in the first episode. Cal argues what people want is clarity on how they will be able to communicate with you and not necessarily constant accessibility.
When working with parents or staff, have a clear system for how to communicate (e.g., we meet every Tuesday at 10, notes of the meeting are emailed within 24 hours, etc.). When those types of systems are in place, people will not mind so much if you are not constantly available by text. Problems often arise when schedules are unpredictable and people don’t know when they are going to get to talk to you. That is what leads to constant demands that you respond immediately, help, provide support, etc. Think clarity of communication, not constant accessibility.
Setting up a communication system that provides clarity for parents and staff is a tremendous amount of work, but the huge benefits are worth it.